I have a 1998 Trans-am with a 6 speed manual. I have looked everywhere, and I cannot find a how to. I have my new GM 4.10 gears comming on Monday, and this will be my first gear install. I want to get it right the first time. In case this has already been covered, I did search the forum, and googled it, and I still couldnt find anything. Thanks for the help.

 

That's because not many people do this themselves. Bring it to a reputable shop.

 

it's really not all that hard if you have done it before.
*you will need to get the pinion bearing and carrier brg's pressed off so make sure you have access to a press or can bring it somewhere*

here goes,please feel free to add anything

of course jack up the car
support w/stands
remove wheels, brake calipers, rotors(make sure you don't have e-brake on, can't get rotors off)
remove rear cover
there will be one bolt holding the plate that keeps the axles seperated, remove
press in on each axle and you will see a c clip for each axle inside the housing, remove w/a magnet, remove axles
we removed the torque arm to make some room(the freakin front t/a bolt didnt want to come out, it was hitting on the body, had to preload the rearend w/a jack to angle out the bolt)
remove driveshaft
we removed the pinion nut w/an impact , remove d/s
remove the four bolts holding the carrier(mark the caps to identify)
remove caps
now ready to pull the carrier, we used a screwdriver to help pry it out
should be a tight fit.

gettin late i'll try and finish tomorrow

 

I would love to have a shop do it, but I dont have the funds right now. I priced installs, and it looks to cost about $150. Anyways, I can handle getting the gears out and all, what I am really looking for is how to set backlash, and how much is acceptable, and pinion depth, and what is acceptable for that. Thanks for the help, I'll take pictures, and try and put together a How To.

 

This should help you out


http://www.randysringandpinion.com/tech/yukoninst.pdf

 

as far as pinion depth, we used the same shim that was there, behind the pinion and bearing
pyle bros. said that works most of the time
when you remove the carrier there will be shim packs on each side
these shim packs on either side are what you change to get the carrier to move left and right
right decreases backlash
left increases backlash
we set my backlash to .007" w/no problems quiet as can be
you just mess w/the shim packs after that
preload keeps carrier from going left and right
we had like .002 preload while we set the backlash(final preload we used .008")
if you add .002 to one side subtract it from the other and so on
i think when we moved in .003" increments backlask changed .001"
get as many shim packs as you can to make sure you have the right combinations, we had 5 i think
you'll have to set pinion brg preload before all this!!!

 

Well, I finished my gear install today. I am very happy with the results. I have VERY little noise, and that is only while coasting in 5th+ gear. The acceleration increase is awsome. I was nervous when I first started the swap, beings it is my very first expirence with any rear end work. The cost of install was just oil, gasket, and $10 for new crush sleevs. I ordered the genuine GM gears from LS1speed.com, and i got the master install kit with it. It came with all new bearings, shims, 1 crush sleeve, pinion bolt, pinion, ring gear, loctite, gear paint, and a brush. I also bought the universal pinion depth tool from jegs for $120, including 2nd day shipping. I reccomend that if you are thinking about a gear swap, I reccomend reading the packet that someone posted above from yukon gears, I read through that thing like 20 times. It was a huge help. Thanks to everyone that helped me, I couldnt have done it without you guys!