well, i took the eaton to my chevy dealer. i didn't have the bearings on all the way. they tapped them a bit more with a hammer and bearing driver. now they are on all the way. so i took it home and it went in alot easier this time. i ended up using the factory shims. they worked fine. the differential cover is back on and it is filled with fluid. just have to put the calipers on and tires and i am all done. hope it rides nice.

 

Glad to hear the hard part is over now. Did the dealership charge you for tapping the bearings in a little more? Hurry up and get the rest of it together and tell us how it runs now.

I think I'm gonna try and get me an Eaton and gears after the first of the year. I'm torn between 3.73's and 4.10's.

 

Dang,i was going to ask if the bearing were seated all the way. What do you have for backlash?

 

The bearings are a pain sometimes. I always use my buddy's hydraulic press to install the bearings.

 

dealer didn't charge me anything. i had them on most of the way. all he had to do is tap them down a fraction more. took him about 2 minutes. my backlash before the install was about .007 and afterward it was arounf .005-.006. hope that is OK

 

sound perfect

 

Congrats. My Eaton posi is going in this Tuesday. I can't wait, no more one wheel burnouts.


Bruce

 

got the brakes on today. took the truck for a spin. rides smooth, no noise from the rear so that must be good. reluctant to drive it hard yet. i'll wait until i get a few more miles on her

 

Whew, good to hear you got everything straightened out! Be nice those first 500 miles. check out the break in period tid-bit at the end of the page below. Glad you got it all figured out. Gotta love those problems that we see eh!? Did you try the oven first to get the bearings on or did you take them someplace to get pressed on?

Andrew

http://james.jaguar.net/agreif/eaton/eatontech.htm

 

i tried the oven thing. it did not work that good. i thought they would slip on no problem. maybe i didn't have the oven hot enough. i ended up pounding them in with a hammer and 2x4. probably not the best way to do it. i tried getting the posi in the housing but could not get the shims in. so i came to the conclusion that the bearings were not all the way on, only off by micrometers. got that taken care of.

for gear oil, i have heard many different things:

- 80/90 and posi additive
- 85/140 and posi additive
- 85/140 and no additive

so i called 2 different places, Tom's Differentials and then the place i bought the Eaton from, Alan's Gearworks. they both said to use 85W140. Tom's said to use the additive, and Alan's said you don't need the additive because of the carbon fiber clutch. so i went with what Alan's said since that is where i bought it from. he told me to use Valvoline 85/140 synthetic, so that is what i did