Ok, so Sybill now has her two new (well, new to me...they're actually from a boneyard in Houston) homokinetic axles in place...unfortunately, there were no shims sent along with the axles. See this link: Axles

After installing them and putting the snap ring in place, there is approximately .020" - .030" lateral play at the inboard part of the axle. The FSM says to shim the axle so that the snap ring is a 'tight' fit but I cannot for the life of me, understand why this shimming is important.

FYI, I cannot drive the car yet because I need a replacement bushing for the anti-torque mount...

I read all the forum stuff about 'preloading' for proper wheel camber but, think about it, the entire axle has to change length when the wheel moves up and down and when you compress the axle to remove it so, shimming the inboard part of the axle couldn't make any difference to camber. Anyway. if you were to put enough outward pressure on the axle to compress it and actually change the wheel camber, the CV joints would probably blow out in a matter of miles!

What is everyone's take on this shimming?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

That shimming is for minimizing the wear on the bearing and the outside seal on the differential... and maybe on the ring gear....
Has nothing to do with the wheels and suspension...

BTT for more exposure and comment.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

The one I removed yesterday had a very small shim.

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

You shouldn't have any movement in the axle where it connects to the diff.

The CV joints themselves expand and contract to allow the axle to change lengths.

The shims keep the shaft on the end of the axle from moving around. On the other side of the axle you have a bolt that you tighten down to remove the slack and prevent movement.

In a worst case I think if there is enough movement you might dislodge the clip in the diff. Perhaps just increased wear on the shaft and or receiver in the diff. Perhaps nothing would come of it.

That said, my wifes 300D has a shim on one axle and doesn't have one on the other (One axle is annular and the other homokenetic). I could not install the annular axle with the shim that was on the original one. I did not measure the endplay to see if it was "in spec".

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'84 300CD Turbo 132k (Anthracite Grey) - WVO - My daily driver - Recently named coo-coo-coupe by my daughter.
'84 300D Turbo 240k (Anthracite Grey) - Garage Queen
'83 300D Turbo 220k (Orient Red) - WVO - Wifes daily driver

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.

An important reminder pertaining to the shims...
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=100269&page=1&pp=15
(The important post is near the end of the thread.)

Moral of the story, Hang on to your axle shims!!

"BTT for more exposure and comment."

That is called " shopping for an answer I like better ". LOL

Maybe yes, maybe no. ROFLM(shims)O


Check your PMs.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

From personal experience, not installing shims will cause a knocking noise when the axle is unloaded (i.e. slowing down for a traffic light). This is especially true with a manual transmission when moving with the clutch disengaged. When the axle is loaded, the torque applied to it keeps it from moving laterally. Whenever the torque is reduced the lateral forces cause the axle to move back and forth axially and you hear the knocking. I installed the shims and the knocking is much reduced, but I still have a small amount of play and some minor occaisional noise.

Good luck!

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1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

This is the information I wanted to know more about.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

The answer is simple grasshopper. You remove the shims from the replacement axle and discard, because it was set up for a different differential. You remove the failed axle, remove the shim from it, install it on the new axle, and install the new axle. Don't forget the 90w.

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Peter,
Read the first post...the axles were purchased from a boneyard; there were no shims with them. The annular axles that came out had no shims either.

I now understand (thanx to franklyspeaking) why I need to shim and now need access to an assortment of shims to get this rear end set up.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Old Grasshopper says " if the shop manual says to do it a certain way.... do it that way ".

Jeez. You know as well as I do, some of the stuff in the FSM is complete nonsense.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

What most FSM's fail to tell you is what is the result of not doing something by the book. In other words, doing things a certain way also produces a desired result. They usually recommend doing the same things even though circumstances may be vastly different. For instance they may recommend that the air filter be changed every 20k miles, but in very dusty areas you may have to change it every 1k miles, while in rainy areas you can change it every 30k miles. Both intervals achieve the goal of keeping dirt particles out of your engine. Knowing why you do something is very important and this forum has helped me to understand the "why" better than any FSM.

My $.02 worth on the FSM's value - standard procedures have their place, but knowing the reason for doing something is just as important.

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1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold