I have a 10 bolt (out of a 85 IROC) that had the axle shaft screw pin break in it (the screw pin that holds the large pin which keeps the axles in place). I had to drill the pin out, and in doing so, damaged the carrier. I don't think its repairable(but I may try some JB weld, but I really don't won't to risk rigging it), which leads me to my questions:

1. The 4 bolts (two on each side) that hold the carrier in, can I just unbolt these and pull the carrier out? Is there anything special I need to worry about?

2. Are the ring and pinion both contained in the carrier or is the pinion separate?

3. I've located some carriers on the web, will one of these just bolt in? Or, will I need someone with experience to put it all together, and get everything to mesh correctly?

As always, I appreciate your help!

 

1. No, that's about it, remove the axles and undo the bolts, and the carrier will come out.

2. The pinion will stay in the housing. The ring is on the carrier.

3. As long as the carrier you've located is the right one for your rear, it will bolt right in. Make sure you put the original shims and the caps back in their original locations. The backlash should be right, but check it anyway.

88-back carriers have 26-spline side gears. 90-up carriers have 28-spline ones. If your rear is the original 85 one, you'll need the 26-spline version. The 28-spline type will not work unless you change the axles to 28-spline.

Avoid the Eaton Grenade-Lock units out of S trucks, they aren't built to withstand racing-type abuse or high power. The S truck people destroy them easily with their 6-cylinder motors, they will not last long at all behind a V8 on pavement.

 

Man, I owe you for all the time you've spent replying to my rearend questions. That didn't sound right. Anyway, next question, can I just unbolt my ring that is currently attached to the trashed one, and bolt it to the new carrier? Is it really that easy?

 

Yes. Really.

The bolts are left-hand thread, that's about the only hard thing.... you turn them backwards.

 

I assume you mean the bolts holding the RING in are left-handed, correct? How many are there? With the carrier out, is it really easy to tell?

Sweet, thanks a lot, I can't wait to get this thing back together!

 

Yes, those are the ones. They're marked "L" on the head. There's about 10 of them.