I just pulled the wheels to check the rear bake shoes. One thing led to another...... I pulled my differential out of my 48 Super Six. It seems to be in pretty good shape except the spider gears are a little loose. Without taking the center rotating assembly apart, I could force the axle gear inward and measure about 0.065 clearance between the back of the gear and the housing. On disassembly I think the main problem is the smaller of the 2 sets of gears - the ones that run on the cross shaft. The bushings are worn and the gears are a pretty sloppy fit on the shaft. I will start be replacing the bushings and this will probably fix most of the play in the gears. If it doesn't I will have to shim the larger axle gears in a little. My axle gears did not originally have any thrust washers.
I see a variety of bakelite or phenolic thrust washers listed with part numbers in the parts book, and also some different ones listed for the 1950 to 1952. Are these thrust washers interchangeable? (except for thickness of course)
My main question - I can't find any tolerances for these gears. Only that they should have "as little play as possible." If anyone has a bit of experience with these gears, a little advice would be quite helpful.
Thanks for any suggestions!