This sucks--my rear end is too big

[Bandit]

Specifically, when I tried to swap out my factory 10 bolt 8.5" posi for a new Eaton, the new Eaton had a larger diameter shaft where the bearing presses on. So the bearing in my rebuild kit would not work. The new bearing was the right size for my old diff. So, we decided to put the new bearings on my old diff and just install my new 3:73 Motive gears. Then we realized that the carrier places the ring gear way too far away from the pinion to make it work. So as we had no ready access to new parts, we ended up installing all of the old parts back into the rear.

The short carrier problem is confusing to me as I remember reading in a magazine article that all the "3" series diffs should have the same carrier. I have the stock 3:08's. So why did I end up with the shorter carrier?

So now I have a new set of gears and a new posi that I need to make work. What is the best way to do this? Should I just try to get the correct bearing size for my new diff? Should I get a new thicker ring gear that will move the teeth closer to the pinion? Or should I get a spacer for the ring gear? Do I need a different carrier?

By the way, I got all the parts through drivetrain.com.

Any help would be appreciated.

Paul

[Tiger]

Hey Bandit,

AFAIK there is only one size bearings in a 8,5" 10bolt so to me it seems like you got a mix of 10bolt parts here, some for 8,2 and some for 8,5 maybe.

There are indeed different spacings for carriers but you are right that if it had 3,08 it should be able to use a standard 3,73 without problems, it might be that they have sent you a "thin" 3,73 which is intended for a 4series carrier.
I'd call them back with all the part numbers and check.

[Samckitt]

My wife's too.

LOL

[Bandit]

Now I am thinking that my car had a 2-series carrier in it, and had been adapted to run 3:08's. In which case my old carrier cannot be adapted to run my new 3:73's.

Called the company back last nite, they said probably what happened is when they packed up the install kit, they included the small bearing. So they are sending me the correct size bearing for the new carrier free of charge.

I didn't think to check on the thickness of the ring gear--that's interesting though, I will check on it.

Paul

[Tiger]

HEHEHE Scot,
I had written the same thing but I deleted it before posting to "contain" myself.

I dont think there are any 2series carriers but I'm very far from sure.

and yeah..remember loctite on the ring gear bolts

[ItalianBullitt754]

Hopefully we get this taken care of when we rip this thing apart this week. It better be the right damn Ring gear. BTW that pinion gear in a 3.08 set is HUGE!