Ford pinion bearing??

[Cameron Reed]

Hi all, have got around to start rebuilding the front and rear diffs finally,they have been all stripped and primed ready to be reassembled.Have had to replace all bearings as they had all rusted above the oil line which brings about my question on the double cup, my manual says to give the bearing 2 thou (.002") clearance, one diff had about .002" clearance and the other
.002" preload. In our race car which uses a quick change rear end (halibrand/winters) with a similar style bearing (double cup) they are all set up with a preload. I am only thinking out loud here but maybe it would be for oil clearance as oils in days gone by were a lot heavier than todays. I was wondering what other people had done when they rebuilt their's. Any ideas would be much appreciated thanks

[Lynn Eades]

There needs to be preload, or it will move under load, and damage will happen.
My carrier book says 12 to 16 inch pounds pinion preload (when moving), with .004 to .016 back lash. Using the same thickness of gasket material between the two halves of the housings should maintain this backlash.
this is for the 5.83 to1 ratio. (6 teeth on the pinion, and 35 on the crownwheel)
Obtaining NOS original bearing assemblies,might help.

[Cameron Reed]

Thanks for your time Lynn, I was leaning towards setting it up with a little preload but thought I may just ask others how they approached it
regards.