Are all 10 bolt 7.5" rear end gears the same? Aside from the carrier series, is a 3.23 gear (for example) the same through everything they were put in. Should I be able to pull the guts out of any 10 bolt 7.5" with 26 spline and it will fit in my TA?

 

Ring and pinion have to stay together. Gear mesh should be marked and recorded and the duplicated as closely as possible in it's new home. I don't know if they are ALL interchangable. See if a parts guy can tell you how many bearing kit part numbers they list for a 7.5.

 

Any 7.5/7.625 gear set will interchange to any carrier as long as its the same series carriers. Like stated above, if they are used you HAVE to keep them as a set and try to set them up exactly as they were before.

any 1977-2002 7.5/7.625 10 bolt rear will interchange

Edit:

Keep in mind 3.08 and numerically lower (higher gear) is 2 series, 3.23 and numerically higher (lower gear) is 3 series

 

Providing you're also taking out the pinion gear, yes, you can pull the gear set and carrier from any other 10 bolt 26 spline 7.5" diff and put it into yours. The gears will still need to be set up properly. If you pull just the ring and pinion out, they can only go on another carrier of the same series. So if you found a good gear set on an open carrier and wanted to install them on a posi, the posi needs to be for that series of gears.

Your choice of 7.5" 10 bolts isn't limited to just third gens. 80's G-bodies, Astro vans and S10/S15 pickups all use the same 7.5" ring and pinion.

Around 1986, the gear size changed from 7-1/2" to 7-5/8". They'll still interchange on the same carriers but the ring gear is slightly larger and stronger.

 

Thanks fella's, thats what I needed to know. My best source of parts here, way on the right coast, is Ebay. Any actual third gen cars in the JY's are crushed or stripped to the skeleton. It took me three weeks just to find a driveshaft that would fit. Of course it would be a totally different story if I owned a Ford pickup or a minivan.