kind of a dumb question but how hard would it be to change the rear end gears on a scale of 1-10 and how long do you think it would take.

thanks

 

Rear gears are sort of in that class of things where "if you have to ask, it isn't for you".

Best advice I can give you, is to get somebody to do it for you, that will let you watch, and will tell you what they're doing and why, as they work. That way you'll also get the chance to see the tools that are required.... which if you don't set up gears, you probably don't have. This would include a dial indicator with magnetic base, something to hold the pinion still while tightening the nut (you can make this cheaply and easily), a good size breaker bar and 1¼" socket, an inch-pound torque wrench (you're looking for a torque in the 20-25 inch-pound range, which is about 2 ft-lbs) and maybe a pinion depth gauge.

 

I've got to agree with RB on this one. If you're dead set on doing it yourself and learning how to do it right you're going to need a couple of tools. Truth be told, if you're dealing with a rear in a 3rd gen it most likely needs to be completely rebuilt, which means presswork to install new bearings, which can also get costly if you don't have a press. If you're only going to do one rear in your life then just get it done professionally. If you're planning to do several then the cost of the tools isn't as big a deal, because if you spread it across 3 or 4 rears it's cheaper than having it done. I went ahead and purchased all the stuff several years ago, and since then I've built at least a dozen rears. Some have been my own, but most have been for proffit. I've paid for the tools several times over by now.

The first rear will take you forever, but once you get the hang of it you'll be able to set one up in only an hour or two with the right tools. I got some very good pointers from a friend of mine who runs a local 4X4 shop. He's done several hundred rears over the years, and he was taught by his father, who ran a ring and pinion school for GM techs for qite some time. The problem is that he sets up everything by feel. No problem for him, because he's done so many, but I needed to learn how to do it with a dial indicator and pounds/inch torque wrench. The ring and pinion setup manual from Randy's Ring & Pinion is a very good reference, and comes free if you buy your gears from them. It's about 16 pages of solid gold. Between the manual, advice from several people, and trying to do it on a rear that wasn't time critical I taught myself how to set up gears. The first one took me a couple of nights to get it right, the second one took me one night, the last one I did took me two hours. It's just like anything else, practice makes perfect, and you pick up little tidbits along the way to make it go faster and easier.