farmerchad

Well, I did it now, took rear cover of my diff tonight. Couldn't see anything scary, I know my pinion bearings are bad, can get side play at flange of pinion shaft. I'm going to change all bearings, how do I determine if ring and pinion need replacing? the ring gear teeth look ok , but haven't taken apart yet.
04 XL, 8.8 3.73 LS
Thanks

scobar

iTrader: (4)

I would suggest to get yourself a guide on how to rebuild the rear diff, there are specs for all of this and will require special measuring tools to measure depth and lash. You will need a bearing press.

While I am handy in my garage, this was a job I opted to have the shop do when I did 4.56's and LSD as I lack working space and the tools.

Pity7700

Bearing press, dial indicator and a caliper. Good walkthrough would be helpful. Tackling this job on my 2010 in a few weeks to throw in some 4.56 gears.

SmokeRoss

Glanced at the thread title. Thought it said, "Decided To Rear End Myself" and wondered for a few seconds, 'why would anyone do that?'

Archangel72

Here I was wondering what her name was.

Taildragger

If your ring and pinion are okay, you may get by just re-assembling with the same shims and spacers using new bearings and seals.

scobar

iTrader: (4)

I'd also rebuild the LS while in there.

farmerchad

Hello again, I got everything out, the pinion bearings were loose, the carrier also pretty much fell out. I want to reuse the gears, I think they look good, will try to post pics. One question on the pinion is that the face or top of gear teeth taper in thickness from front to back, is this what it's supposed to look like? And also can I just use same shim between pinion and bearing, assuming depth was set right at factory?
The rear end was humming and whining alot, I'm assuming loose/bad bearings messed backlash all up.
The only wear I can see on ring is right at the very inside toe.
Guess I'm freaking out a little about pinion depth.
Also the truck is new to me, it's an 04 with 107000mi, I don't know if its had a long history of rear end noise, or if it developed because of the worn bearings.

PerryB

The taper of the pinion teeth appears to continue forward of the wear pattern, with the wear pattern appearing to have no effect on the taper. Based on that I'd say gear wear is a non-issue.

greasyknuckles

I would reuse the pinion bearing shims, and the big thick shims on the carrier or side
bearings. without a gauge tube to set pinion depth any attempt will be futile. you will
probably be close. as far as backlash the closer you get to .008in the better with an
8.8, this is what the dial indicator is good for, though I have seen guys do it by feel and then I checked and they were pretty close. you will need a new crush sleeve
though and a in lb beam type torque wrench to set the pinion bearing preload. If
I remember the spec on that is 18-30 in lbs, I set them at around 26