wgreenlee4

Well, ooops, I had an idea and it turned out to be a bad one; you see I am doing a ring and pinion swap on my 8.8 (first time) and I was trying to find a way to secure the carrier so I could torque down the ring gear bolts, so I put the axle shaft in (forgetting how a dif works) and tried to torque them. The carrier ended up rotating on the one axle and it spit 2 of the 4 little gears out onto the floor.

Now forget the ring gear bolts...because I can't even find out how to get these little guys back in! They both have small curved races and I'm trying not to damage them or get them dirty and such. I was able to get one to rotate in by turning the carrier while holding it in place but I can't get the second in without the other falling out! The S clip keeps getting in the way and I don't know what to do! Should I pull out the S clip? Is there a tool? How do I even google this I don't even know what they are called.

Now I know I should have supported the carrier with a vice or wood or something but that is another topic, I just want to get these little things back in so I can move on. But how???

Thanks guys!

jimkaray

They are called Spyder Gears. And yes they are a pain in the *** to get lined up correctly, especially when the rear is in the car. Its a lot of trial and error to get them to orient properly. A third hand is helpful to keep them in place while you rotate the last one in. I haven't done it in a few years so I can't remember any tips other than to be patient and expect to mess with it for a good hour before you get the hang of it.

wgreenlee4

Okay, thanks for the response. And do you know if I can remove the S-clip to make it easier? Or will that cause problems?

jimkaray

I'm trying to remember but I think the gears won't stay in when you rotate it.

wgreenlee4

Okay, so I removed the clip, and I saw that the other gears were no longer secure but I was able to slide the spider gears in and then compressed the clip with some vice grips. It's all better now thanks for the help!