I've got a '92 RS 5-speed with factory 3.08 gears. My pinion or carrier bearing is apparently shot, so I figured I'd go ahead and upgrade since I've got to pull everything out anyway. I've been searching old posts for a couple of hours and it looks like this is the best way to go:

1) Gear ratio - Step up to either 3.42 or 3.73 gears. I'm leaning toward the 3.42 ratio since I drive my car 50 miles every day. I've read about a few people who regretted going with 3.73 gears because the stock L03 tops out too early (rpm-wise).

2) New/used - Looks like I'm going to spend about $150 if I go with a new ring & pinion, not including the installation kit. I'm hoping to find a used set out of a 1989 or newer V6 Camaro, S10, or Astro (with 28-spline axles) instead so I can save a few bucks. I'm guessing it will cost about $50 used? I believe that 3.42 gears are of the Carrier 3-type regardless of what they come out of, right?

3) Posi - Everybody seems to think the Zexel-Torsen O.E.M. posi from SLP (P/N 64501T) is a great bargain at $99.95. This is a Carrier 3-type differential, which will work fine with my 3.42 gears. I know some people have gotten used posi units out of 4x4 Blazers, but they seem to have had trouble with them breaking.

4) Installation kit - Looks like Ratech is the big name here...I found the kits for $89 from Thunder Racing, which seemed to be the cheapest. If I end up having to go with a new ring & pinion, it may be cheaper to get the kit from the manufacturer of the ring & pinion.

5) Speedometer gears - The tech article on gears talks about which part numbers to get to compensate for the steeper gears. I may luck up and only have to change the driven gear...I'll have to check on that. Seems like the main thing is to just ask for the same gears as a car that came with 3.42 gears, which would probably be a V6 model. I may end up having to go with a slightly different speedo gear set, though, because I'm probably going to change my tire height from 235/55R16 to 245/50R16, which is slightly shorter. Anybody know which speedo gear combo to go with in that case?

I may have left something out, but that's pretty much what I'm planning to do. Sorry for this EXTREMELY long post, but you've got to give me a little credit for actually doing research before asking a bunch of dumb questions.

I think my total parts cost will break down like this:

Ring & pinion - $150 new, maybe $50 used
Posi - $100
Installation kit - $90
Speedo gear - $25

I'm hoping I can get away with all of this for less than $300 if I can find used gears. Luckily, I've got a couple of friends who have set up rear ends before that can help me out with the install.

Fire away if you've got any comments, ideas, recommendations, etc. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

unless you've done this before or similar work you might want to budget for some tools:
dial type in/lbs torque wrench
indicator and mag base
depth mike or pinion setting tool
extra long drive handle, 3/4 drive is best
make a "special tool" to holding the pinion yoke
bearing seperator
shop press
i made a special tool" for a datum surface to make measureing easier
0-1 mike is good to have and so is a dial caliper

 

Like ede said, your budget didn't include any type of tools, and the right tools is critical for successful setup. If your friend that does this has all that stuff, then your set, but if not, its stuff you MUST have. I can feel pinion bearing pre-load because I have done lots of rearends, but I ALWAYS double check w/ the beam style torque wrench.

As for the Ratech, definatly get it. If its the one I'm thinking of, it has all the needed bearings, several selective side carrier and pinion shims, new crush sleeve, seals, etc... Even had new ring gear bolts.

As for the gears, if your running 245/50/16 w/ 3.42 gears, you need P/Ns: 8642620 (gray drive gear, 15T) and 25522489 (yellow driven gear, 41T)

 

I saved the hell of trying to crush that sleeve, by getting a Ratech solid sleeve. It's very trail and error with setting it up right, so you best have a IMPACT WRENCH!!!!

I bought the shop press, and bearing seperator, but your looking at 200+ bucks for those...I think I spent 280 bucks for both.

The pinion depth gauge will run you 100 bucks. Don't have one, and I'm paying for that, by chasing tooth patterns location.

I used a Craftsman 3/8 beam torque wrench on the preload. It's only devided up at 2.5 feet pounds (30inch#), but is readable in quaters & hafes.

It's messy as hell!!!! But hey if you want some usefull tools, and experience when the project is done -- Go for it! ....I did....

Ron

 

As many cars and trucks as I have seen from "other" shops that use an impact to reassemble the rearend, it has been proven that impact guns ruin pinion bearings. It "impact loads" the bearings and causes pre-mature failure. There is always somebody in the crowd that says "I've used an impact for years and never had a problem" and that may be so, there seems to always be an exception, but like I have said, I have found that most rearends assembled w/ an impact suffer pre-mature bearing failure. Just my 2¢, so take it for what its worth.

 

I'm not preloading the bearing with the impact wrench. I get it close though, enough to get consistant pinion depth when checking the patterns. I've got it down to 2FP by feel.

In fact the Richmond video tells you to?

I dought my bearing will fail before the whole tiney winey 10bolt does

Ron

 

OK, whew, you had me worried. I have seen people run it down with the impact and call it a day As a matter of fact, those two bozos did that on the old "Hot Rod TV" one time. I havn't watched it since

 

as much as i like air tools i never put one on a rear end when i set one up.
as for tools there's never a reason for me not to buy them. my new job allows me to buy lot of neat things. got to talk to industrial snap on saleman the other day. he told me 25% off the catalog prices, damn. bought some welding equipment and mill and lathe next week, sure is fun, just wish it was for home and not work.

 

I know , it only takes like a 16th of a turn -IF that-, and your there once the slack is taken up.

BTW: I bought the press at a tool show (pure luck, that they showed up when I was going to do the job). If you have to buy one buy mail order...shoooo There heavy....

Damn 'ede' I was going to buy a Snapon 1/2 torque wrench this week, untill I found out how much they cost. 230 bucks or something...
I'll have to wait on that.

Ron

 

i have 6 snap on torque wrenches
1/2 ft/lbs thumb wheel adjust 250 max
3/8 ft/lbs thumb wheel adjust 90 max
two 3/8 dial type in/lbs 150 max
3/8 micro adjust in/lbs 200 max, belonged to my grandpa
3/8 micro adjust in/lbs 1000 max
damn i just keep expanding everytime i see a need for another tool, or what i think is a bargin on one.

ron if you don't mind used tools there is a ton of used snap on stuff on e bay and a lot of torque wrenches

sort of got to me the industrial salesman right off said 15% off any published price and since i was setting up a shop he might go another 10% depending on how much i bought and what it was. i set up an account with him so i can buy on POs, now all i have to do is figure out a way to buy with cash so i can get me some stuff.

 

Yea, I'll have to get serious with my tool...

That's it 'ede' NO more Checker Auto Powerbuilt tools for me

Ron

 

Thanks for the help, guys. As for the tools, my buddy supposedly has everything we need. I think he mentioned that he built some of them himself...I'll try to double-check and make sure he really knows what he's doing. I printed the instructions on sethirdgen.org and I've read quite a few posts that talk about the details of the install. We've already pulled the cover off the differential a couple of months ago, so I'm already prepared for a "messy job". Oh, and thanks for the speedo gear part numbers. Does anybody else have any other recommendations?

 

Hey, I just found this 3.42 ring & pinion w/posi out of a '99 WS6 TA on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1864656740

I can't remember if the gears from 4th gen Camaros/Firebirds will fit our cars...can someone confirm that this will work for me? Does anyone have any experience with these posi units?

 

yep 4th gen rear parts fit a third, even the rear, but it's a bit wider