Here's the rear....

whats the steps on removing the carrier from the rearend? Im getting everything ready for the SLP unit.....gonna clean it all up in there...

how do I get it out? I have already taken the end cap bolts off, is the carier pressed in there? Do I have to take the pinion shaft bolt loose first?

Help a beginner out...

thanks guys!

 

If you have the axles out, it should almost fall out. You may need to pry on it a bit.

 

yeah axles are out too.......so just tilt it and maybe the carrier should fall out?

 

any ideas? the thing wont come out.

thanks

 

It's not pressed in or anything, sometimes you have to CAREFULLY pry at it to get it to come loose. Careful though, once it comes loose it'll probably fall right out.

I'm curious though, usually you have to remove the pinion shaft and spiders to remove the C-clips for the axles... How'd you pull the axles out without removing that?

 

once you take the lock bolt out and the pin...you just push in on the axles and the C-clips will fall out...or just use a magnet and grab them out...those are easy...

SO the carrier must be baked in place huh?

 

I think were thinking two different words for the same thing

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe someone had to "spread" the pumpkin to get the proper shims installed, and now there is a pre-tension on the entire setup.

You are right in your thinking though. The only thing that holds the carrier in is the main caps and the axle shafts. After those are out it should pop out...

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out

 

I had the exact same problem with my wishmaster. Couldn't figure out what the hell was holding it in. I was replacing my old carrier with a zexel torsen. I just got a crowbar and carefully pried it out. The shims are really snug on the sides, thats all. Its a pain in the butt to line them back in too.... Well, at least while its still in the car.

 

if the caps and axles are off it'll pretty much fall out. you migth have to pry just a bit but after it starts to move it'll come right out.

 

Well I'll pry on it when I get home. I just ordered the SLP unit and a master Overhaul rebuild kit for the rear. I got the kit from another source ....it was only 75.00 says the only thing it doesnt come with is the axles seals. I'll just get them at AZ ....it is a good idea to replace all the bearings/seals right? not a good idea to reuse any of the stuff that comes out out the rears?

 

Are you sure that you want to tackle this project yourself? There is a lot more to swapping gears and carriers than just pulling the old one out and dropping in a new one. You have to make sure you have the right shims on both sides of the carrier, you have to make sure you have the perfect contact patch on the teeth themselves. Usually people use a dial indicator to set the backlash on the pinion gear. I was going to attempt the same thing you did, but after I found out what was needed to get it set up correctly, I quickly brought it to a professional. Just make sure you have all your bases covered before you dive into it. If you have the carrier still in the housing, it isn't too late to turn back. Just my opinion.

 

If he is replacing gears, I agree, never done it myself. But if he is just replacing carriers its just a drop in thing if you use your old shims. :P.

 

yeah, a few things you should do before you get any further.

-you'll just have to pry the carrier out, with a long screwdriver, etc, the carrier should have a slight preload. When you do this, make sure you keep the shims located on their respective sides(keep the left shim on the left) they will be different sizes, no doubt.

-hopefully, you kept the caps oriented as well, they are machined with the housing to be a match, don't mix em up.

-just because you are not changing gears is no excuse to not re-check the backlash/contact pattern. The carriers may not have been machined exactly the same, the new one could be off a few thousandths, and might require a shim to be changed slightly. always check the tooth patten if you've take a rear apart. you bought an install kit, be sure to read the sections regarding the tooth patterns, and double check that the gears look OK. Odds are, you will be OK with the old shims, but its not 100% foolproof.

-changing the bearings is recommended, if you have a bearing pulling plate and a press. they are necessary for changing carrier bearings, and the main pinion bearing. Seals are easliy replaced with ordinary hand tools. otherwise, if they look ok, you can clean throughly and re-used.

 

Nope I dont remember what side the caps came from? will that cause I BIG problem?

I changing everything in the rear, its now an open rear and Im going to make it posi and im also going to go with 3.42 over the 3.23 gears that are in it now. So yeas Im going to pull it all apart.

Are you crazy! Im not going to do this myself. '
I wish I could but I'll for sure screw it up if I do. I just want to get everything I need and take to someone and have them do it. I'll have the rear in the back of my truck. I'll be like, "hey man, can you set these up for me?"........and hopefully not get raped in the process.

whatcha think?

