Slodgetto's Green Dragon 4x4 Conversion Build

Nice dude! Props for taking on that job on your own, it's definitely not easy.

 

Thanks, man!

 

What are you 16?

 

Just got this beast in the mail!

 

Just thought I'd document my re-gearing adventure a bit...

Got the third out after resting the axle on jackstands, removing the tires and brake drums, disconnecting the brake lines, and very carfully removing the axles.


All sealed up since it'll be sitting outside for a couple days..


The work area:



Took some measurements of the original gears:
Total Preload (Pinion/Carrier) = 18 in/lbs start and 3 in/lbs rolling torque
Backlash avg. = .009" (within spec)
Pattern:



Disassambled everything and cleaned with brake cleaner.

Comparison shots of the 4.10 and 5.29 ring and pinons...
GIANT 5.29 ring gear...


and TINY 5.29 pinion head!


Filed down the back of the ring gear and the mounting face on the carrier. Put the ring gear in the oven at 175 degrees for a good 10 min and basically dropped it right on the carrier (no hammering needed), stuck in two ring gear bolts to align it and let it cool before putting in all 10 bolts with red loctite and torquing to 75 ft/lbs.

Only destroyed one of the old bearings out of all of them during disassembly. Pressing on all the new stuff was a piece of cake with the HF press and the old races and random sockets.

Decided I wanted to get the pinion preload set first with the solid collar.

Measured the old crush sleeve to try and get a starting point for shimming. The old crush sleeve measured out to 1.865" and my solid collar measured at 1.815". I figures that I'd like my pinion preload a lot tighter than what it was so I decided to start with .044" worth of shims.

Took me 9 tries before finally settling on .035" of shims which gave me a very tight 58 in/lbs starting and 19 in/lbs rolling torque. Would've liked a bit less, but the assortment of shims I had for the solid collar were kinda limited. lol While my pinion bearings might wear out a hair faster than normal, I expect the gear set to be extremely strong and the pinion to have minimal deflection.


I set the carrier preload by simply tightening the adjuster wheels as tight as I could with my homeade 18" spanner wrenches. (Liberal amount of anti-sieze on the adjuster wheels threads.) The backlash was also not too hard to zero in. After getting about .007" backlash with a good tight carrier preload, I hit the pillars with my brass hamer several times while rotating the pinion in order to sort of shock the bearings and races into equal tension. This was done to get an accurate contact pattern.




Then it was time to get the contact pattern by rotating the pinion and keeping steady pressure on the ring gear to simulate a load.

First pattern with .069" of shims... Pinion looked waaaayyy to shallow to me.
Drive:

Coast:

Pinion. Deep on pinion = shallow on ring gear


Added .010" of shims behind the pinion head and ended up dropping the third trying to tighten down the adjuster wheels!!!! Bent the flange and smashed my e-locker sensor plug!



Anyway.... After some and I got this pattern with the extra .010" behind the pinion head:





Perfect! Slightly deep and slightly favoring the toe on the drive, which is desireable for a strong gear set.

Put everything back together with loctite and correct torque specs. Also added the oil splash washer and seal on the pinon with some RTV. Easy to install using one of the old races and careful use of the hammer.


Red loctite on the flange nut, and dinged the end! Ready to put back in the truck!

 

It'll be VERY close! Slapped several coats of Rustoleum Bedliner on the bumper tonight, and I'll hopefully get it on the truck in the morning before work.... Then it's all about getting in the front diff!!! skids and stuff will be last....

 

Bahaha. I may do that!

 

Dont forget you will need time to learn how to drive with 4x4.. well not really, just use less throttle.

Looks awesome. a new green monster.

 

Yeah, I know, man! I'm hoping to at least hit the Puerco once before heading to Moab!! Would be kinda funny and awesome if Moab is the maiden voyage after the 4x4 swap though. lol

 

ill bring the champagne.

 

lol You'll have to drink it all though.... I can just squirt it everywhere

 

Dang, that comment could be twisted beyond belief^^^

 

I KEEL YOU!!

 

I aint drinking any if you're squirting it first!

 

Looking good buddy.

 

Thanks, man.

 

x2 on what ben said, if its not all done, hell we can finish it at camp! what a better place to find out of your 4x4 swap works than moab utah!