Bevel gear and Collar Sleeve Welding project

[abscate]

New P2 sleeve $118 from FCP currently

P3 sleeves are $300

[ggleavitt]

Angle gear back. Machinist went into the input shaft with a flat bit (no bevel) a little to get some weld material as a "pin". Inner sleeve seal will be installed backward so it does not lip, R axle will go in and I'll try and center things as best that I can before cranking the 7 bolts down. I'll post when it's done and I'll keep this link for updates. We'll see what happens.

[Blacklab467]

Looks good, I'm not real familiar with the P-3 angle gear and collar sleeve as compared to the P-2's. I would ask how tight the splines and collar fit on the transmission end on the P-3? On the P-2 the collar and splines on the transmission end seem to have a slight interference fit, hence the necessity to use an incredibly powerful puller to remove the collar. For this reason I had to file every individual spline groove to ensure that the collar sleeve "slid" on and off uninhibited prior to welding it onto the Angle gear, such that the collar sleeve and angle gear assemblage could be removeable once installed. Also there may be a specific hygroscopic grease specification for that end of the splines.

[ggleavitt]

New collar had good "bite", we'll see if the welds hold. On my TF-80, the collar literally falls out when the gear is removed. I "feel" like the gear went in okay, had to move it a bit to get in the last 1/2 inch or so. Went in fine overall and, as the inner seal was reversed, I'll hope everything is correct. Really, I don't know how well this will work but I'm curious to see if it will and I have resources to replace whatever is needed with new if things are not satisfactory.

I posted the replacement on Swedespeed (https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/2008 ... ar.309585/ - thread is an extension of my first failure in 2016) but wanted to add something here as well. In reading copious threads on the subject of stripped angle gears, one specific scenario comes up: (a) worn angle gear splines and sleeve; (b) front wheel slipping more than 1/7; (c) rapid application of torque routed to the rear from the V8 (Haldex 3 DEMs are somewhat aggressive, there's a thread about putting them in V50s for the performance improvement). That's the recipe for the big BANG, 2x in my case. Avoid that scenario and your angle gear will thank you.

[vtl]

Yep, I no longer stomp on gas as soon as green light comes up. Gen 2 Haldex w/o preload function, too. DEM disengages the rear every time brake pedal is touched, even when car is rolling. Stomping on gas is not as hurtful as from the dead stop, but still chews up the splines.

[ggleavitt]

It's done. Starting testing in stages with DEM fuse pulled so no load from Haldex, just a free spinning prop shaft and I have taken few short drives and allowed the transmission fluid to heat up. Think I have to adjust a few metal shield bits underneath to get a better sound baseline then someone with ears better than me will help hear any odd noises on a quick drive. After that I'll consider plugging in the DEM. Had it up to around 40mph with no noticeable vibration though, that's a start. One issue I have unfortunately is with the subframe being off a bit (I should have measured), I'm not sure if an alignment is going to resolve it but I'll schedule one once I feel comfortable about the drive (have lifetime with Firestone). Not "pulling" per se, just steering wheel offset. Still, I'm not happy how the subframe washers look, they're a tad off center. I can put the engine support bar back on and push the subframe around if push comes to shove, I'll have to think on that some more.

Other than that, we'll see what happens. I know the risk is to the transmission side of the sleeve now, and my hope is that the combination of locking it down during the entire drill/weld process, coupled with an intentional effort to get the mounting holes on both sides as fully centered as I could (short threaded dowel next time) when reinstalling, there will be minimal rotational runout and that will keep things on the transmission side quiet. Time will tell.

Thanks again for the post, got me thinking about trying something different for a change and since a fellow XC90 owner loaned me his QuickJack, it made the job almost reasonable.

[ggleavitt]

Last and (perhaps not) final. The no load tests went fine, DEM fuse got put back. No errors other than the headlamp washer fuse that I removed years ago. No leaks, some whiny noise on sharpish turns that ended up being the toe. The subframe was not that far off, left was -0.22", right was 0.55"). I cannot say that I'm hearing anything weird on power or coast and I've had the vehicle up to 80mph with no vibration that I can feel. Not claiming anything other than it seems to be working fine today. I'll post here if it ever breaks and again, thanks for the thread.