I am not to knowledgable on rear end's. I am stuck right now without out a car and not a whole lot of money. I have a 91 RS with a 10 bolt rear end and I believe with 2.73 gears. The goal I want to achieve are 3.42 gears with posi and disc brakes. I definately need a new ring and pinion gear. I would like to know what years had this if any and what years I can at least get the ring and pinion that I want. Or maybe a company with good prices and I will buy the gears new. Can someone help or make some suggestions?

 

you'd only find disk and 3:42 on the early third gen rears, or 4th gen rears. i wouldn't run a used gear set.

 

why not?

 

I've got to agree with ede on this one. New Yukon Gears are $180 I think. That's cheap insurance. I know they will set up right, I know they won't make noise, I know I won't ever have a problem with them. My time and peace of mind are worth way more than the cost difference between used gears and new.

Your best bet would be to install new gears and a posi in your existing rear, and then upgrade to rear discs later. You should already have the good 28-spline axels, and an earlier rear will have the weaker 26s. There are problems with the non PBR caipers too from what I've heard. The disc brake rears also command a heftier price at the salvage yard. The problem with a junkyard rear is you know nothing about it. The bearings could be shot. The gearset could be rusty and damaged from years of sitting around. Most likely you'll end up with a rear that is in the same boat as the existing rear in your car. The difference is you get the gear ratio you want and possibly discs and a posi (that's also probably burned up anyway). You always have to remember that junkyard cars are there for a reason. They suffered a major collision, or failure that was too costly to merit repairing. The part you want may well be the part that failed, and sometimes it's impossible to tell without tearing the thing down.

Call Randy's Ring & Pinion, or check out their website at www.ringpinion.com Their prices are great, and the service is unbeatable. New ring and pinion is $180 I think, maybe even less. New Auburn posis are $350. The master rebuild kit is $95. New axel bearings and seals are also a good idea, and the total cost is like $75 I think. Then you've got to get it installed, which you should be able to get done for aroudn $250. That's what I charge, and other competant shops in this area are similar. 4X4 shops are good places to check since they do gears all the time. You'll get a better price at the places that do the work often and know the ins and outs.

 

Thanks guys for the info. I think I will look into the new gears and just stick to that for now. As far as installation I will do that and save me some money. So you said yukon gears? Do they not make that ration for our cars specifically?

 

Hay man I just got a set of gear's from randy's . Got a great deal from them I spent 170 $ but I bought everything from them call them and talk to Kyle EXT 5855 Verry helpfull . If you are real jamed for cash I will send you my set of gear's for the cost of shipping , but as the the guy's mentioned up above it's probley not a good idea . I rely on what these guy say they know what they are talking about . Bin in your position too , think about it this is no tune up job do a search and see what's involved . Take a look at this I found on google or altvista think it's from one of our member's (GM 10-bolt build-up, part ll) hope you find it .Good Luck .

 

The Yukons are available in all the typical GM ratios. 2.73, 3.08, 3.42, 3.73, and 4.11. You will not be sorry, they are great gears. With the gears you will get Randy's installation guide. This is several pages of pure gold on how to set up gears. Learn as much as you can before attempting it. It isn't hard per se, but you have to be precise. Get or borrow a good micrometer that reads to .00005" accurately. Digital ones from Harbor Freight are like $17. You'll be suprised how many things you'll use it for. You'll also need a dial indicator and a magnetic base. I got mine from Harbor Freight too, at a cost of about $35 for both. I had to modify the indicator to make it work onthe mag base, but no big deal. I made a new back cover for it with a tab on it to allow it to be secured on the arm of the magnetic base. You'll also need an inch/lbs torque wrench or a drag gauge. It needs to be able to read down to like 10 inch/lbs. An impact gun helps, but isn't strictly necessary. Alternately you will need a way to hold the yoke still while torquing down the pinion nut. It will take about 300 lbs/ft to start the crush sleeve, so if you can hold it with one hand and torque it with the other I'm sure many men fear you.

A press is handy, but I've done rears without one. A set of brass drifts (Harbor Freight again, like $9) and a ball peen hammer can drive bearings on and races in. You may need a whiz wheel and a chisel to get the side bearings off the carrier, or a really good two jaw puller can be used with some improvization. Everything else is simple hand tools.

A word of advice, get a spare inner pinion bearing. Hone or grind it until it is a slip fit. Use if for setup, and then install a new one for final assembly. Otherwise you have to press on and then remove the bearing if you've got to change shims. You'll most certainly ruin the bearing doing this, even with a press and a clamshell.

Start with a factory thickness shim on the pinion, and adjust side shims until you get the right backlash (.005-.010"). Yukons always seem to set up with near factory shims.

 

Thanks for all the info. I will probably look into Randy's and get the gears and kit.