Does a howl, both under acceleration and deceleration, mean that the ring gear (actually whole differential unit) should be shimmed further away (smaller shim on driver's side) or simmed closer. I've got 10 thousands backlash as it is now. Just want to go the right direction. Also, is there a 1:1 correlation between the shim size difference and how much the backlash will change? For instance, if I start with .010 backlash and add a shim that is .005 smaller to the driver side (and one .005 larger to the passenger side) will I get a NEW backlash of .015?

 

paint the ring gear and see where your pinion follows on the ring gear, Your instalation kit should have a chart. Aftermarket gears tend to howl alittle bit also because they are hardened gears thatr are cut to mesh better.

 

it's what ever you subtract from one end, you have to add to the other end. or vice versa. i don't know too much about setting up ring and pinions but i did mine myself. i think less backlash would quiet it down, i might be wrong though.

 

someimes not enough backlash will make it howl also by making the pattern of the ring and pinion ride to far on the edge. Paint your ring gear and not the pattern it makes, it its in the center of the ring gear than you are golden, Thus I am assuming that you also relplaced all bearings too.

 

Check your bearing preload first (pinion and carrier). Decel noise is usually from too much backlash or to little preload. Both drive and coast noise- start with the decel noise fixes and check you pattern.
The shims do not directly affect backlash the way you said, but it is usually close. I odnt know what gears you used, but if they are OEM gears then .010" is probaly too much backlash, you should try between .005-.007. Also, what pinion shim did you use and how did you come up with that number?

 

I have both drive and coast noise...yeah! They are Motive gears. I actually am starting to think the pinion shim of .035 may be causing the problem, effectively making the pinion too deep. That was how much shim was on the original pinion, so I stayed with it. I am going back into this week sometime and will report back...either the pinion shim is too much or I need to reshim the carrier.

 

i used my original pinion shim and i have motive gear 4.10 with an eaton. i put in new pinion and carrier bearings and set the pinion preload to the right spec. running about .012 backlash. have a little whine but you have to listen for it. i notice it b/c i drive the truck. if someone else is with me, they don't notice it. i hope you fix the problem and good luck...

 

Do you remember the size of the pinion shim you used? Just wanna compare. Also, did you notice a decline in the whine (that rhymes, doesn't it?) after puting some mileage on it? My current whine can be heard AND felt through the floorboard...I don't think I could get used to it, but then again I am damn tired of the disassembly/reassembly dance. Glad to hear from someone with the same setup.