anybody swap their own rear end gears. it has been 15 years since ive done this, and that was on a 8.8 i didnt really care about. i just kinda measured and called it good enough. i am really hating these 4.10's in my dually and want to put in the 3.55's from my 97.

 

Yup, doing the opposite here. Going from 3.55 to 4.10's on mine, also including the LS. Its not hard at all! After the little escipade you had swapping your engine, this is going to be cake!

Unbolt the axles at the hubs, pop them out about 4-6".
Unbolt the rear differential cover, drain gear oil.
Unbolt the driveline at the yoke closest to the pumpkin.
Unbolt the large recessed nut inside the rear yoke.
Unbolt the '4' bolts inside the differential holding the planitary gears (2 on each side of gears, cant miss em).
Pull gear assembly out.
With a large hammer and tons of patience, strike the bolt face surface of the pinion gear from outside the differential, inward.

Reveres order to install. The pinion gear is the biggest challenge, just because they like to stick into the bearing hole of the differential!

This would also be a good time to go ahead and do that axle bolt-up upgrade at the hubs!

 

i am also gonna throw in the LS unit from the 97. i know how to do the swap, what iam worried about is... setting the pinion depth correctly. i dont want my axle to explode in a week

 

As long as you arent seperating the gears inside the planitary assembly, you shouldnt have any issues. Just double check the torque specs for the 4 inside assembly bolts and the yoke nut for the pinion gear. I dont have the specs in front of me at this moment, but if you need, I can go venturing out and get those.

I think most of those nightmares you hear about, is when the actual ring gear is seperated from the gear assembly, shims are dropped and so on, then re-assembly doesnt go as well as some hoped. If you leave it as a solid unit and dont fuss with it, you're good! If its still a concern, the only area I payed any extra attention to, was after I bolted in the new gear assembly, I took a feeler guage to each side of the planitary gear where it surfaces against the axle housing and bolt cap, and made sure it was equal on both sides. It was!

 

i really want to just pull the gears from one housing and toss them into the other, carrier and all. iam just not sure if i can, it should be close

 

Thats the same thing I did. I didnt go and seperate the gears from tha assembly. All those shims to organize and place back into the correct spacing and what not.. yeah, I wasnt game for it myself! If you can get away with swapping the whole planitary, thats the easiest and safest I played.

 

i really hope it can go like that. i really hate these 4.10's

 

Dude! Where were you a while back?! I am a gear newbie to the max. I wanted to get my 4.10s out and put in 3.55 LS unit from a parts truck. Everyone said there was no safe way to get only the gearset out and put it into my carrier becuase they'd never shim up again so I swapped the stupid axle. Ended up being a pain in the butt and cost me way more than I was hoping for just a swap.
I've still yet to do the front end of the stupid Dana 50. Do you think it can be done by the same method because that sure woiuld save some headache?

 

Have you driven it since doing that? No whining or extra noises?

 

Well, I went ahead and did the swap. Took about 3 he's to pull 2 sets and install one. Everything went smooth, the pinion was kinda tuff to tighten. Anyway, they mesh smooth as can be,and I love the difference already. If my axle explodes I am heading to Arizona to get them set lol!

 

BTW, go see the new resident evil on 3d. Its awesome

 

George, yer gears go nutts on ya, let me know! You can have mine! I was gonna toss them, but since you like these things I will keep a hold of them just for you! I did this on a few trucks for an outfit I worked for years back. It was cheaper for the outfit to have me do the work, and it kept me off the road (I hate driving for companies). LOL!

Jake, see.. if you would have told me you were doing this, I would have even set up a time to stop by, I wasnt too far from you not too long ago!

The big fear factor that comes into play, is when people want to keep their planitary gear housings, and swap out gears only. The gears themselves are shimmed and spaced specifically inside the planitary housing. You go and seperate those gear out of the housing unit, remove shims and spacers, then you have to guage them back in exactly. The housing unit itself is held in by the two caps and four bolts, and can not be adjusted. Its torqued down, along with the pinion gear.

As for that D-50, whew.. I will peak into that one. I think there is a bit more to it and its been a while since I have played around with the front axle, as compared to constantly dorking around with the rear!

 

As smooth as everything went, I think it'll be fine. BTW, What is your name? Its. Not in your sig.

 

Chris! And I will drop you a PM!

 

Got it,plus some extra letters to let me post