Do I really need both Side bearing adjusting washers on diff?

[duffman1278]

I had my diff welded, and I decided to replace the race bearings while it was out. Well now when I go back to installing the diff I can either get the 2 adjusting washers to sit but the side bearing spacer wont go in. I can't even hammer it in with a rubber hammer.

And I have a pretty tight tolerance when I only install the adjusting washer on the side with the side bearing, but without the other adjusting washer on the other side.

If not, any suggestions because I looked at the various washers nissan has and the smallest is 2mm.

[duffman1278]

Does anyone know?

I took some dimensions of the diff with the bearings on and the length of the space inside the pumpkin, and the big spacer. I was left with a clearance of 3.20mm and nissan only sells 2mm thinnest.

The bearings are pressed all the way in.

[projectRDM]

The tolerances shouldn't have changed if you're using the same parts. I've only shimmed a few diffs but if it's too tight, leave the smallest one out and check for proper backlash against the pinion.

[Mirage]

Your going to have to measure backlash and check your gear mesh pattern to figure that out, or else you'll get horrible gear whine, accelerated wear, and in my case shearing 3/4 of the teeth off the pinion gear because the PO in florida didn't bother checking any of that.

[duffman1278]

Okay I'll just leave the smallest one out and put a dial onto it and check the backlash.

I did however figure out why I was out of spec. Apparently when I replaced one of the race bearing(I only replaced one, the other was OEM nissan one from the diff), I didn't get it through nissan, but a shop that specializes in bearings, well ends up that the bearing is actually 1mm thicker then the nissan bearing when I checked with the micrometer. So thats where my 1mm went.

If the backlash exceeds the FSM, I guess I can just buy an open diff and swap out the welded one with the open diffs pumpkin and bearings and what not. Thanks