DIY: 2nd and 2.5nd Gen Differential Regear at home (not for beginners)

ECGS and JustDifferentials both already do this. They send you the built members, and you send your "cores" back. You don't save much as they're built-to-order (I don't think they could reasonably stock these with the amount of options you have: gear ratios/LSD/Locker/etc)

 

That's a good point about all the options. Ill probably look into those shops then.

For me it's not as much about saving money but finding someone that knows how to do it and has done a bunch of them.

 

this is an option i've been looking into. here's the rear from just differentials. they don't list the front but i've not called to ask either.

 

Here's the front https://www.justdifferentials.com/REBT9RIFS-SELECT-p/rebt9rifs-select.htm

They are good people to deal with too! They supplied my gears through the Nitro 19% off sale.

 

Sorry for the delay guys, I received my order of a bunch of shims and got the lever style dial indicator BUT we just welcomed our first born to the world so priorities have temporarily shifted. Be back to polish this project and thread off soon...



0 wheel drive but still lookin good

 

congrats! hope everyone is doing well.

 

Front diff regear in post #3 is now complete!

The rear will get wrapped up hopefully tomorrow and then install both, top off fluid, leak check, and begin break in over the weekend.

 

Great post! Man I'd love to have the skill to be able to accomplish this task myself but for now I'd rather stick to paying an expert just so I don't mess the truck up. I have a rather simple question and hopefully you guys can provide some feedback. What would present less wear and tear on the truck...should I re-gear the truck prior to putting 37s or should I put the 37's on first and then re-gear. Trying not to spend the four grand right off the batt so the wife doesn't hang me by my balls. I'd appreciate any inputs as I am trying to figure out the best course of action to take.

 

Its not an easy job and it's not much cheaper to do it myself but at least I know it's done to my standards. I would recommend to most people to pay the experts especially if you're in an area with reputable shops and lower labor than the gouging i was quoted.

I would recommend 37s first then regear. Its not unbearable on 4.30 gears but being in the Midwest we do lots of highway driving to get to our offroad destinations so its worth it to me after only putting a couple thousand miles on it without gears.

Wrapped up the front install. Fluid topped off, wheels on, back on the ground. Onto final assembly of the rear end.

 

And it's done! All topped off with Nitro lube and a short test drive. The truck drives smooth and quiet around the block with no major leaks but I'll let it sit overnight and confirm since the driver side rear axle oring looked a little suspect. I'll work my way through break in this week and hopefully put my mind at ease that all is done right.

 

What are the steps for removing the third member? I'm clear disconnect drive shaft and pull the wheels off..... you have any guidance from there? I have a shop that will be half price and quicker turn around if I only bring the third member. Thanks
**edit** I'm wanting to go this route, because a shop here in Houston quoted $400-450 for the work.

 

After draining fluid, pulling wheels, driveshaft and the trick on slicing the brake line brackets, remove the ABS sensor bolts and tuck the sensors safely out of the way, remove two 12mm headed bolts each side for ebrake cable support brackets, remove four 17mm head bolts holding the wheel bearing housing to the axle housing. At this point you should be able to carefully slide each axle out about 8-10" to be clear of the diff carrier and let them hang, I used bungee cords around the calipers to keep the axles from rotating back and putting tension on the brake lines. Then remove 12x 14mm hex nuts and washers from the 3rd member. Support it and pull it out. Its 108 lbs. I ratchet strapped it to a motorcycle jack and slid the 3rd off its studs then lowered the jack to get it out from under the truck. In chasing a noise I pulled and installed the rear diff 3 times. First time was about 2 hrs to pull. Now I can pull, adjust backlash and reinstall in 3 hours total.

On install 3rd member nuts are 53 ftlbs (I used blue loctite)
Driveshaft bolts 52 ftlbs (I used red loctite)
Axle bearing housing nuts 44 ftlbs (I used red loctite)
Alum wheel lugs 97ftlbs (no loctite)

Lube capacity just shy of 4 qts

 

Your awesome! This is the plan for tomorrow morning! Hopefully I won't be chasing any noises since I'm only pulling the 3red member/replace, but the shop is doing all the work.

 

Hopefully yours are quieter than mine but in the end I can't hear it with the rear window closed so I'm probably being too picky on what a really small pinion 5.29 gear set can sound like. On the advice of Nitro themselves I'm just gunna break it in fully and deal with it if they don't quiet down. Noise is not warrantable and an increase is to be expected.

On a positive note, it drives AMAZING! 6th gear in a 55mph zone and it doesn't downshift at every slight grade. Should see a slight fuel economy increase too. 4lo it absolutely crawls now. Despite the extra stress labor and expense of doing it myself and doing the rear 3 times I'd 100% do it again.

 

Well, I had dreams of doing my gears myself, and it’s quite apparent I won’t be planning to anymore haha. I do appreciate the write up, just the write up is more work than I can add to my plate currently haha.
Thanks for this thread @blackoutt

 

Well.... she's buttoned back up and currently putting the miles on her getting it broke in. Thanks again @blackoutt for the tips. The shop ended up only charging $350 (for gears installed on the third member), so that was money well saved on my end. I highly recommended doing this yourself to anyone interested in regearing. Especially if you have even minor wrenching abilities.

