pete1665

Does anyone know of a complete kit for rebuilding a defferential? (as far as bearings/oil seals and such) im getting a grinding/rubbing sound from the rear end and i cant quite figure out exactly where its comming from in the differential. Axel Shaft Bearings? U-Joint? im hoping its a worn bearing and not worn gears. I replaced the diff. fluid but that didnt quiet the noise at all. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

OUZBnd

you can get a kit from jegs. www.jegs.com, it would probably be easier to call them though. i think they are around $40

pete1665

thanks a lot. Also, if i change out my gears, do i need to get one of those gear installation kits like summit sells?

roundman

Ratech makes good rear end rebuild and install kits. Assuming you have an 8.8 Ford rear, try this one from Summit
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...008K&x=19&y=11
this deluxe kit includes everything in the complete installation kit plus wheel bearing and seals too for $119.19
you can get less expensive kits if you don't need all the various bearing and such.
cheapest one they show is part # RAT-105K for $43.99 which has the seals, shims, ring gear bolts and cover gasket only.
might as well spring for some new gears while you're in there too for about $190 a set.

pete1665

You da man. What do you think... should i go with 3.27 or 3.55's? Im more concerned about fuel economy for the time being, but i dont know if 3.27 would be noticible at all?

roundman

hell, go for 3.73's, they will make a hugh difference in the "fun to drive" factor and won't really hurt the gas mileage as long as you don't have a super heavy right foot all the time! LOL

pete1665

lol, that may be the problem! The only thing im worried about is that a good 40% of my driving is on the highway, and i dont want to hurt my gas mileage all that much... I dont know... im just indecisive. And what does it take to change the speedo gear in the tranny once i get the new gears in?

oh another thing... I was a regular on the ProbeTalk.Com forums (Ford Probe) and a lot of guys were going the lightened flywheel route. I dont see a lot of people here talking about that. Is it not a good idea??

Cedarkill

Well, I haven't swapped the gears in my car yet, but have been trying to figure out what I want to get in the spring. I have been told 3.55's are great for all around, everyday driving which doesn't hurt the mileage too much. Everyone told me 3.27's won't give you all that much noticable difference over stock 2.73's. I have 3.27 pinion and ring I'll sell you cheap if interested, but I'd say go with the 3.55's. Myself, I don't drive much over 65mph anywhere I go so I'm thinking 3.73's will suit me well but they may hurt your mileage too much if you drive highway a lot. But when it comes down to it, it's a V8 mustang which doesn't have great gas mileage to begin with so you're better off just setting it up for how you want it to feel, and make it more fun to drive...

roundman

changing the speedo gear is not big deal with either a manual or an auto tranny. maybe a touch easier in the auto which is the only one I've done, didn't have to drain any fluid out or anything.
you can get a good argument about lightweight flywheels from people out here too, but if most all your driving is done on the street, I would recommend you stay with the stock flywheel weight as this will make for smoother driving overall.
and for what's it worth, when I changed from 2.73's to 3.73 gears with my AOD, my cruising speed at 70 mph only went from 2,000 to 2,350 rpm or so and it didn't really make a big difference at all in the gas mileage. I think they can actually help or break even at least since with the lower rear gear, you accelerate easier in the lower tranny gears and get up into overdrive sooner so you can save gas that way. The fun factor is also great with the 3.73's too!

pete1665

yeah, i just checked out that gear calculator website, and the difference in speed and rpm wasn't very much at all. I'm very tempted to go with 3.73's, but im still not sure. I'll have to think it over. Thanks again man.