Keeler

Just wondering how hard it is to change out the stock gears in my 88 GT and put in some 3.73's. I kind of know how and a machincally inclined friend of mine said he would help. I was just curious as to how long this normally takes and if any would recommend any tools or kits to help. Also as dumb as this sounds I had a switch in my old Honda that a friend did for a birthday present...it was an on/off fuel pump switch on the dash, had to use it to start the car and I was curious how to do this on my own? Thanks

vfast

try looking at the stickeys first

blowninjected

A gear swap is fairly easy. If you and a friend are a little mechanically inclined you should'nt have a problem. It's really easy, just make sure you set aside enough time for the project proabably 3-5 hours if you've never done it. A good manual helps too.

mallory

the biggest thing is make sure you get the gap from the pinion bering to the end of the pinion right....and that bearing is pressed on... and then the new crush sleeve is a major pain in the ***...say it takes 150 foot pounds of torque to crush it....other than that it is easy...have fun..

silver91gt

ya, and dont forget the oil slinger, I did and now my diff leaks at the pinion. and there is lots of play in the gears.

take the time to set it up right.
I just slapped the same shims the stock gears had on and it really howled for about a year.
you will need a press for the new bearings, and an impact wrench to crush the crush sleeve.
my first time took me 12 hours, but when I start something, it turns out I practically clean the whole area, then paint it

spudz

no no NONONONONONO DON'T use an impact wrech to crush the crush sleeve... This will **** it up and you will end up burning the rear end up. UMM its kinda hard to explain on here but I'll give it a try.. ONCE you got the new bearing/spacer installed on the pinion, and new races in the housing. Install these with drivers. They are cheap enough to buy. This is a two person job. Get a long pipe to tighten the pinion nut. It takes one person to hold the pinon. There is a tool for this BUT a monkey wrench will work. Hold the pinion and tighten the nut. I am not sure what the drag is suposed to be on this rear end.. Maybe like 20 inch pounds or somethin just look up the specs on it. Tighen it a little at a time and keep checking the drag on the pinion with a torque wrench. If you overtighten the nut and the drag is too much, don't just back the nut off some. You have to take it back apart an stick another new crush sleeve in it an do it again. After installing the new ring gear, set it up using the old spacers. You might get lucky and they will work. Alot of time they do. Get some gear marking grease an paint about 8 teeth on the ring gear and turn it 180 and paint another 8 teeth. With a pry bar, pry against the top of the diff an the top of the housing to create a load and spin the pinion, all the way around till all the painted teeth have been meshed. then pry against the bottom and spin it again. Then you can look at the teeth pattern. You want it covering almost the whole length of the tooth and right in the middle. Do a search an look for a pic of propper gear pattern. If this looks like a small patch or off to one side. You have to try somethin different. And this is tricky... You might want someone with the right tools to do this.

spudz

oh and if its your first time maybe figure 3 hours... it not really THAT bad of a job.. do it a few times and your cut that in half.

brutal_gt

im mechanically incline but i've heard of too many people screwing a gear install up so i'd pay someone.

razarr69

http://www.corral.net/tech/drivetrain/gears.html Heres what I kind of used but I managed to get my self a 1990 stang shop manual that was about 6 inches thick so that helped. It took me 6 hour sto do my gears. A little trick for gettin the bearings to go on smoother is heat them up for a lil bit in the oven then slide em on. Id measure at least 3 times for your backlash which should be 0.007 and 0.015 of an inch and your pinion depth which i forgot what it is. That website goes pretty indepth bout it. Id rebuild the rearend while your at it too.

Keeler

Thank you for all of the extra information..I may just have someone do it and watch while they do it t hat way I won't have to worry about screwing it up...any idea on that fuel pump or is it something so simple I should smack myself?