Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and JimJa1943
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2010
- Messages
- 43
- Vehicle Year
- '05
- Transmission
- Manual
'05 4x4 Front Diff Swap
Okay, I screwed up. Changed my gears from 4.1 to 3.73 two years ago and the new gears do not work for my needs. I'm going to change the 3.73s back to 4.1s on the cheap by swapping diffs ('05 4L 5-spd 4x4 L/S). I've got front and rear diff assemblies located at a reasonable (read cheap) cost. Questions:
- Do the half shafts on the front axle "slide out" or is there a locking mechanism similar to the "C" clips on the rear axle?
- Do I need to remove the half shafts at the spindle or only disconnect the upper ball joint to get the shaft out far enough to remove the axle assembly?
- Anything else I should be aware?
I'm going to do this swap in North Central Iowa (May/June) and will be hauling the old axles assemblies back to at least Wyoming, possibly San Diego (via SLC and Northern CA). If anyone is interested in the pair, we can meet along the way. BTW, the 3.73 gears have about 5,000 miles on them and were professionally installed in San Diego by a shop that does racing rears. The rear L/S was inspected and w/in specs ATT. The truck has 44,000 miles.
Okay, I screwed up. Changed my gears from 4.1 to 3.73 two years ago and the new gears do not work for my needs. I'm going to change the 3.73s back to 4.1s on the cheap by swapping diffs ('05 4L 5-spd 4x4 L/S). I've got front and rear diff assemblies located at a reasonable (read cheap) cost. Questions:
- Do the half shafts on the front axle "slide out" or is there a locking mechanism similar to the "C" clips on the rear axle?
- Do I need to remove the half shafts at the spindle or only disconnect the upper ball joint to get the shaft out far enough to remove the axle assembly?
- Anything else I should be aware?
I'm going to do this swap in North Central Iowa (May/June) and will be hauling the old axles assemblies back to at least Wyoming, possibly San Diego (via SLC and Northern CA). If anyone is interested in the pair, we can meet along the way. BTW, the 3.73 gears have about 5,000 miles on them and were professionally installed in San Diego by a shop that does racing rears. The rear L/S was inspected and w/in specs ATT. The truck has 44,000 miles.
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