Differential Gasket Thickness


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Posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.221.17] on Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 15:22:23 :

In one of the responses to Jim's question below regarding differential temperatures, it was mentioned that the thickness of newly made gaskets is not correct, and that we should be using NOS gaskets. This got my attention, because I just finished installing a rebuilt differential into the rear axle of my '49 Power Wagon last weekend, using a new gasket provided by the person who rebuilt the differential (a well-known rebuilder of the differentials that are used in Power Wagons, M37’s and WWII Dodges). As I was reading this, I was reminded that I had met some resistance when installing the right hand axle shaft into the differential. I got the splines to engage just fine, but with about ½” to go between the axle shaft flange and the hub, I couldn’t push it in any farther by hand, although I didn’t try very hard. I really didn’t think too much about it at the time and just relied on the stud nuts to pull it in the rest of the way, but after reading the post below in Jim’s thread, I became a bit more concerned and did some digging in Phil's Archives. There I found discussions about some of the centered rear differentials needing 3 gaskets of 0.036" thickness each in order to position the differential correctly relative to the axle shafts; otherwise, the shafts can break if this position is not correct. The discussions mentioned that the new gaskets being produced today are only 0.026" thick, which is too big a difference when stacking 3 of them together. However, there wasn’t much discussion about the appropriate gasket thickness for the offset differentials like the one in my truck, which to my knowledge only needs one gasket. The gasket I used is 0.026” thick, and I know this because I took measurements of the second gasket that was shipped to me by the rebuilder for use in my front differential.

I also have a NOS gasket, so I measured it, and it's 0.036” thick. I didn’t want to use it, though, because it’s very hard and somewhat curled and wrinkled and seems like it might crack upon installation. In fact, it made a bit of a pop when I flexed it a little.

So what input have you guys got? Am I ok to keep what I have installed or do I need to install a thicker gasket?

Thanks,

Matt




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