The axle started to make harsh driveline clunks and developed pinion both radial and axle play.Ended with full axle rebuild with Yukon Dana 30 Super rebuild kit p/n 14222 (both ring and pinion bearings ,new seals and the crushwasher) plus OEM bushings replaced ( they are two upper the same and the lower is the bigger one.the top bushings was discontinued so ive used similar size Ranger bushing
1L2Z-3A443-AA bottom -one
F67Z-3A443-AA -top- two
the axle setup is pretty similar to any other Dana 30 axle (Dana 30 Super was factory installed on 4 Gen Explorers and old Jeep liberty only - Dana 30 Super it is actually a regular Dana 30 plus Dana 35 long pinion).
keep the original carrier shims for the initial setup, then change the backlash and the pinion depth if needed. ive left the initial pinion depth as is and changed the backlash (twice) only when dial indicator read was 0.23mm (0.25 is the maximum dial indicator backlash).
Yukon manual says at reused gears to look at the coast side only but ive looked at them both
pinion preload at old reused gear is 2.4 to 3.5 N.m.
carrier caps torque are 60-65 N.m
use high torque impact wrench (Minimum 500N.m until you get the proper reading of approx 2.4 N.m of the pinion rotation effort )to set a crush washer-controlled pinion preload (do not try to measure the preload until the pinion axial play are zero)
special tools needed :
1.29mm pinion nut impact socket
2.workshop press 10Ton plus truck size bushing installer kit
3.bearing removal tool (the big one)
4.dial indicator plus magnetic base
5. pinion preload torque tool
Yukon 14222 kit contains Timken ring and pinion bearings , Yukon axle oil seals, shim kit, paint, threadlocker, new pinion nut and two crush sleeve.
pinion seal and the axle shaft bearings needs to be purchased separately (Timken changed the seal design a bit but it isnt matters )