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How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

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Old 08-02-2011, 09:08 PM
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How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

I currently have the stock 3.08's...can i put 4.10's in there? Or do i need a different carrier?

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Old 08-02-2011, 09:14 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

i believe you would need a different carrier to use 4:10's, but you could also use the "thick" gears which allow you to use the taller gears in the "smaller" housing
Old 08-02-2011, 09:39 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

86ta is right. If you don't have posi now, it would be a great time to upgrade.
Old 08-02-2011, 11:41 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

You have misunderstood, 3.08:1 is tall, or high, and 4.10:1 is short, or deep. You can also get 4.30:1 gears that don't require the weakened spider pin or weakened ring gear teeth that the 4.56:1 gears require. But those 4.30:1 gears are not available in a thick version, so you'd need a 3 series posi, or a ring gear spacer. Those aren't such a good idea, but they do exist.
Old 08-03-2011, 07:19 AM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

Originally Posted by //<86TA>\\
i believe you would need a different carrier to use 4:10's, but you could also use the "thick" gears which allow you to use the taller gears in the "smaller" housing
Hmm never heard of "thick" gears before. Got any more info on this?


Originally Posted by 92RS_Ttop
86ta is right. If you don't have posi now, it would be a great time to upgrade.
I have a posi, i'm just looking for gears to work for me while i save up for a 9" with 4.11's

Originally Posted by ronnjonn
You have misunderstood, 3.08:1 is tall, or high, and 4.10:1 is short, or deep. You can also get 4.30:1 gears that don't require the weakened spider pin or weakened ring gear teeth that the 4.56:1 gears require. But those 4.30:1 gears are not available in a thick version, so you'd need a 3 series posi, or a ring gear spacer. Those aren't such a good idea, but they do exist.
OK, so if i get a ring gear spacer, i could put 4.10 gear ratio in my current carrier?
Old 08-03-2011, 08:59 AM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

Bigger-number ratios have fewer teeth on the pinion gear. So it gets smaller. To compensate for this, the ring gear has to get thicker. But this adds unwanted weight, in an undesirable location. So they move the flange over on the diff. Towards the pinion.
Yes, a ring gear spacer would let you put a 4.10:1 gear on your 2 series diff. Fine if you found a good used set of 4.10:1 gears. But if you're buying new gears, forget the spacer and just buy the thick gears.
Old 08-03-2011, 12:32 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

^^^ Thanks for all your help!

SO this should work with no spacer correct? It says for 308 and numerically lower carriers.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-741016/

What else do i all need? Never done this before if you can't tell haha
Old 08-03-2011, 05:04 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

Yes, those gears would work. You would also need:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RAT-308TK/
plus new lube.
But for what you're gonna spend on the gears and the installation kit, you could get a 9" from the salvage yard. 4.11:1 gears were used in 4WD F100s. Just get the whole 4.11:1 chunk, with the gears and the Traction-Lok, as an assembly, then find a 9" car housing, then swap chunks before paying and loading. Bring it home, make a jig on your stock 10 bolt, cut your brackets off the 10-bolt, bolt them to the jig, weld them to the 9", you're done.

Last edited by ronnjonn; 08-03-2011 at 05:08 PM.
Old 08-03-2011, 07:15 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

Originally Posted by ronnjonn
Yes, those gears would work. You would also need:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RAT-308TK/
plus new lube.
But for what you're gonna spend on the gears and the installation kit, you could get a 9" from the salvage yard. 4.11:1 gears were used in 4WD F100s. Just get the whole 4.11:1 chunk, with the gears and the Traction-Lok, as an assembly, then find a 9" car housing, then swap chunks before paying and loading. Bring it home, make a jig on your stock 10 bolt, cut your brackets off the 10-bolt, bolt them to the jig, weld them to the 9", you're done.
you make that sound a lot easier than it really is. what about the "new" axle having the wrong lug pattern, or what about the parking brake? What about the TA mount? thats going to cost a bit to buy or fab. how about the width? if its different, you may need different wheels.

But, you can get a bolt in 9" housing and axle package for about 1k form moser, and use a junkyard center chunk, probably the easiest and cheapest way to get the 9" axle.
Old 08-03-2011, 08:14 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

damn that's about 250 bucks into the weak ten bolt.

might wait for QP's 9".

What's a good center section to look for? what kind of posi?
Old 08-09-2011, 04:29 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

Well ronnjonn i hope your right on those parts cause i'm going to order them....don't have the dough for a 9" right now. The 10 bolt should be ok as long as i'm easy on it and don't put any stickys on right?
Old 08-09-2011, 05:26 PM
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Re: How tall of gears can I put in my diff?

If you spend some time on LS1tech.com, you'll be amazed at the "durability" of these axles. Some guys manage to kill them with stock LS1s, stock torque converters, stock shifting and stock tires. Others have them survive well into the 11 second bracket in the 1/4 mile, on drag radials, with 6-speeds or 4400-stall converters.
Do some searching, try to find a deal on a used girdle. It replaces the stamped steel rear cover with a cast aluminum version reinforced for the pre-load studs.
Don't buy new, you'll never recoup your investment. But a used one...

The weakest link is the 26-spline axles. But if you run 28-splines, then the weakest link is the gears themselves. And the girdle helps those survive.
Also, the Ratech adjustable solid pinion preload spacer is helpful. Much better than the PITA crush sleeve it replaces. Especially for manual transmissions.

To help your axle survive, no clutch dumps and no power-shifts, even on street radials.

IMHO.

Last edited by ronnjonn; 08-09-2011 at 05:29 PM.
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