Dana 25 pinion shims: where, how, why

[squidtone]

Greetings,
I've been refurbing my 3a, and I've found that the front axle dana 25 had been grenaded at some point. It appears as though something broke and spread destruction throughout the insides. I found some large 1/4" pieces of metal when I dug into the goo at the bottom.

However, before opening it up, the pinion turned nicely and I had no indication that this sort of damage lurked inside. But after finding the chips and gouges on the ring and pinion, I removed the differential, and found the bearings to be beautiful. I kept going and removed the pinion expecting the pinion bearings to be toast. Nope, they look beautiful. The teeth on the pinion however are chipped and gouged. I believe someone just replaced the ring gear and bearings, and slapped it back together.

So, I'm thinking for now, I want to let sleeping dogs lie. I just want to put it back together and maybe fiddle with it some day in the future. But to increase my slim chances of staving off the inevitable, I have some questions:

I found no shims between the inner and outer bearing cones, just a long heavy steel tube with finely ground ends. This does not match any exploded views I see in the manual, or on the internet. Was this axle put together without shims from the factory with a custom long spacer instead?

I did find a shim behind the inner race, presumably that's to set the pinion depth. That shim is supposed to be the same thickness as the number stamped on the pinion. (the race is still in the housing, I don't want to take that out, so I can't measure that shim thickness)

I'm afraid someone put this together without setting the preload with shims for the outer bearing.
Can someone confirm these might have come from the factory with a custom long shim/tube instead of a tube and thin shims?

(the reason I ask is because my GTO 10 bolt axle had custom a cast iron differential case spacer rather than a set of various shims...that's the way the factory did it. I assume if any work was needed later, then classic thin shims were intended to be used on an as needed basis....wondering if it's the same situation here)

Sorry for the long story. I know there might not be old dana axle experts here, but maybe someone knows where I can seek knowledge at the very least.
Thanks,
Dave

[squidtone]

Here's a couple pix.
Note the long spacer. That's there for setting the preload I believe. It's precisely ground on the ends, and I found no spacers. Also, I don't see this tube/spacer in the exploded views. Of course most dana 41 exploded views seem like generic dana 44's.

Also note "salsbury" on the pinion. Did they make parts for dana/spicer? Is this even a factory set of gears?

[oldtime]

Yes the Salsbury gear sets are definitely correct for your vintage of CJ.
Make sure that your ring/ pinion have corresponding numbers because they must remain as a matched set.
What you describe for pinion preload is called a crush sleeve.
Crush sleeves were never available and will not work for D25 or D27  axles.

NO the pinion depth shim does not and will not equal the number stamped onto the pinion head.

[squidtone]

Okay,
I'll probably get some thin shims and go about setting the pinion preload by the book (after powerwashing the axle housing).

I didn't know that a crush sleeve was basically a one time use spacer between the bearings.

These old dana gears are all shims I take it.

Thanks oldtime.
Dave

[bretto]

Yes all shims.  Makes for a fun task.  You can hone out the ID of a bearing just enough as a slip fit to make it easier to take on and off and then when everything is dialed in, press on your new bearing.

[squidtone]

I'm learning a bit about setting up Dana axle pinions and the two methods used over the years. The concept of a crush sleeve is cool, but I guess the downside of a crush sleeve is they are a one time use.
The downsides of the shims method of pinion preload is:
[list bull-redball]

the tedious nature of finding the correct preload
[list bull-redball]

I can't find any kind of local place that has pinion preload shims for a Dana 25!
bleaaaah.

[oldtime]

If you pull the pinion depth cup then carefully measure the thickness of the original shim pack.
Then measure each shim individually.
For starters when replacing the pinion depth cup without use of a pinion depth setting gauge (Miller tool  W 99) use the same thickness of shim pack as was originally removed.
The final pinion depth is determined via tooth pattern check.
When re- installing the pinion preload shim pack start with a shim pack of .068" total thickness.

[squidtone]

oldtime,
Thanks very much for that starting thickness of 0.068" for the preload. I had no clue where I would have started with that....

I will have to wait until I get an order through walcks for the shims.

[oldtime]

The teeth on the pinion however are chipped and gouged.

Seems like you should address this issue or all may be in vein.