I have 2 questions.
1'st is what tool do i need to pull the bearings off of the carrier to replace them with the new ones? I know i need a slide hammer to get the axle bearing out.....

and #2 is does anyone know of a thread to help me get the ring and pinion meshed together correctly? This is my first rebuild obviously, i bought Motive 3.73 gears, a ratech master rebuild kit that contains what should be everything i need, but i dont know what i am doing i guess. I put the marking compound on there, spun it around a few times and they are barely touching. It appaers to me the ring gear needs to be shifted towards the center of the dif about 3/16" to mesh correctly. Does adding a ring gear spacer sound like the right approach?

 

This is my bearing puller. It is made for pulling differential bearings. There re other bearing pullers that might work. If you can't find something then cut the cage off of the bearing and remove all of the rollers. Use a MIG welder and run a hot bead around the inner race. This will loosen it and you should be able to get it off with a hammer and punch. If it doesn't loosen it enough then run another bead around it.

As for the contact pattern, you don't move the ring gear, you move the pinion. Always keep the ring gear backlash the same. It should be about .007 to .009. Changing the pinion depth is what will ghange the contact pattern. If the pattern is at the root of the tooth then use a thinner pinion shim. If the pattern is at the face of the tooth then add a thicker pinion shim. Good luck with the Ratech kit. That's about the worst one that you can get. If you find that you don't have the right shims to do the job then let me know. I've got some that will work.

 

Well thanks for the info but what if i dont have those tools available? Right now i have no way of getting the bearing off of the pinion gear to get shims on it. I looked for a bearing puller like yours but i dont have 600 bucks to blow just to get this rearend rebuilt, and right now i cant find any one locally that can or will do it for me. So right now i am stuck with a pile of new parts and nothing i can do to get this back together.....

 

For the pinion bearing you are going to need one of these and a press. Most machine shops have these and should be willing to help. I'm sure that they are going to want some money for doing it. Do you have a vocational school close to you? They might be willing to help for free.

 

Can you use one of those splitters without a press? Probably not huh? Will it damage the bearing? I assume not since you need to pull the bearing multiple times in order to get the shims correct ( i assume).

As far as paying, i dont mind paying, i just cant couldnt find anyone that would help me, or could help me. Unless i drove the car into the garage and they could use there own parts and warranty the work blah, blah, blah... obviosly i cant drive the car to there shop. I got a number for a guy but i cant call him until tomorrow. i guess we will see what happens with that.

 

Some of the bearing seperators are made so that you can use a puller with them. It would take a large puller to remove a pinion bearing. Try a vocational school.

 

Ok, I know it's been but I went ahead and bought myself a press, now that it's warm. I got all the bearings pulled and replaced. I replaced all the races. I have shim that came with kit underneath the pinion gear bearing and I still can't seem to get any marks in the marking compound. They are obviously making contact becuase whe i spin the pinion gear the differential turns. Everything is seated properly or so it seems. What the he'll am I missing?

 

Sorry, I meant I have all the shims that came in the kit under the pinion bearing

 

Start with about .035 pinion shim and see what you get. Set the backlash to .008 and check the pattern.

 

Thanks man, I think I got it though. I shimmed the differential a little to reduce the backlash and it made better (not ideal) but better contact. So I put it back together for now. I will order a new crush sleeve and shims and redo it before I ever put power to it. I just need to get the wheels under so I can roll it in and out of the garage right now.