I am going to attempt to swap my rear D70 gears from 3.55 to 4.10 and welcome any hints/tips or websites that can give me step by step instructions or anything. thanks!

 

MAKE SURE YOU SET YOUR BACKLASH TO THE RIGHT SETTING OR YOU WILL HATE YOUR SELF!! Im not too good with gears..I just know how to take them out and put them back in I dont know how to do shims and etc.

 

3KrackerRacing is right...

When I rebuilt the rear end in my 1951 *****'s Jeep that was a pain... Getting the shims in right and the tension on the pinion bearing to get the backlash right... I gave up and took into a shop to have it finished...

I'm just not skilled enough for rear-end work... It's tough...

 

A case splitter makes it nice too.

Did you guys use the dummy bearings to set the shims???

 

if you have never done one i recommend getting professional help. someone who will let you watch. maybe teach you. i have done hundreds since the mid 60s. after one has done 2 or 3 they are easy. .005 or .006 out of tolerance can destroy some expensive pieces. not trying to scare you off anyone handy with tools can do it. a beginner just needs someone to steer him or her in the rite direction

 

Just had mine done at an independant shop. Lack of experience on my part. Bearings went out after five star had it. They guy says when he is done "that will still be working when you dead" I dont get that guarantee in my shop at home.

 

Wow, I just regeared my Dana 80 last week. My first rear end. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I went from 5.13 gears to 3.54. I also installed an LSD. I highly recomend Randy's Ring and Pinion. They were the only place that had the 3.54 gear. They also sent a install guide that is on their website. The hard part for me was getting the pinion depth right. Get some gear marking compound from a GM dealer and mix some oil with it to make it thinner. Make some set up bearings from your old bearings. The final fit of the carrier is a .015 interferance fit and needs to finessed in. I didn't have a speader and that would have been nice to have but I did it without.

Good luck
Dean

 

Its not a trick..some prussion blue to get the heel toe correct is more important then back-lash.and when your adj. one your changing the other.....If your like me just do it....We learn from mistakes,- not dong anything keeps us in the dumb zone.............and I have a perfect record as a brain surgen..........not so perfect in other places but improving

 

You as a brain surgeon scares me.

 

If you have the time and money to let your truck sit if you break it or if you can afford to buy new parts just for the heck of it then go for it. All you can do is destroy a good rear end. For me I cant afford those kinda mistakes and I feel the money a good reputable shop will charge (not to mention the guarantee if anything goes wrong) is good insurance. Now I am probably one of the worst about how I feel with someone working on my stuff but differentials are a whole different ball game. This takes some experience to get right and how many of us are gear swaping on a regular basis.

 

If you have never done one before, get some help from someone who knows how and has the correct tools. Then decide if you want to try one on your own.

 

As Dean mentioned, making up some set up bearings out of old carrier bearings can really help with the set up..........you MUST use a case spreader for D70 or 80 carrier installation........it is the ONLY way you can achieve the correct carrier bearing preload.......if you can remove and install the carrier by hand without the spreader there is not enough preload! - this is very important and critical for long gear life........smaller axle assemblies with smaller carrier bearings that require less preload can be done without a spreader..........pinion depth must be set and then pinion bearing preload must be checked and set then you can move on to the carrier..........backlash, bearing preload and mesh pattern all must be set properly by shimming the carrier bearings.........as has already been mentioned, mesh pattern is the most critical part of the setup and potentially the most difficult to read and adjust............there are several specialized tools required to install Dana gears correctly and I agree that the first timer should certainly have an experienced eye watching over them the first time around, at least.......

 

i have done gear swap before, and i didn't use no special tools or nothing, i just set it to where it had a little play and slapped it back together, a 1-2-3 on the impact also works great for putting head bolts on and stuff like that for me. i have enver had a roblem with anything i ever done..... but i'm not saying its the right thing to do, its just that i have enver had a problem with it. 50,000 so far on the head bolts on my ford idi and 20,000 on the heads on my 454 chevy, 20,000 on the gear swap in my 1/2 ton ford. nothing ever broke on me. im not saying i'm billy-bad-*** or anything, i think you can make it, especially if you have some good tools, make **** sure the bearings are tight against the shoulder on the pinion, tighten the inion and hammer on the gear inside with a long big unch an good size hammer, then tighten the pinion some more till you think its tight, then loosen the nut and re-tourque the pinion nut. use a torch and heat the gear EVENLY!!! to get it off the carrier and the same to get it back on, i set it on the carrier and go round and round with the torch and it will just fall on there kinda. don't get it too hot

 

..........You lead a charmed life!!!!.............I wish my luck was half as good as yours! ........My experience has been "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong!" but I have been known to break things that most others don't seem to ever break! ........Oh well, please don't take offense - I just can't believe your luck compared to all my bad luck!

 

I have a hard enough time with "Murphy" let alone "luck" its a four letter word.