How tight should the side bearings be

daredevil said
Boy, the service manual line is beaten like a dead horse.

I don't know why you would say that. This IS how these were put together from information provided by the people who designed and built them. Yes there ARE other ways to do things. But when you don't know those "other ways," or it turns out those other ways are incorrect, there's only one place to start from.

Even when I got my (much hated by the purists) Ford 9" I got busy on the www and searched around 'til I found downloads of sections of the original literature on how to set them up

I've only set up three 8 3/4 axles, ever. We did it exactly like "the book" says. They ran quiet, and held together. Can't say the same for the 10 bolt Chivvies a few years earlier!!!

So, OK!!! If you don't like the factory manual, here's an alternative from Yukon gear

[ame]http://selectric.org/manuals/rearend/yukoninstman.pdf[/ame]

And here's the Ferd way

http://selectric.org/manuals/rearend/indexford.html

Or, you can take the Muscle car magazine approach

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/howto/mopp_0308_mopar_rear_end_gears_set_up/viewall.html

What they claim is "as tight as you can get with a 12" long spanner" whatever that might mean.