Going back to the pinion shaft holding fixture. I should have shown the backside of the fixture. With an end off the propeller shaft, If you attempt to make one, half of the splines will need to be removed to accommodate the wall thickness of the socket. See the pics and you will see what I mean. The ID of the non-spline portion of the fixture is 1.31inches. Pretty much all the splines have to be removed.
I'm going to pause here to talk about some of the other parts that make up your drive train. If you have your differential removed from the trike then you have your left axle tube removed along with the axle, and propeller shaft. Let's not neglect those parts. The rubber boot between the engine and swingarm is essential in keeping water out of the differential. SAY WHAT YOU SAY!!!!!! The seal on the top of the differential is NOT an oil seal. It's a water seal. This means if the rubber boot is torn in any way, that allows water in to the propeller shaft cavity of the swingarm where it begins to rot your propeller shaft. That water will eventually work it way past the water seal depending on the sealing surface of the propeller shaft. In the picture you will see five propeller shafts. Starting at the top, you will see a propeller shaft that had water intrusion past the water seal and in to the differential. Second from the top is a propeller shaft that had water in the propeller shaft cavity but the sealing surface of the propeller shaft was in good shape so the water seal was doing it job. These first two propeller shaft are typical. The third propeller shaft is one that was in great shape so I sent it in and had it Zinc plated. Same goes for the fourth propeller shaft. The bottom propeller shaft shows heavy pitting on the water seal end. If installed would not keep water out as the sealing surface is badly damaged.
The top two propeller shaft are salvageable. Soak them in something like Evapo-Rust for about a week. Rinse well and dry. No matter what condition they are in, I put several heavy coats of PTFE Dry Film lube on the propeller shafts before I install them. PTFE is a dry film Teflon lubricant and offers great long term protection. You could also paint them but mask off the sealing surface on the differential end. Anything you put on the propeller shaft is nothing but benefit and protection. If the sealing surface is badly damaged, find a replacement propeller shaft.
As I said, the rubber boot on the swingarm is a critical item. If its damaged, replace it. The SX boots are still available from Honda but the ES boots are discontinued but I'm pretty sure that SX boot will work on the ES in lieu of anything else. The molded angle of the boots is what drives the different part numbers.
I have seen some pretty corroded axles on the SX and ES trikes. This is due to water intrusion. If you axle is corroded, clean it up. Get a wallpaper pan and put a couple of inches of Evapo-Rust in the pan and soak it. Wire wheel will work too. Just get the corrosion off by whatever means you have available to you. Once the corrosion is off, paint it. Don't paint the splines but paint it with something to protect the metal. Remember, anything you put on the axle to protect it is all benefit.
This is also a good time to replace your swingarm pivot bearings and seals as well as the axle tube bearings and seals. The last item to look at is the sealing surface of the hubs. If the sealing surface of the hubs is damaged, water WILL get in especially when the trike is submerged. The ES and SX have a bad problem with water intrusion at the hubs especially in the 85 models. Honda made some design changes for the 86/87 models but the water intrusion problem persisted. When assembling the rear ends, apply a generous bead of silicone sealant at all joints.
Lets look at the differentials and what happens when water gets in to the axle tubes as well as what happens when water gets in to the propeller shaft cavity and past the water seal. as you can see in the pics, corrosion ranges from mild to severe and if left unchecked will destroy your differential over time. If you swamp your trike, change the oil. Flush out the differential well and refill. Check your oil frequently and change it often. The pics speak for themselves.
The differential I'm using for this tutorial is actually in pretty good shape. This is the one that still has the original paint on it. The other shown is one I already ran through the bead blaster but note the pitting on the outside of the case. Keep in mind that any topcoat has a service life and the topcoat on the stripped case was failing allowing water to corrode the outside of the differential case. Later today I'll get the black one blasted, washed, masked, and powder coated. For you guys who don't have a blast cabinet, wash the cases well. Get any corrosion off by whatever means you have and at very least, shoot the cases with spray paint to protect the metal. There are some areas you cannot paint but I'll illustrate those areas later so I'm going to pause here.
See the pictures and note the areas I have masked. Whether you are spray painting or powder coating, these areas need to be masked as they are sealing surfaces. paint as required.
