A new carrier was required with the 4.56
gears, I put the ring gear in the oven
to heat it up a little and it seated on
the new carrier just fine. New bolts
came with the install kit along with a
small tube of thread sealer. I re-used
the oil slinger and the old shims to
install the new pinion gear. The old
shims were in great shape and I figured
the distances should be pretty close.
Once the new bearings are pressed on and
the pinion gear is installed, tighten
the yoke nut down until the bearings have
just made contact with the race. This is
the preload. The new bearings need to be
pressed on the new carrier and then the
new races are placed on the bearings and
the new carrier is inserted. Take
special care in making sure the bearing
caps are installed exactly as they were
removed. Torque the cap bolts and get
ready for the fun. I had both a dial
micometer and gear marking compound. The
gear set up requires a good combination
of forward pull and backlash. The
micometer will give you the exact
measurement, or you can use the gear
marking compound to ascertain your work.
Me, I used both. That thing went
together like it was meant to be.
Finished torqueing it down and got ready
for the EZ locker.
The EZ locker is fairly simple and the
instructions are pretty good. I read
through then a couple of times and all
the pieces fit right in. The only
problem was, no clearance for the axle
stub retaining ring. This is where the
infamous spring loaded stub axle became
a part of my Bronco.
