""Ring & Pinion, Ford 10.25", 3.08 PRECISION GEAR SHORT SPLINE FITS 92 & OLDER OR 93+ WILL NEED A YOKE TOO""

If I read this correctly, it will fit before and after 1992, but 1993 and up will need a different yoke.

Most of these web stores have a 1-800 number that you can call, and they should know what type of R&P set you need. Just specify the year of your rig if you are unsure.

 

So any ideas on how to change this?

 

If your differential is 1989, it should fit no problem with your current yoke.

 

ok...so how do you install one?

 

Does anybody know what kind of RPM's I'd get doing 60mph with the 3.08's?

 

OK, now I get what you are asking, I'll get it (eventially).

here goes.....

Block the front wheels, and raise the rear ones off the ground, since you will need to rotate each hub to reinstall the axle shafts. You will also have to place the transmission in neutral, so use good blocks.

You start by removing both axle shafts, which is really easy since this is a full floater axle. just unbolt the flanges at the hub and the slide out (they are heavy).

Now you can start on the differential carrier. Pop the cover off, and you will see one bearing cap on each side of the differential carrier. Remove those caps, and the carrier can come out. The carrier is also very heavy, so be carefull here, you wouldn't want to damage it, or yourself. I used a set of blocks in a creaper to roll the carrier out of the differential housing and onto the creaper, once there, I slid the works out from under the truck.

The pinion is held in by a nut in the pinion shaft, if you disconnect the driveshaft from the differential, you can see it as it also holds the yoke in.
You want to break the torque on this nut BEFORE removing the carrier and axles, otherwise there will be no way to keep it from spinning. once the nut is off, the pinion is removed through the housing of the differential.

The ring gear (or crown) is replaced with the diffy carrier on a work bench, use locktite as per directions with new set (they should also have torque specs).

The pinion is simply popped into the housing with any old shims that the OEM may have already had (using the factory settings is usually a good starting point).

Now you put the carrier back in to see how the gears line up, no need to put lots of torque on anything yet, just make sure theres no slop.

Use some light colored ink to pain the gear teath to observe the gear tracking pattern, you want the contact areas to be in the center of the teath as much as possible. Again, your gears should come with instuctions on how to observe the gear tracking pattern.

Once your happy with how everything lines up, put it all back together with new gear oil and take it for an easy drive. Don't push it hard and pay attention to any strange noises or vibrations. When you get back, check to see how warm the differential is to make sure its not overheating.

If all goes well you can change the gear oil after 750 Kms and recheck the tracking pattern while your at it.

DISCLAIMER: This is how I did it, and as I said so far so good, but I make no claims that its by the book.

Some good info here, and diagrams to show gear tracking too:

http://www.drivetrain.com/ringpinioninstal.html

 

About 2100 RPM (closer to 2200 with TC slip).

 

Ok...so if I bought the rack and pinion for my truck, could I just take it to some driveline place and say "here, change it!" and that would be that? How much do you figure it would cost to change? I would change it, but I just dont have the tools to do it.

 

None of the vehicles in my house have been to a shop in over 6 years, so I'm really not sure what it would cost to have it done by a shop.

I remember in a similar discussion, one user said he was quoted some $800 just for the shop time.

Your best bet would be to call around and see what shops are charging for differential service, before getting the gears.

The only special tool I used was a 1/2" drive breaker bar and a 4' cheater pipe to torque the the pinion nut, the rest was just a standard socket set, and torque wrench for all the bolts other than the pinion.

 

in all honesty man i would REALLY go with an overdrive unit, evven if you opt not to go the e4od route, at least look at something from gearvendors, or another overdrive unit not so complex if you worried about price (though the GV unit is a very nice and well built unit) trust me, an over drive opens you up to SO many more options when it comes to gearing (trust me, thats how my 91 super duty can get away with running 5.13 cogs in the *** and not grenade) though she ain't comforatable at 70 (3100 RPM), and i will be swapping them for 4.10's... but these 5.13's were factory, and just an fyi, at 50-55 mph i could pull off 16-18 mpg, towing a 16 ft flatbed with a car, lower gear ratios help curve fuel economy to a point, but the Big 3 learned this back in the 70's/80's already, you can only go so low before you start to hurt fuel economy, not to mention SEVERLY dampen performance. if you think your truck is slow now, just wait till you throw 3.08's on it, i know, diesels don't like to rev, but 3.08's with no form of a creeper gear on a truck is asking for a kick to the *********. and trust me on this one, you will save money by just doing a gear swap, but you will not be satisfied with the performance you recieve. believe me, i've got a 1978 buick century special with the 90 hp 196 ci (3.2L) buick V6 (based off the 3.8) and this thing is a DOG of the line. i have never driven, nor been in, a slower (accelerating) vehicle, (thats why i got a 500 CI caddy to take its place, with a 700-r4 and 3.73's or 4.10's in the rear)

just some advice from someone who has been there

 

Hmm...you do make some pretty valid points, but I dont have 3 grand to drop on that friggen gear vendors overrdrive unit. I'm looking for something inexpensive to get better fuel economy. I'm getting like 10MPG, if that...its really gay, like I said before I only get like 300km's to a tank of fuel, which in my mind really sucks bad and I'm at the point where I either wanna make this economic or just get rid of it and get a little car.

