Walk me through changing differential carriers this afternoon…

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So, I'm going to drag the 2002 parts truck into the shop today and tried to switch out the open diff in my 2011 for the limited slip in the 2002.

The only trouble is call my I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!



So... members of TRS. Anybody willing to volunteer to walk me through this over this post this afternoon as I work?

Planning on parking the trucks side by side and swapping the two.

Im guessing I'm going to need to recycle some parts from both, as I plan on keeping my 3.73 gears for now to see how it is with limited slip before switching to the 4.10s in the parts truck.

I get that its pull both and swap ring gears....but....what else?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Doesn't the ring gear in the 2011 have a chipped tooth?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Not from what I can see. Spiders are pitted and chipped, but as far as I can tell, the ring gear looks OK.

Lqooks like someone had the carrier out once before me, seems like there's been dye on it, and there was a whole mess of silicone on the old cover when I changed it a week or so ago.

 

[ericbphoto]

Keep track of your shims. They set the gear backlash and pre-load on the carrier bearings.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

OK, I was curious about that.... which shims will I use, the ones out of the donor diff, or mine?

 

[Uncle Gump]

That will be the hard part... probably some trial and error involved here.

 

[Dirtman]

There's no chance in hell you will just slap it in and be done. You will have to check it, add or remove shims, check again etc...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

There's no chance in hell you will just slap it in and be done. You will have to check it, add or remove shims, check again etc...

Ok...I'm seeing that...

What all do I need to acquire?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Your pinion depth should be set... you didn't remove the pinion.

You will need to set backlash.... your will need a dial indicator. Get it in spec... check mess with some machinist blue.

Your old gears should have a wear pattern... you will want to keep it as close as you can to were they rode before.

 

[19Walt93]

I would check the backlash before you take the 11 apart and set it the same with the replacement carrier by moving shims around. Once you get the backlash right, pull the shims back out and replace them with shims .006" thicker to get preload. There is a special tool to tap the shims in place, I'm sure you could make one, it needs to be curved on one end to match the outside diameter of the shims. I've had best luck with the Ford Performance/Racing/Motorsport friction modifier in 80-90, if you're using 75-140 synthetic the newer Ford friction modifier is the one to use.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

.....someone want to point me in the direction of backlash info, etc?

cause there's a ton out there.... but much conflicts.



.......this is going to be like spark plugs....something that's tough for me to understand...

 

[19Walt93]

With the dial indicator shaft touching one tooth on the ring gear and the pinion stationary, rock the ring gear back and forth while watching the dial. The amount of movement is your backlash. If you reuse the ring and pinion without removing the pinion and keep the backlash the same, the gear pattern will stay the same.
This is the instruction sheet for a ring and pinion swap, if you start at page 15 it shows shimming the back lash.
https://performanceparts.ford.com/download/instructionsheets/FordInstShtM-4209-8.pdf

 

[adsm08]

Ford's axle housings are usually pretty consistent. I would start by taking backlash measurements BEFORE disassembly as already stated, move the ring to the new carrier, and then put it in with that carrier's original shims in their original locations and recheck it.

The shims should have their thicknesses printed on them somewhere, you can also compare the two sets. It is unlikely they will be the same, but it's worth a shot.

If you cannot get the correct settings with the shims you have I'd just order a set of Yukon's build-a-shim seals and be done. Remember when fixing backlash add or subtract from each side as needed to place the carrier where it needs to be. When setting pre-load add to both sides equally.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I threw a Yukon Grizzly carrier in my explorer 8.8 on the '90 and I didn't have to do anything goofy... checked backlash at .015" before disassembly, new carrier bearings and installed with the shims on the same side that they were before and the backlash was .005", loosened the bearing caps and wacked the ring gear with a dead blow side to side to seat things and it came to .009". Then I put some antisieze (I don't have prussian blue handy, work with what ya got...) on some teeth and ran it around to check the pattern and it was reasonably close to where it was on both sides...

 

[sgtsandman]