[nazdackster]

I had my case apart to the point of inspecting gears, but not enough to measure oil clearance between output shaft and high speed gear. Judging by how much play it had (rocking it around the shaft), I would estimate clearance at .008" (spec is .003" max). Unfortunately I was heading out on the U.P. Overland Expedition and changed out a transmission, but really didn't have time to buy gears / shafts / rebuild it. So now that the trip is over, I thought I would get an opinion on what to do.

While cold, I don't get much noise, but when running for a couple of hours, nice and warm, I get considerable noise that transmits through the gear selector making me think the clearance is too much. I think the gear is rocking too much on the clearance, which would allow the mating gear to not be engaged as good as it should. The high speed gear can move about 2mm where it meets the idler gear, and will be rocking this much in both directions when torque goes from plus to minus. The rest of the bearings seemed fine. The gears look excellent.

Your opinion? I suppose I should drop it and measure the clearance, but I suppose it also has a lot of miles on it that way, and taking the transmission / transfer out was a major pain...

The cost of the shaft and gear might be more than a used or rebuilt. Thanks.