Tanner's 1996 Landcruiser Nitro 488 gear install and ARB RD142
(50 BIG pics loading)
July 5 2016

Tanner contacted me about regearing his Cruiser and adding in ARBs on both ends. I sent him the suggested procedure and, in no time, 2 totes arrived loaded with 3rds/lockers/gears/masterkits from JustDifferentials.com
The rear 3rd will be completed first.....and here is the link for the front install.
Both bearings caps are removed and the 2 pinion open case put off to the side. The ARB in the background will replace it.
Push the pinion out.
Old seal is pried out.
Old races removed and new Koyo races tapped in.
Making sure that it is 100% all the way in.
New outer race is tapped in.....
....and, same thing, it is verified to really be seated down 100%.
It now waits at the pinion install station.
The Nitro master kit has a decent pinion selection to work with.
A .060" starter shim will be tried with the Nitro 488 pinion.
A really good use for a bunch of old bearing inners.
This is just a preliminary paint test so no crush or solid collar yet.
On to the arb....both surfaces were checked for high spots and all looked good.
I could have used the press.....it was a tight fit as is the case with almost all ARBs.
But, with a few dozen hits, it worked its way down. The 12 bolts were placed just perfect.
81 ft/lb and red locktight.
Carrier bearings were a nice tight fit but went on smoothly with the press.
Skipped a few pics but basically put the ARB case in....snugged the carrier bearings up.....got the backlash set to about .007". As shown above the drive side pattern is a bit shallow.
Coast agrees.
Drive side on a reverse painted tooth makes it more obvious that it is shallow and favors the edge.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Drive side on the pinion tooth....shows the lower comet tail is tucked into the root too hard.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
So, tear it back down.....off with the pinion bearing.
And this time, the solid collar is inserted and on the 3rd try a .046" shim was the winner.
Just .003" deeper and it looks so much better. This is exact depth.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The comet tail is shifting out to center a bit.
Seal check.
I have had some seals that pushed on so hard that I had to substitute something else in its place. This one went on with some resistance but not so much that it starts a fire from the friction.
Best seal installer I've ever had....
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Aluminum based anti-seize.
Tighten until proper PPL is reached...in this case, 12 in/lb start torque.
Ding! and the pinion end is complete.
This end is pretty much very straight forward. :) Wheel adjusters are carefully lined up in the proper threads.
I tightened these 4 bolts to 75 ft/lb because there is an ARB in this equation.
Total preload was measuring right at 20 in/lb start torque.
One final tweak and tightened the ring side adjuster wheel 1 notch and then the backlash was right in the zone.
Last of the ARB parts to be installed.
I just finished form fitting the soft copper tube in place.
Now the 2 lock tabs are tightened to 10ft/lb and a little more for good measure.
ARB is pumped up to 100 psi and this one was left setting overnight and still had 100 in the morning.
Nice picture
Final snapshot of the assembly notes.