I haven't ever done a rear disc swap and have never opened up a rear diff. So, forgive me if this is a silly question. When I remove the c-clips, do the spider gears (open 10 bolt) have to be removed? If so, how do I put them back in properly?

we just dealt with this on my swap...if you're careful then you can do it without the spider gears falling out...just don't rotate the axles after you remove the c-clips, just pull the axles straight out.

if they do end up falling out like they did with me, you just have to get the gears to line up correctly and they will go back in, would have saved alot of time and frustration if they didn't fall out though.

pull the big pin out, push the axles in, pull the C-Clips,pull the axles out. Then, before moving anything put the big pin back in to hold all the stuff in place. It can be a real PITA getting the spiders and their shims back in.

pull the big pin out, push the axles in, pull the C-Clips,pull the axles out. Then, before moving anything put the big pin back in to hold all the stuff in place. It can be a real PITA getting the spiders and their shims back in.

That is a great way to do it. Tomorrow will be the day I do it, so thanks for the advice!

Guys, I have a follow up question to this job. I didn't really ever measure the length of the wheel studs because they weren't changing. But, it seems like the disc is thicker than the old drums were so I'm not getting full thread engagement now. Is this a common occurrence with disc swaps? Can someone with stock rear drums measure the stud length from the drum so that I can see if my studs are "shorter" now due to the thickness of the disc.

hey...i ran into this same issue myself...rear studs came up short after the swap...i actually just picked up some new studs today! the best bet is to find out what the knurl diamension is by actually measuring it...mine came up different from what was stock. could be because it's not an original rear end.