Today i started to work on my gear and carrier swap. I am swapping a Gov-Locking carrier with a set of 3.73 gears to replace my open diff. I got everything i need to replace the carrier and change my gears (that im aware of). I no it's a lot easier to just swap a locking axle assembly but i like doing things the hard way. It's also a good experience for me.

Anyway i took the axle assembly out of my car today. I found out i had 2.73 gears in my car. I am planning to take the assembly apart, sandblast and paint the housing, reassemble it with the locking carrier and 3.73 gears, and install back into car before i go back to college on the 25th of jan. Should be intreresting. I'll post pictures and progress and i'm sure ill have plenty of questions as time goes on.

 

Ok so i got everything disassembled today and installed new races in the axle housing.
I now have a question about my pinion depth. So the used 3.73 pinion i got has the inner bearing still pressed on it. So could i replace the inner bearing and use the same shims? And how can i determine my correct pinion depth?

Sorry the pics might be a little blurry. Numbers on gears= 11-41 2N

Any info is greatly appreciated! Thanx

 

If you put new races in the housing then you need to use new bearings too. The original shim is a good starting place, but may not be the correct shim for the housing that you are using. Setting the pinion depth is a trial and error process and requires assembling and disassembling everything several times to get it right.

 

ok yeah i'm replacing all the bearings. I am assembling everything untill i get the correct backlash and bearing preload right? Thanx for the info

 

Pinion depth is the hardest to get right. Setting the bearing preload and backlash are not that hard.