The cases are out of the oven, masking tape removed, and all the sealing surfaces touched up with a fine scotch-brite pad on my air motor ready for assembly. I'm doing four differentials at the same time. I have two more in the oven right now baking. Tomorrow I'll get the other parts cleaned up and ready for assembly.
The Honda manual talks about some in-depth inspections but that's assuming you have all the special tools and jigs to do this but for you and me, the inspection boils down to looking for any obvious damage aside from corrosion such as damaged gears and cracks or breaks in the case and cover. I have seen some busted cases. Probably a heavy hand with a trying to get the cover off of the case or perhaps high side of a rock. Who knows.
Now, it should be noted here that the ring and pinion gears were match machined during production so they are a mated pair and they should be kept that way if at all possible. That's not to say you can't mix and match ring and pinion gears but know that if you do, you may experience some anomalies such as varying levels of growling in the differential. Assuming you have the ring gear shimmed correctly, growling is more of a nuisance than anything and as the gears wear together the growling may quiet down over time. Setting backlash on mismatched gears is more critical than normal. During assembly I will talk more in-depth about the shimming and why its necessary.
I am ready for assembly. The case, cover, and fill cap have been cleaned and painted. The pinion gear, pinion bearing locking ring, propeller shaft gear, and propeller shaft gear retaining nut have all been washed. The ring gear has been washed and I put it through the bead blaster to get the corrosion off the ID of the hub and washed again. I have a new drain plug and sealing washer but reusing the old one is ok too. All parts are clean, dry, and serviceable. The last thing I will do while the oven is heating up is run a tap through all the threaded holes.
There is a sequence to the assembly. Heating and freezing parts and bearings is the easiest way to assemble. The fragile needle bearing at the end of the pinion shaft slips in to absolutely has to be installed using the heat and freeze method. That bearing can not be pounded in because even one blow of the will destroy the bearing. Using the heat freeze method will allow the needle bearing to drop right in to the hole in most cases. If any persuasion is needed, I use the pinion shaft and a small soft blow mallet to do this.
Pinion Shaft Needle Bearing Installation
Warm the case, cover, and large pinion shaft bearing to 200deg for minutes
Caution!!! Heating the case will soften paint so be carful when handling the case if you have just painted it. Even PC will soften at 200deg wear cotton gloves when handling the parts. Grab the hot parts on the unpainted areas.
The needle bearing should be thoroughly frozen for at least 4-6 hours. I usually put the bearing kit in the freezer a couple days ahead of time. Go ahead and place the pinion shaft needle bearing on the end of the pinion shaft and leave both in the freezer until the case has warmed. This way the pinion shaft needle bearing and pinion shaft are already cold for installing the needle bearing. Once the pinion shaft needle bearing is installed, the next step will be to freeze the pinion shaft and heat the large pinion shaft bearing to install the large bearing on the pinion shaft so this gets things ready for that step.
When you place the case and cover in the oven, take the large pinion shaft bearing out of the kit and place it in the oven to heat up. This will be used in the next step. This is the large bearing with the small OD. The other two large bearings are for the ring gear. Those get frozen until ready to install.
The case has warmed and the pinion shaft needle bearing and pinion shaft are frozen..... READY!!! GO!!!!!
Pull the case out of the oven and lay horizontally on the bench. Pull the needle bearing and pinion shaft out of the freezer. Insert the needle bearing in to the hole. Leave the pinion shaft in the bearing while the bearing heats up. Leave the case sit horizontally throughout the entire heating process because if you up end it at any point, the needle bearing may fall out. Work quickly because the needle bearing will heat up fast once it comes in contact to the hot case. After a few minutes, remove the pinion shaft from the case and place it back in the freezer for the next step and place the case back in the oven horizontally.
Bearing installed...... I did have to use a little persuasion to get the bearing in. Some I've had just drop right in with no effort.
With the needle bearing installed in the case, the next step is to install the large bearing on the pinion shaft. The large bearing was placed in the oven in the last step and the pinion shaft is back in the freezer. When ready, pull the pinion shaft out of the freezer. place the shim on the pinion shaft. DO NOT TO FORGET TO DO THIS BEFORE THE BEARING GOES ON.