At this point, the 3.08's sound like the best option for me right now. How do I know if I buy the overdrive unit from gear vendors that it's not gonna crap out on me 100,000km's from now? There goes a waste of money. I'm really trying to avoid buying a newer vehicle because its a bunch of computer infested junk. So I'm trying to make this truck somewhat economic. So lets say I do get the GV overdrive unit, I have a C6 and what kind of a drop in RPM am I going to see once it's installed? What kind of RPM am I gonna get doing 100km/hr or 62mph?

 

Hmm...doesn't sound too difficult, but I dont know all of the terminology of the parts that are inside the differential. I don't know what a "cheater pipe" or how many lbs of torque to torque the bolts. What do you think about what the other guy said? Do you think he's right and I should just put in gear vendors instead?

 

A GV overdrive will effectively give you the fnal drive ratio of a 3.23 ratio if memory serves (with a 4.10 rear end). They are aproven unit, and also give the ability to "split" gears since it can be activated in any gear (turns your 3 speed C6 into a 6 speed). But the transmission extention housing has to be replaced with an adapter housing to attach it to the OD unit, and the driveshaft will have to be shortened, and rebalanced. Overall, I think its just as much work, but more expencive. Used ones can be found, but they are in high demand, so don't expect a bargain.

Cruising RPM will be similar, though not quite as good as a 3.08 ratio differental. Guessing around 2350 @ 60 mph.

While I can apreciate OLBESSIE's experience, I have driven the exact same truck with 4.10 gears and 3.08 gears, and yes, there is a difference, but the torque converter acts as the "creaper gear" to some extent, and compensates for the higher gearing.

The difference that you feel is only below 10-20 mph when loaded, after that the slip gets taken up, and and the tranny simply upshifts later on as you accellerate (for WOT, 1-2 @ 55KPH (32), 2-3 @ 85KPH (53)).

For running empty, I could still hold pace with most of the new trucks up to about 50 KPH, after that the 6.9 ran out of torque (no turbo back then).

It really depends on how much you plan on towing with the truck, normally I don't tow more than 3000lbs, but I have moved more without problems. If you plan on towing more than 5000lbs consistently, then 3.08s will make the truck sluggish off the line, but again, once you pass 10-20 mph, there isn't any difference. Climbing a steep incline such as a boat ramp with 5000lbs will be more difficult, but still possible.

If you want to get a basic idea of how the truck will behave with 3.08s, try to start from standstill with the gear selector in "2". With 3.08s you will still have more "umph" than with 4.10s in second gear.

If most of your driving is empty, then I still say 3.08s are the best option.

A cheater pipe is just a pipe that you put on the handle of the wrench to extend the length of the handle to get more leverage, and more torque.

A torque multiplier is avalable and can be rented in some cases to get the higher torque without having a big acward handle under the truck. Torque wrenches are not as expencive as they used to be either, but I didn't use one for the pinion nut, since in THAT size range they are expencive. But you can gestimate the torque based on how much force you apply, and on how long the handle is.

One final note. This differential comes from factory with a crush sleave for a pinion bearing spacer, this does require a specific torque to get the pinion preload right, but aftermarket spacers are avalable that can be simply shimmed to get the correct spacing, and the torque can now be less precice.

 

Hmm, I don't think i really plan on towing anything at all, at least not for a long time, I might pull a small u-haul trailer or something, but thats nothing. Basically right now, my truck is strictly being used for transportation. I just wanna get something that will give me like a 30% increase in fuel economy. Maybe bounce the fuel economy up to 450km's a tank instead of 350km. I really have no idea what you're talking about in terms of parts of the differential. But this is what I cant decide. I spend 300$ and get a rack and pinion, or I spend 3 grand and get a final drive ration of 3.23 versus 3.08. Only problem is, the 3.08 is fixed, and the GV is variable. I assume the GV unit is pretty easy to install? Speaking of GV, i found a couple links of a few auctions online, check these out. Tell me what you think.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/J-TYP...spagenameZWDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GEAR-VENDOR-C6-ADAPTER-LAYCOCK-OVERDRIVE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33727QQihZ019 QQitemZ290169585785QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

I think the overdrives are relatively easy to install. Some of the older ones required modification of the floor (sledge hammer), but this one looks fairly compact. If you look under your truck at the transmission, you will notice the case is made of two pieces, the main case, and the extention housing.

The dual range overdrives actually replace the extention housing on the trasmission, so it can get a little messy, and you will have to drop the transmission pan to drain the fliud first, but it "should" be a bolt on job. But again, the driveshaft will have to be shortened, and I don't know how much that will cost.

However, I can't speak form experience with the OD units because I never had one, and probably never will since they are so expencinve, but everyone that runs one seems to be happy with them.

I have heard of Dual Range, US Gear, and Gear Vendors, but haven't heard of this one before, you might want to google the name of this unit and make sure its not some sort of knock-off that will break on you later on.

If I lived closer, I would give you a hand to swap the gears, but at the very least, I could talk you through it, if you decide to try the swap later on.