hey guys,
about a month ago after getting my new TC in my truck my rear end blew out in my truck.
and i noticed that my ring gear is like brand new, but the pinion gears is buggered up. so i was wondering if you can buy a pinion gear separately??? i searched the net and they only had the sets.

ohh and another thing. i bought a new rear from a junkyard but it is a 355 LS and not my 410. do i just change the R&P gear to make it a 410 or is there more involved? and where is the best place to get R&P gears?

Thank you guys
Mitch

 

Ohh and another thing. if i did stay with the 3:55 how much low end TQ would i lose out on, and would it seem slower off the start? i like the TQ and pick up the truck has right now. but dont like the 11city-16hyw mpg im getting. think the 3:55 would jump that up? give me your ideas
Mitch

 

Nobody.....
mitch

 

ring and pinions are only sold together because they are matched sets from the factory. never mix-match ring gears and pinions! you might pick up a little mpg depending on your tire size. what size tires are you running?

 

Swap the axles would be the cheapest way to go. Not to hard with an extra pair of hands. New R&P and bearings can be expensive. ~300-500$ I'm guessing.

The 3:55 gears reduce the amount of weight you can haul/pull. You won't notice much difference but your tranny will.

 

i agree, you should be able to find a whole sterling to swap under your truck with the correct gear ratio for less than a gear swap. theres a few yards here in GA that doesnt price each part by specifics but just group them all together. example, i can buy a sterling 10.25 rear and D60 front for $300 if i were to find them in one of those yards (that is very rare!). all transmissions are b/t $100-150 and motors are $200 regardless of condition. i'd go yard hoppin before i spent money on doing gear setup

-cutts-

 

Well the thing is i was in a pinch. my dad wont let me drive his 5.4 any more {haha not that i wanna drive that dog} because he saw how bald his tires were lol. but i got the rear carrier and the bearing spacers and the things that go over the bearings, the bearing racers i think i heard him call it? for 20 dollars and it was in dang i mean dang good condition. looks like brand fricken new. but it had a 3:55 ring gear on it and he did not have the pin. so i was wondering if i could have taken my 4:10 ring gear off of the old one and put in in place of the 3:55?????? i dont know if you can or not but i did it. i had no choice but to i needed a truck for work.
is this ok to do or is there some kind of problem that i dont know? i put about 300 miles on the truck today and yesterday and dont hear any noise and i can put my hand on the rear cover and its not hot at all.
ohh and cheap axles????? i called the yards the day after the truck broke and they wanted 600 dollars for a sterling 10.25" with 4:10ls. USED!! and 1600 for a new one.
so what did i do wrong on this swap guys?? let me know before she takes a ****.
thanks
Mitch

 

The R&P from the 4:10 gear must be installed together, same for the 3:55. Everything else is interchangable. IF there is no abnormal noise and the differential isn't running hot, then it should be OK IMO.

 

Are you talking about the spider gears rather than pinion gear? the pinion is what your yoke and dirve shaft attach to. the spider gears are the 4 small gears inside the carrier. the carrier is what the ring gear bolts to.

If your ring and pinion are good yes you can just change out the carrier as long as you backlash is set correctly. The pinion gears are availible seperately but the route you went is a very good solution.

 

On my old carrier the spider gears were shot and ruined the case when they exploded. so i needed a new carrier. so i bought one with a 3:55 ring gear on it but did not have a 3:55 Pinion gear. so i took my old carrier with the 4:10 RG on it, took it off then took the new carrier with the 3:55 i got, took the 3:55 RG off and put the 4:10 on the new carrier. and i have the R&P set so im not mix and matching to make that long story^ short.
also how do you check backlash?
thanks
Mitch

 

ok mitch your on the right track! you had me concern cause you were calling the spider gears pinion gears and all that had me a bit confused on what what really bad and what you were swapping in. But your straight and good to go.

To check backlash is pretty easy if your experienced at building diffs. I am not but my dad jsut does it by feel. the to the book way is with a dial indictor. back lash is the free movement of the ring gear in mess with the pinion. so with your hand on the ring gear rotate it up all the way and then rotate is downward. the amount of free movement is backlash. too little and you will create too much friction and heat. too much and you will have a clunk and excess wear. both leading to premature failure.

I beleive spec is about .010 of an inch.