Rear/Front end Rebuild...With Write-up and Pictures

[Biggwaukegan]

Ok fellas...As promised Im gonna help anyone out who may need to do this in the future. Write up and Pictures of Front/Rear Gears with Detroit TruTrac in the back. Replacing the stock 3.73s with Beefy Ass 4.56s...Also gonna slap on the Mag-Hytech Differential Cover(which is a friggin beast in its own right!)...Just keep up on this post every day and Ill whip it up like fake potatoes.

 

[Biggwaukegan]

Old pan getting popped off. Remove all the bolts on it. Be careful with the one that has the metal clip attached to it...

 

[Biggwaukegan]

As you can see the BS locker from chevy finally went BOOM!! Lost a bunch of teeth and it was pounding hard when it took the ride down the street to the shop. Marked the most damaged area with an X if it helps.

---------- Post added at 05:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------

Then you take out this screw with the wrench on it. And the bolt next to it...

 

[Biggwaukegan]

 

[ravingmadman]

This needs to be in the tech section, admins. BigW, you are nucking futs. I love you, mang. Keep this post going.

 

[992door]

Have you ever heard of these 2 things

they work wonders.


How was driving around with 35's and 3.73?

 

[ravingmadman]

I've got 35's, and 3.73's. It isn't bad. With 35's, I'm not looking for launch. Of note, going from stock tires and 3.42 gears, to 35's with 3.73 gears puts the speedometer back to pretty much right on, I've found.

With gears, it must also be understood that the lower the gearing (higher the ratio), the weaker the diff will be. If you have a 10:1 ratio, the teeth would be so small that any modest torque would sheer the teeth off.

My rig is a daily driver, and I like to fling mud, snow, and cats. The 3.73's give me enough juice to really spin the wheels when I need to, but when I shift the transfer case, I can still really creep. 4.56's are a pretty good choice too.

 

[bowtiefreak]

this will be a good thread, A+

On a side note and no arguements please. 3.73 with a 35 is a dog, end of story. I run a stoudt 383 and had 3.73 with a 35 and it sucked. I now run 4.56 and have days where I wish I would have done a 4.88

 

[Biggwaukegan]

Remove the C clip or shim with a magnet....Easiest way. Remove the bolts and clip. Then pound the Pinion out. Once you remove the old pinion you gotta remove the old racers. Then your housing is empty...

 

[Biggwaukegan]

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[Biggwaukegan]

Now then... After you crack a few back and get a good buzz rollin...Grab a can or 2 of brake cleaner, some shop towels and have at the inside of the housing. Get all the spots including where the fluid retracts back into the housing. Go ahead and scrape and sand the old gasket area to so its prepped for reinstallation. Make sure to get the areas where the new racers are gonna get pushed in real well. Dont want ANYTHING IN THE WAY OF THE NEW RACERS!!

---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 PM ----------

More pics and write up in about 2 hours

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

heres it all cleaned up and shiny. Plus a look at the old BS locker and my new TruTrac

 

[Biggwaukegan]

[/attach]

 

[bowtiefreak]

looking good

 

[jcooklock]

quick question. how much play, if any, should there be where the drive shaft enters the axle? bc I have a good 3 to 4 milimeters of play (truck rocking back and forth) I assume this isnt right. what would be the problem, and best coarse of action to fix it?

 

[Biggwaukegan]

there should be VERY LITTLE PLAY. if you got to much then 2 things are gonna happen. A. Your bearings are going bad and will need to be replaced...and B. Your rear end is gonna need new gears real soon.

 

[blackcoffee]

Nice thread. I appreciate it. Move it to technical write ups though so I won't have to sort through General Discussion later on.

 

[jcooklock]

there should be VERY LITTLE PLAY. if you got to much then 2 things are gonna happen. A. Your bearings are going bad and will need to be replaced...and B. Your rear end is gonna need new gears real soon.

When I looked in the pumpkin the gears looked good with no wear and tear, but I guess it could be something I can see.

 

[Biggwaukegan]

what it could be is your bearings going bad...which will eventually lead to a full blown rear end problem when sht hits the fan.

 

[Biggwaukegan]

Sorry about the delay guys...Been busy with work, holidays and getting a dam dial indicator ordered. Anyways Im gonna finish up tonight or tomorrow with the rear rebuild. got the dam thing together just have to check the lash with a dial indicator. Ill post all the write up and pics. Then we will move on to the mysterious front end IFS. Seems I cant find shit about it in my book or online. Weird. so Ill make sure I do a proper write up and pics on that too. Seems like all this info should help the next in line. Honestly Ive taken my sweet ass time but who cares.

---------- Post added at 09:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 AM ----------

OK...back on track..Take the piston and new TruTrac (carrier) and to the machine shop and have em press on the bearings. They will clean all machining grease off the parts when you drop em off.

 

[Biggwaukegan]

take one more look at the old and the new. UNREAL>


Now then. You went and had your bearings pressed. Got your shit back. Now throw the crush sleeve on the pinion. Grease the bearings (makes a HUGE difference) and put your new racer in if you havent already.


Heres our crush sleeve tool. and a BIG MF Hammer


Heres the new pinion sitting in flush with the new seal and crush sleeve crushed!