Aussie Locker Follow-up

[MSGGrunt]

After taking everything apart when my Aussie locker would not unlock this is what I have found and can't figure out what to do. It worked fine for two years up until this point.

1. The contact patern on the ring and pinion is dead on.

2. I replaced the pinion shaft with a new Toyota part.

3. Each of the two factory shims under the side gears measured 0.076.

4. The center gap between the Aussie Locker prior to tear down was 0.150.
- Aussie states this should be between 0.145 and 0.170

5. My clearance between the new and old pinion shaft and the locker spacer on the ring gear side is .033. The clearance on the opposite side is 0.027.
Aussie states that the clearance should be between 0.006 and 0.020.

Here is my problem, if I replace the 0.076 shims with even the thickest Toyota shim (0.083) that will bring the pinion to spacer clearances to 0.026 and 0.020, still not very close to the Aussie reccomended of 0.006 to 0.020. This will also effect my total assembled gap between the locker clutches to 0.136, off from the minimum of 0.145.

What to do?

Has anyone else had issues with not being within acceptable clearences?

I don't believe anything is wrong with either the locker or my diff. case. But, I could be wrong.

I need to get this fixed so I can start on my turbo project.

 

[fzj80kidpen]

Woo.
Those are some serious tight tolerances specs.
Sorry, I am no help but I would love to see some pics of this.

 

[Hayes]

Just speculating...
My install gave me the impression that the key tolerance is the one between the two cams--0.145 to 0.170. It seemed to me that the spacer-shaft specs were there to get your cam spacing correct. If this is the case, maybe something in your carrier is out of spec--and you should just use the appropriate thrust washers to get the cam spacing right? I am likely totally wrong here--I'd wait for Aussie Locker to pipe in on this thread.

 

[Aussie_Locker]

Aussie Locker

Just speculating...
My install gave me the impression that the key tolerance is the one between the two cams--0.145 to 0.170. It seemed to me that the spacer-shaft specs were there to get your cam spacing correct. If this is the case, maybe something in your carrier is out of spec--and you should just use the appropriate thrust washers to get the cam spacing right? I am likely totally wrong here--I'd wait for Aussie Locker to pipe in on this thread.

We have some ideas on what has caused this issue, but we just sent the information to Australian engineering for their input. We should have this back in a couple of days and we will post their response here and direct to the customer.

 

[MSGGrunt]

Can you give me any idea what you're thinking? I am holding off on putting it back together. I did end up buying the 0.081 shims but????? Keep me (us) posted. By the way, great customer service.....

 

[MaddBaggins]

Looking forward to hearing back from Aussie on this.

 

[Aussie_Locker]

We are waiting for Australia Engineering response and will post as soon as we receive the input.

 

[MSGGrunt]

While we are waiting for their reply, is there any way I can rule out the diff. carrier being out of spec? I don't think this is the case though.

 

[Aussie_Locker]

Aussie Locker

While we are waiting for their reply, is there any way I can rule out the diff. carrier being out of spec? I don't think this is the case though.

Our initial analysis here in the USA is that the carrier is ok. We are also assuming that the axles and axle tubes are straight. One question has to do with the cross pin you removed and replaced with a new OEM pin. Was that pin worn? We consider that this may have been an issue or that the initial install tolerances were out of specification and over the two years this caused irregular wear in the cam. This would put the cam gears out of symmetry and could cause the lock and unlock to be an issue. As to the spacer to cross shaft spacing, we have some play in the specification what we can allow, as long as the inner-cam spacing is within tolerance. For example, if you had axle gear spacer to cross shaft spacing of 0.030 on both sides and the innercam spacing was .145 then we would accept this as being within acceptable limits. We want to see the spacer to cross shaft spacing within 0.005 of each other as this sets up the symmetry that is so important to the correct operation of the Aussie Locker. You can often swap thrust washers side to side to get the spacer to cross shaft spacing within the 0.005 measurements. We are probably going to have to get your old locker and old cross shaft in for precision measurement under an electronic microscope to see if the theory of initial installation lack of symmetry could have caused excessive wear and put the locker out of specification. Please send a note to bill@aussielocker.com with the address of where to send the new locker and lets get you back on the road while we sort this out. Our concern is that if there are environmental issues, unrelated to the locker, then a new locker will either initially or later in life exhibit the same results. That being unless the old cross shaft was the culprit and by replacing it and a new locker you have eliminated both the cause and effect. We apologize for the lack of an absolute resolution but we are working at a disadvantage of not having the diff in front of us.

 

[MoGas]

OK, I am definately going with Aussie Locker!!!!! You don't see customer service like this anymore.


Dave

 

[fuelgeddes]

Ya, when I get one it will be an Aussie ! I like to see people stand behind the product and back it up.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Thanks for the update Aussie! More than once on this board now you have shown your willingness to provide a high level of good customer service.
Kudos to you!

 

[MSGGrunt]

I just got the new Locker, thanks Aussie you guys have some of the best customer service out there. T
he pinion shaft to spacer clearances with the new locker are 0.011 on the ring gear side, 0.005 on the opposite side with a center gap of 0.167.

Here goes with more questions as I want to make certain that the install is correct this time around.

The 0.011 is well within the 0.006 - 0.020 so no problems there. The 0.005 is just under the 0.006 - 0.020. Should this be corrected with different shims or left alone where it is only 0.001 off?

The center gap of 0.167 falls within the 0.145 - 0.170 but is closer to the 0.170 end. My questions are: should I use a thinner shim to enlarge the 0.006 clearance to around 0.009? Use a thicker shim to reduce the 0.011 number to say around 0.008? Or are the clearances I have OK?

 

[MSGGrunt]

This is what I think should be done for proper set-up:

I hope Aussie chimes in and says this is correct or lead me in a better direction....


Ring gear side spacer to center pinion shaft clearance = .011

.011 .076 Current shim
-.003 -.003
________ _______
.008 .073 or 1.85 mm new shim

This would give me .008 clearance between the spacer and center pinion shaft. Within Aussies reccomended .006 - .020.


Opposite side spacer to center pinion clearance= .005

.005 .076 Current shim
+.003 +.003
________ _________
.008 .079 or 2.00 mm new shim

Still within the Aussie reccomended .006 - .020

The center gap clearance would not change and would be .167.

This would put all the clearances within the limits though very close to the max. or min. on some.

 

[Aussie_Locker]

Aussie Locker

This is what I think should be done for proper set-up:

I hope Aussie chimes in and says this is correct or lead me in a better direction....


Ring gear side spacer to center pinion shaft clearance = .011

.011 .076 Current shim
-.003 -.003
________ _______
.008 .073 or 1.85 mm new shim

This would give me .008 clearance between the spacer and center pinion shaft. Within Aussies reccomended .006 - .020.


Opposite side spacer to center pinion clearance= .005

.005 .076 Current shim
+.003 +.003
________ _________
.008 .079 or 2.00 mm new shim

Still within the Aussie reccomended .006 - .020

The center gap clearance would not change and would be .167.

This would put all the clearances within the limits though very close to the max. or min. on some.

If you are within the limits we call out and the wheel spin test at the end of the install works properly you have a successful installation and should have many years of reliable service from your Aussie Locker.