Roger from Hawaii gets Nitro 488 gears for his 1994 FZJ80
(43 BIG pics loading)
SEPT 10 2019

Roger's 94 Landcriuser enjoys life on the Island of Oahu. I am told that next month it will see a lift kit.
3 boxes have arrived from Roger via Fedex. The smaller box has most of the product. By the way, shipping is noticably cheaper to send FROM the Islands versus sending TO the Islands.
The smaller Home Depot box contained most of the product.
The rest of the product was stuffed in with one of the diffs. As can be seen, Roger was kind enough to send a FULL washer plate selection for the rear 9.5" elocker install.
The other 2 boxes contained the front and rear diffs.
Decided to do the lighter front 488 install first. Nitro 488 gears....master install kit...new double drilled flange....and a V6 solid collar.
Front diff is stripped down and cleaned. New parts are layed out.
Races are tapped in 100%.
A .082" shim will be the 1st try.
Pinion has the 082 shim with the new bearing...... the center carrier has the ring mounted with new carrier bearings pressed on.
Skipped a few pics to get to this point.....DRIVE side says might be a little too deep.
COAST is definitely saying "ya, a little too deep" as indicated by the harsh root engagement.
Comet tail #1 and 2 have the tail in the middle and it is generally desired to have it 50% closer to the tooth root.... so yes, it is too deep right now.
Comet tail #3 confirms too deep.
So, the 082 shim is lightened up a considerable amount to 077 and drive is trying to say "still too deep".
Coast looks better but still deeper than I like to see.
A look at the comet tails shows tails still in the center region so still too deep.
So, this time a jump from 077 to 073 and I like this DRIVE side.
Oh yes...this COAST looks so much better.
And the comet tail in the middle looks perfect....close to the root but not hard into it.
With the ideal pinion shim determined, now the ideal solid collar shim needs to be found. I know that usually the final magic number will be about 1.866" total length. The collar measures 1.814" so will try .052" for the 1st shim selection.
Jeez....way too many shims are out. Time out for some clean-up.
On the 4th try, the correct collar shim was found. New seal is then installed followed by the new double drilled flange. The THO seal is stamped "MADE IN JAPAN" so it is a good one. Anti-seize on the threads allows us to tighten the nut that much easier.
The pinion nut is tightened (quite tight) til a measured 11 inch/pounds is noted.
Some data inscribed on the ring gear......
Final install notes for the front 3rd.
Now onto the heavier 9.5" rear 3rd.... everything is cleaned and organized.
Ring gear and massive carrier bearings are mounted. Pinion bearing is mounted with a 1st shim of .055"
DRIVE....wow, actually looks good.
COAST....looks ideal...right in the middle Face to Flank.
Comet tail is slightly near center but heading for the root at the same time.
Looks like this 055 shim is a keeper.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The original pinion flange has a small groove but the upgraded seal being used here is a Marlin eco seal. The lip on the Marlin is about .200" lower so does not make any difference how bad the groove is.... the Marlin seal lip is riding in an unused spot. Not shown but the solid collar went in on the 1st shim selection. 2.086+.048"=2.132 total overall length.
The 4 bearing cap bolts are tightened to 83 ft/lb and backlash is recorded on every other tooth.
When all is said and done, the carrier bearing preload is .005" overall tighter than what the factory set them to. Rear diff is done.
Front diff is boxed up first. The foam insta-paks have a cost involved but they sure do protect the diffs when I send them out.
Another foam pillow on top.
Rear diff sees a similar treatment. Additional cushioning in critical spots.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The heavier rear diff checks in at 81.6 pounds to fedex. Even with my deep Fedex discount, on the trip back to HI, the lighter front diff runs about 190... and the heavy 81 pound rear runs 250. Shipping to me FROM Hawaii is probably about 10% cheaper than those quotes rates....with NO discount. Apparently, it's just plain ole cheaper to get things OFF the Islands than to get them TO the Islands.
Roger sent me a couple pics of the regeared diffs. Front hi-pinion bolted in place.
Rear 9.5" in place.