For our third week we worked on Differentials

What we did:

• First off we did a visual inspection on our Differential. Checking for any physical damage to the case, checking the ring gear, side gears, spider gears and pinion gears. Looking for any chipped/broken teeth.
• Next we turned the flange of the Differential by hand to check how easy it is to rotate. A difficult differential to rotate would mean there is too much pre load on the bearings that would need to be backed off.
• Then following the instruction manual we dismantled the Differential insuring all parts removed were inspected and kept together for installation later on.

Why we did it:

• The visual inspection was carried out to identify any broken/missing part or damage to the Differential. Which would affect its ability to perform (ie a bent flange which not allow the drive shaft to line up and bolt to it nicely)
• We checked for the differential movement to help us determine the condition of it. It should be easy to turn by hand but not too easy and shouldn't be really hard to rotate. We found our differential was hard to rotate by hand, we fixed this by adjusting the nut on the flange using a torque meter which sets the right amount of preload on the bearings.
• The reason for following the workbook was to make sure we were taking apart the Differential correctly and not taking any shortcuts. Making sure all parts that were removed were properly put back to ensure it functions properly.

Summary:
Manufactures specs are very important to follow. We had to make sure our gears had the right amount of backlash (ie 0.05 - 0.20mm side gear), made sure the preload on the bearings were correct (0.9 - 1.3Nm),  Run out of the ring gear (0.10mm). We also used a torque meter numerous amounts of time to talk the bolts to the manufactures specs. All our missing components like the rollers were replaced upon re installation of the differential and got it in good working order in the end.