gears certainly wear over time. I wonder if the backlash in the diff. can be adjusted by adding shims behind the pinion.

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For Sale: 1982 MB 300TD
1995 Chevrolet Suburban 6.5TD

Sold: 1980 IH Scout Traveler- Nissan SD33T Diesel

Adding shims to the pinion will change the depth of the pinion relative to the ring gear. If backlash is too sloppy, what you want to do is tighten up the pre load on the carrier bearings. On the benz diff you will have to add shims to the carrier bearings or maybe even change them out. Not hard, but very tedius.

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
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'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

"tedius" would be another word for "hard" too people like myself that have to fight against a natural tendency to lose small parts and forget how things go back together.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"