Installed a Torsen T-2R carrier?

Let me start by saying I am no expert on the rear axle stuff, but it seems this thing is wider than the Auburn I took out.... The service shims were a huge no-no and I have come to the conclusion that even using the two thicker shims that came with my Ratech install kit alone on the gear side of the case is too much... I can only bring it down to .002" backlash....

So I am wondering if this is just me or if others that have installed T-2Rs (or maybe other brands of Diffs as well??) have noticed this phenomenon as well....

BTW, I am using Motive 3.73 gears with this and all new bearings from Ratech... And yes, the carrier bearings have been pressed all the way on the sides of the carrier - I double checked that when this issue surfaced .

 

I've done both the oem Torsen & the HD Torsen.

In my 92 Z, the HD Torsen went in with the service spacers, and shimmed up nicely. I'll have to go back and look at some notes to see the final stack-up. I used DTS's install kit and the shim packs in it were more than enough to give several stack up options. See the pic for a bit of a view (Nevermind the trash on the pic).

On my wife's 96 T/A w/RamAir, the oem Torsen went in tight including the service spacer and minimal shims. It was late one night when I did her's, and we were leaving on a 35 mile trip the next morning, so I really don't recall if I wrote down or kept the notes as I set it up.

 

Well thanks for the info.... At least I know it can be done (joke).

Ok, here's the whole story on where I am at right now. From the top.....

3.42s with the T56 was not ideal for my engine(s) and the Auburn was complaining when differentiating as well as being much looser than it once was posi-wise - thus the upgrades.

The stock pinion shim was a .035 (stamped) but it looked like it had spun some (not sure how) and was a bit thinner than 35 so I stacked a few of the new pinion shims I got with the install kit up to get to .035 and used that. The pinion is in with the solid crush sleeve and I got it shimmed to 25 in-lbs of preload.

So I tried to set the carrier in there with the service shims but it was waaaayy too tight. Not only was the ring gear way too close to the pinion, but the preload on the bearings was soo tight that with the bearing caps on (not torqued but tightened down) I could NOT get the carrier to spin - at all!!. And I am not a small guy . So I grabbed the install kit shim assortment to get things rolling. The kit comes with four thick shims and a bunch of thinner ones. From what I understand, the way they are supposed to be used is to use a pair of the .105" thicker shims as the outer ones and then whatever thinner ones that are needed go in between these thicker ones. Like I said, I don't do very many rear axles so correct me if I am wrong here...

Anyways, I started playing with this stuff and moved the carrier away from the pinion to the point where I was down to just having those two thicker shims on the left side with the right side having the two thicker shims and then another .022" worth of thin shims sandwiched into the stack. Well this is where I finally got some backlash.... But it was only .002" of backlash. And this was with zero preload on the bearings.... A quick pattern reading shows me to be heading in the right direction as well.

So at this point my assortment of shims was pretty much leaving me high and dry as I have no way of making a stack up for the left side without leaving some of the thin ones exposed to either bearing race or the housing - which I have been told is a bad idea as the thin ones can get beat up and turn into tin foil....

A friend of mine from the MNFBC (club, see sig) has done lots and lots of diff setups and has a much better allotment of shims and said he can roll over here on Monday to see what he can see, but I wouldn't mind doing it myself since I already got this far and have the time....

Thanks again,
Matt

 

Well I did finally get this figured out... The Torsen ended up being just a hair wider (about .002"). I was just kind of chasing my tail out there and it all fell into place with another set of eyes on it. Well, that and taking down one of those thicker shims I was talking about.... I had to pull about .007" off one of the thicker ones on the left side and I got the backlash out to .0095" with a nice looking pattern. A little on the high (toward heel) side on the accel. side, but nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the help. Now I just hope it lasts .