How much of the install can I do? can I just set the pinion shaft in and the gears? I want to have it as done as I can so I sdont get charged so much.


What else do I need?

 

if you don't know what you're doing or have the tools to do it with leave it alone. the labor should only be 2-3 hours. you don't need to keep the carrier shims on the same side. what you do need to do is not change the total thickness of the shims.

 

There really isn't much you can do yourself except add fluid when it comes back to you. The setup process pretty much completes the install. I've heard some horror stories about people setting up their own rearends. Sometimes you actually have to spread the housing in order to get the new carrier in place. No thanks. I hope everything comes out ok though. Post some pictures of the Posi slabs when you're done. Just make sure you leave enough time for the rear to break in.

 

I just installed the take-off posi and richmond 3.23 gears, and here's a good way to get the carrier out.

Just put a box end wrench on one of the ring gear bolt heads. Then (have a friend) turn the pinion yolk until the wrench hits the top of the pumpkin. The teeth of the pinion gear will tend to push the teeth of the ring gear out, if you do it the right direction. The carrier will walk right out until it no longer contacts the pinion. Then you can just pull it out. It worked great for me; hope it helps.

 

Here's a picture in case what I just said made no sense.

 

Pic:

 

Sounds like a winner..I'll try that tomorrow.

 

I tried this way and it still wouldnt come out. It was coming out cocked eyes and therefore would not come out cause it was crooked....any other ideas? How would I reaend shop get it out if they had the same problem as me?

 

I jumped the gun!.....Never mind... I got it to come out...

whew!

hey will any of the old stuff form the open rear end carrier be used for the install of the SLP posi carrier? Ive already ordered the bearing kit...and I know I''ll use the end caps......but what about eveything else in the old unit?

Also my it didnt come with the wierd sahpd bearing that goes on the pinion shaft toward the gear end...did they forget that in the kit?

 

I think you are talking about the crush sleave. Did you open all of the packaging. When I got my install kit I couldn't find the crush sleave either. It was packaged inside some seals and I just didn't see it until I opened the packaging.

 

Im talking about the bearing that goes on the pinion shaft.

Where the arrow is pointing...my kit did not come with one....The is a picture of the gears that will be here tomorrow...I thought Im suppose to replace that bearing as it would not match up to my housing....

 

heres a pic of the bearing kit I got...that bearing is not in the kit.

 

I can't really tell from the picture of your kit which bearings are which. I would just take everything out of the plastic. Like I said before, I had a hard time telling what was all in my kit before I took it out. I would imagine it should be in there. There should be two bearing for the carrier, two axel bearing, and the pinion bearing. If not I would call whom ever you got the kit from and see whats up.

Good luck on the install.

By the way, what brand of gears are you using

 

you don't need to remove the pinion to swap carriers, only the ring gear.

 

I thought when changing gear ratio your change the pinion and the ring gear? The diffenent teeth on both...
What you saying is you just change the carrier and the ring gear? from what Ive read that doesnt sound right.

Ive already removed everyhting from the hog head....pinion, carrier and gear attached to carrier.

So why wouldnt I get a pinion bearing like pictured with my kit?

 

I think he's assuming that you are only doing the carrier assy. For the gearset, you need to replace both the ring and the pinion.

BTW, your sig pic freaks me out Who (or what) is that?

 

Is a djinn from Wes Cravens movie "Wishmaster". I liked that movie, but then again im a big fan of the nightmare on elm street movies too .

 

id becareful putting all that back togeather. if you set the teeth to tight it will whine and too loose will break em off. i attempted to do a rear myself, but after taking the cover off i gave up, lol, im not screwing that up

 

Oh dont worry Im not even trying to set them gears...taking anything apart is the easiest thing to do.....its the putting back together part hat scres me...I'll go have GM put them in....they told me about $170.

 

Make sure you get a written quote first or you'll get s c r e w e d like I did. I asked for an estimate from the local Pontiac dealer. They told me it would cost $350.00 (labor only, I brought the parts to them), I had them do the work, and when I picked up the car, they slapped a $710.00 bill in front of me! I had two choices, pay the bill, or leave my TransAm for their part time help to abuse as a parts runner while I fought them in court (wouldn't win anyway).

I won't make that mistake again.