Remove the bearing from the oven and install it on the pinion shaft. Let it sit for about 10 minutes then place the pinion shaft back in the freezer. The case should already be back in the oven. The next step is to install the pinion shaft with the large bearing on it to the case. Case should be hot and the pinion shaft should be cold.
The bearing is installed. I should have let the pinion shaft sit in the freezer longer. I did have to use a little persuasion to get the bearing down the shaft but it on and back in the freezer.
Now is a good time to install the ring gear bearing in the cover. Pull the cover out of the oven and lay it on the bench bearing side up. Remove the bearing from the oven and install in the cover. Set aside and let cool. Install the seal and set aside.
The next step is to install the pinion shaft in to the case. When ready, remove the case from the oven and the pinion shaft from the freezer. Insert the pinion shaft in to the case. You may have to help the large bearing slid in to place. Place the case back in the over to warm back up to install the last ring gear bearing. Install the left bearing and lLet the case cool to room temp. Install the left ring gear seal.
You can see how this is a drawn out process with heating and cooling parts but it is the most effective way to install everything without having to pound the snot out of the bearings to get them in.
Pinion shaft installed, Left ring gear bearing installed. Neither required any persuasion. They both dropped right in. Seal installed. Now I'll let it sit and cool to room temp. This took about two hours to accomplish.
Almost done!!!!!
The next step is to install the pinion shaft bearing lock ring, propeller shaft gear, propeller shaft gear retaining nut, and water seal.
Pressing on. I now put the differential in to the vice to install the pinion shaft bearing locking ring, propeller shaft gear, and propeller shaft gear lock nut. I place the cover loosely on the case so it clams evenly in the vice. Install the pinion shaft bearing locking ring and torque to 65-80 foot pounds. I usually over tighten the nut then loosen then torque to about 75lbs. Over tightening then loosening ensures everything is properly seated before final torqueing. Be sure to put a little grease on the locking nut threads before you install it. Install the locking nut and torque. Be sure you install the locking ring cupped side up. Take a small punch and stake the locking ring.
Next install the water seal. A little Scooby lube around the outside of the seal helps it in to place.
Place the differential back in the pinion holding fixture and clamp it in the vise. Place the propeller shaft gear on the end of the pinion shaft. The gear goes with the grooved end down. Install the nut and tighten to 72-87 foot pounds. I usually set my torque wrench at 80lbs.
Now its time to install the ring gear. Before I get in to that, the gap between the ring gear stopper and the ring gear should be checked. Place the cover with the case side up. Put the right shim on the ring gear hub and install it in to the cover. Using a feeler gage, check the gap between the ring gear stopper and ring gear. the gap should be between .012-.024in. This one checks out at .014in.
The next thing to check is the backlash. Since you are installing the same shims you took out, I really wouldn't get too deep in to this. The book says you should have a back lash of .003-.007in. Basically if you place the ring gear in the case with the left shim on the ring gear hub and you have just a tiny amount of backlash between the ring gear and pinion gear, you're good. Allot of slop between the two is a problem. Too much backlash will result in the contact profile being too small resulting it the gears tearing themselves up. Get in to the book and read about the backlash but that is written assuming you have everything necessary to check the backlash. Most guys don't. Just make sure you put the shims back on the side they came off of and you'll be ok.
The last step is to apply sealant to the cover and install the cover. Apply a generous bead of sealant around the sealing lip of the cover. I usually take a small artist brush and fay out some of the sealant to ensure good contact. Install the cover and install the cover bolts. Torque the 12mm bolts to 17-20 foot pounds and the 14mm bolts to 32-36 foot pounds. I use black sealant for SX and clear for ES differentials. Adding some anti-seize to the bolt threads is a good idea. When you tighten the cover down, there should be a good amount of squeeze out around the edges. Let the squeeze out dry before handling the differential otherwise you'll have it all over the place. Let it dry overnight and the squeeze out will peel right off. The very last thing to install is the drain bolt, sealing washer, and fill cap.
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Teaching quads a lesson
trying to get the cover off of the case or perhaps high side of a rock. Who knows.
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