Ok, my current carrier once again has some broken spider gears. So beings my car is an a4 with ASR and ABS I went on search on another 4 channel rear. Well I found a member on here that claimed to have a 4 channel rear. Well He had a guy wanting the housing so I purchased the carrier itself. I received it and all looks good. I went to swap it out today and what do you know it doesnt fit. If I stand them side by side The new carrier where the ring gear bolts it about 1/4in taller then my current one. After you bolt the ring gear on, you have to shift the whole carrier to the pass side before the ring gear makes any decent contact with the pinion gear. I know its not the right one so my questions are is this truly a 4 channel carrier? The member I bought it from claimed it was from a car with 2.73's, ASR, and ABS. Is there anyway by looking at the carrier I can tell what it is? maybe some #'s or something?

Thanks!

 

4 channel diffs use the rear wheel speed signals at the axles by the flanges.3 channel uses a reluctor ring on the diff.i think thats the only difference. you may have a 2 series 3 series mix up.

 

Carrier does not depend on braking options, but rather the gears it came with. So, saying that it is a 'four channel carrier' is moot point.

You have two carriers available. One is a 2 series one is a 3 series. They do not depend on whether the car is 3 or 4 channel. If the car originally came with 2.73s (GU2) it has a 2 series carrier. If the car came with 3.23's (GU5) or 3.42s (GU6) it has a three series carrier. So judging by your post, it sounds like HIS car is a 2 series, and YOUR car is a 3 series, hence why it's not fitting

 

you can put a abs ring on a 4 channel.otherwise the car that came with the 4 channel is without.

 

Is there anyway to tell by looking at the carrier? That sounds good but my car originaly came with 2.73's and Ive replaced the carrier once since then with the same carrier but added 3.73's so maybe its the other way around. If I can find out what series carrier this is I can just order a different set of gears right?

 

Yea and you already did it.
You need:
A different carrier, OR.
A Thick set of gears, OR
A ring gear spacer.

 

The one you just bought is from a 2.73 gear car so its a 2 series carrier..

your car currently has a 3.73 gear so its a 3 series carrier..

so you will need what 8a8mfh said....

 

Ok, I understand. But what I dont understand is why did the 3.73's I bought 2 years ago fit on my stock 2.73 carrier? This is where Im lost. Would it be wise to run a ring gear spacer?

 

So you cant tell by any of the #'s on it?