Dodge RAM 1500 1998 Owner's Manual page 168

DR
REAR AXLE - 9 1/4 (Continued)
(1) Through the axle tube use Wrench C-4164 to
adjust each threaded adjuster inward until the differ-
ential bearing free-play is eliminated. Allow some
ring gear backlash approximately 0.25 mm (0.01 in.)
between the ring and pinion gear. Seat the bearing
cups with the procedure described above.
(2) Install dial indicator and position the plunger
against the drive side of a ring gear tooth (Fig. 9).
Measure the backlash at 4 positions, 90 degrees
apart around the ring gear. Locate and mark the
area of minimum backlash.
(3) Rotate the ring gear to the position of the least
backlash. Mark the gear so that all future backlash
measurements will be taken with the same gear
teeth meshed.
Fig. 9 RING GEAR BACKLASH
1 - DIAL INDICATOR
2 - RING GEAR
3 - EXCITER RING
(4) Loosen the right-side, tighten the left-side
threaded adjuster. Obtain backlash of 0.076 to 0.102
mm (0.003-0.004 in.) with each adjuster tightened to
14 N·m (10 ft. lbs.). Seat the bearing cups with the
procedure described above.
(5) Tighten the differential bearing cap bolts 136
N·m (100 ft. lbs.).
(6) Tighten the right-side threaded adjuster to 102
N·m (75 ft. lbs.). Seat the bearing cups with the pro-
cedure described above. Continue to tighten the
right-side adjuster and seat bearing cups until the
torque remains constant at 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.)
(7) Measure the ring gear backlash. The range of
backlash is 0.15 to 0.203 mm (0.006 to 0.008 in.).
(8) Continue increasing the torque at the right-
side threaded adjuster until the specified backlash is
obtained.
NOTE: The left-side
should have approximately 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.). If
the torque is considerably less, the complete
adjustment procedure must be repeated.
(9) Tighten the left-side threaded adjuster until
102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.) torque is indicated. Seat the
bearing rollers with the procedure described above.
Do this until the torque remains constant.
(10) Install the threaded
tighten the lock screws to 10 N·m (90 in. lbs.).
GEAR CONTACT PATTERN
Gear tooth contact pattern is used to verify the cor-
rect running position of the ring and pinion gears.
This will produce low noise and long gear life. Gears
which are not positioned properly may be noisy and
have shorten gear life.
(1) Wipe clean each tooth of the ring gear.
(2) Apply gear marking compound to all of the ring
gear teeth.
(3) Verify bearing cap bolts are torque specifica-
tion.
(4) Apply parking brakes lightly to create at 14
N·m (10 ft. lbs.) pinion rotating torque.
(5) Rotate the pinion/pinion yoke 4 full revolutions
in each directions.
(6) Read gear tooth contact pattern:
• Gear contact pattern is correct (Fig. 10). Back-
lash and pinion depth is correct.
Fig. 10 CORRECT CONTACT PATTERN
REAR AXLE - 9 1/4
threaded adjuster
adjuster locks
3 - 87
torque
and