been drivin' the old girl for 5 yrs now with 2.73's open carrier,got my limited slip and 4.11's today.get off work tommorrow night around 10:30,gonna tackle this challenge.have never had a problem building or fixing anything,but for this i'm unsettled,is this really that bad of a nightmare or is it just some people lack the mechanical wisdom to attempt a rearend and just want to veer others away from it.cant see paying 400.00 for somebody to assemble my rear.got shims and the compound and literature.
would you guys do it,assuming you enjoy working on your hobby(basically reason i want to do it myself)
thanx,
shane r.

$400? ouch! i have a buddy that does any of them i need for under $100 labor, and if you have alot of pacience you could do it yourself too. i'd rather just pay the $100 and know that it's right. ;)

A friend of mine does quite a few gear swaps. The biggest headache in my opinion is getting the proper shim amount under the inner pinion bearing. To make things easier you can sand the pinion shaft downs where the bearing is so the bearing can be installed by hand. Do this in a lathe or something similar, sand off just enough so the bearing slips on snug. Otherwise you'll be pressing the bearing off and on to change the shim thickness until it is right, sometimes damaging the bearing and or pinion in the process. Usually .012 shim pack is a good starting point. Sanding down the pinion for a snug slip fit bearing installation has worked well, the bearing will still work fine. Take your time and get it right. Also break the gears in per manufacturer's recomendations. graemlins/beers.gif

Yoou should use a dial indicator to get the proper backlash.

Shane,
Buy the Richmond gear video and watch it first. If you have the proper tools (pinion depth gauge and dial indicator) you should be able to do it ok. Its just a matter of having the patience to do it right. You may have to take it apart 10 times before its ok. As soon as you say "thats good enough" you are looking for trouble. If the $400 bucks includes doing it in the car, thats not too bad. I bet it's a good 3-4 hours worth of work from start to finish, IF everything goes ok. Also, dont forget new bearings and seals.

i was also told i could use my old bearings and wallow them out on the carrier and pinion so they all slip on snugly but easily,(setup bearings they called 'em).3-4 hours not bad for self satisfaction,and time alone from the daily grind.
i cant friggin wait 5 years 2.73's UH BUH BYE
shane

A good start is use your old pinion shim.More times than not I have been lucky and the old shim put pinion at right depth.
John

thanx for the help everyone!!is this going to be like a totally different car??
shane

good luck! but don't think about the amount of time it takes, take whatever amount of time is needed to do it right.
i've never been lucky enough to have everything go right and only take 3 or 4 hours to swap in a new gear set, used sets i have, but they're easier to set up i think, since there's already a wear pattern to go by.

I tore mine down on a sunday to do the Eaton / 3.73 swap. I did have my father helping and he has been a mechanic for 40 years. smile.gif But what I would consider the hardest part was the rechecking of the settings and spining the yoke around. Other than that I thought overall it was pretty simple compared to taking the rest of the car apart.