[quote=dvw]After doing mine today here is what I found. First if someone would do the job correctly for $200 or less it's a bargin. Let me state I'm no Dana expert. But I have worked for over 35 years as a mechanic. Polishing the pinion at the front bearing location was the best 5 minutes spent. Adding (or removing) pinion shim and preload shim of the same thickness is pretty much linear to mantain preload. Adding .005 to one side and removing .005" from the other moves backlash .005". Have your shims laid out and marked so you're not digging through them each time you make a change. Measure your shim pack (don't let me tell you how many preload shims I swapped because I grabbed a .005 instead of a .015"), write it down as you go. The pinion depth tool isnt very accurate. 2nd time I've wasted time using it. Still had to move the pinion shim from .033" to .041". I have a hoist so that makes it nice. I do my own stuff because it's fun, I know what my true numbers are, and I'm cheap.
Doug





I like cheap. If I couldn’t do my own stuff I couldn’t or wouldn’t race. I get to teach myself how to do a Ford nine inch shortly as I need a higher gear for the heads up car. I will be saving the Dana info as sooner or later I’ll be doing one of those too.