rufretic

iTrader: (37)

I changed my gears over the weekend. It was more difficult than I thought, had to make a few runs to the store for tools(impact wrench=very important) and fluids. It ended up taking me around 20 hours total, a lot of wasted time figuring things out and trips to the store.
Now the good news. I was doubting my backlash so I decided to completely do it over. Did the same install other than pulling the pinion and got the whole thing done in 4 hours. Having the right tools and knowing what your looking at makes a big difference. I'll never have a problem doing the gears again. I recomend doing it yourself if your hands on, it's not too bad. I'm fully prepared to do it all over again if I think it makes too much noise. I think it will be fine now though because my backlash is right on and my wear pattern looks great. All I had to do was switch one shim from one side to the other. Changing the backlash to get it where you want it is actually very simple, it's the time it takes to get it all apart thats a pain.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (17)

Good stuff! I recommend watching someone or helping someone that knows gear installs for the first time. Not that you have to...just what I did. I helped a guy do a gear swap in my jeep. Then my buddy needed a gear swap in his jeep, so I said what the heck, Ill try it, and if I screw it up, Ill pay for it to be geared at a shop.

Ive done about 12 rear since then with no issues. And I agree with you 100%. You NEED the right tools. That makes a world of difference. Not one of those jobs you can substitute tools that will "work"...

If you get the pinion depth right on, the rest of the install is pretty much cake. Setting backlash and getting a pattern and all. There is a tool made to measure pinion depth, and I havent purchased one yet, but Im going to. Because then you can install the pinion and KNOW its where its supposed to be.

Glad you got it together on your own. I always say the two most intimidating jobs are re-gearing and rebuilding a trans. If you can do those two things, I think you can do anything mechanical on the car.

J.

rufretic

iTrader: (37)

Just an update, I took if for a ride last night. It seemed like I got it right, no noise, vibration or anything. I'm glad I took it apart the second time because if it's this good now, It most likely would have been a bad job(noisy) the first time.