Re: Possible to tighten spider gears on Ford 8-inch?

In article 
<MGe5c.4492$CJ5.633@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 "Doc" <docsavage20Remove_This_To_Reply@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> Isn't the reason it's made to be easily adjustable to take up slack as
the
> gears wear?

No.  It's easily adjustable because that's the way it was 
designed.

The ring and pinion need between .008" and .012" backlash (slack 
as you put it) otherwise the gears will over heat.  Any wear 
realized between the ring and pinion should be left alone because 
resetting the backlash will create a situation where the pinion 
is going to overlap both worn and not worn sections on the face 
of the ring gear (imagine a ledge worn into the face of the gear 
tooth) the pinion now that it is overlapping this wear "ledge" 
will cause the edge of the "ledge" to begin chipping due to the 
increased stresses placed on it as the pinion gear slides across 
it.
Also, the carrier (differential) side bearings need to run with a 
certain amount of pre-load or else they'll chatter and destroy 
themselves.

The slop you're trying to eliminate is no doubt the result of the 
'differential pinion' and 'side gears' (spider gears) wearing 
into the differential case.  Sometimes this slop can be 
eliminated by doubling up the thrust washers that fit inbetween 
the differential case and the spider gears, otherwise, the repair 
would be to replace the worn out differential case.

Sad to say but, this is the beginning of the end for that gear 
set.