 

I got a professional second opinion on my loud rear end (insert joke here) from Mr.gearinstalls.com himself! He agrees the pattern doesn't get any better and backlash looks fine measured every other tooth, they should be quiet. He also recommended running a

$39 75w-90 GL-5 Limited Slip, Ultra Long Drain 500k Miles, Manual Transmission, Gear/Differential Lubricant (1 Gallon)

75w-90 rather than the super thick 80w-140. The 500 mile oil drain came out looking cleaner than I expected. Even with a lighter weight oil these rear gears still sing. Without any evidence of damaged parts or maladjustment there's only one thing to do any that's run them as is. I made a video for others to see how loud 5.29's may be as "normal" keep in mind this is looking right at the housing so it's not that bad in the cab but it's a lot louder than stock gears. Noise is not warrantable so Nitro has no interest in helping me out with another set. Hopefully by the time these gears disintegrate there will be another 5.29 supplier to wrap around an elocker for my next attempt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgNs1oc2XOk

 

As another tip for those either doing a regear themselves or monitoring diff temps after having it done at a shop, I got a great tip from Chase Overland on instagram on idea for a bluetooth temp sensor. I used some thermal paste and ductwork tape to stick the probe on near the pinion bearing on the housing, I ended up applying some layers of "duck" tape over it to seal it up better. I ziptied the transmitter to the front of the box between the bulkhead and cab, it has great bluetooth reception to my phone as long as my phone isn't connected to the truck. Bear in mind the housing temperature is a delayed heat soaked reflection of what the gear/oil temps are inside the housing so there's probably an offset - meaning the oil gets slightly hotter than what the plot will show.

Thermal Paste, 5 Pack ThermalCoolFlux(TM) High Performance Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Paste

Thermal paste

$30 Inkbird Thermometer and Hygrometer Smart Sensor Data Logger with Waterproof External Probe Magnet for Android and iOS, for Food Storage Brewing Reptiles Instrument IBS-TH1(Battery not Included)

Inkbird temp/humidity sensor TH-1 + probe




Differential temperature information from East Coast Gear Supply Keep in mind this is oil temp WITHIN the diff, which can be higher than measured case temp as mentioned above.

"Temp Reference Chart
–
oil change frequency

• 170 Deg-100,000 Miles
• 200 Deg-50,000 Miles
• 220 Deg-25,000 Miles
• 240 Deg-12,000 Miles
• 260 Deg-5,000 Miles
• 260-300 Deg–500-1000 Miles until Temp is controlled

Differential Temp Guide

• 250-275 Degrees is Normal for new differentials breaking in, do not Tow or take long road trips for first 500 miles as this builds additional heat.
• 300 degrees is too hot and diff should be allowed to cool.
• 170-220 degrees Normal operating Temp for a differential adequate for vehicle in stock applications
• 200-250 degrees Normal operating Temp Large tires, Undersized Differentials, Towing"

 

Not bad! The dirty nuts and bolts part of taking the 3rd out and putting it back in is for sure where a lot of the labor cost of a regear is. The rest isn't too terrible if you have the tools and the know how but it's certainly not simple.

 

This is seriously awesome.

 

I have the dirty deeds TRD replacement exhaust (dumped) so I hear nothing!

 

Good idea. I already sold my DD budget dumped system and am running an AFE with a turndown but I was told its actually louder with the tailpipe on, so I reinstalled this dingus and wouldn't you know...I can't hear the gears whining anymore! It'll come back off when we get back to offroad trips with the newborn though, else it will make itself come off.

 

This is why I went with Eaton e-Lockers instead of air Lockers. Air leaks and seals are inevitable and this isn’t a fun job.

 

This is a most excellent write-up, thank you.

"Reinstall the pinion, torque the nut to spec (224 ft lbs), tap on the pinion both ends and the housing to make sure the bearings are seated, spin it a few times and confirm pinion preload. Still in spec, as Zuk would say "ding"!"
I found this (see attachment), which says to go 325 ft/lbs, which seems extremely high. Any input on this?

 

You mentioned using larger shims for the carriers vs. the smaller shims from Nitro. Did you end up using a diff spreader, or just hammer in the shims to get a set carrier preload?

 

325 ft lbs you found is the spec for the smaller 9.5" ring gear found in the 4.7/4.6 2uz/1grfe trucks.

I should specify that the 224 ft lbs spec is for the 10.5" ring gear 5.7 3ur-fe trucks.

 

Thank you. I just didn't scroll far enough

 

I used a combination of reused OEM and nitro shims to get the preload set right then ordered a bunch of OEM shims around that area since downtime wasn't an issue for me. Then replaced/retested with single OEM shim per side to get carrier preload set perfectly. No diff spreader, just carefully tapping in the thicker OEM shims working the whole assembly down in together, not one side then the other.

only 36 more pages to scroll through!

 

Appreciate all this. Your write-up has made me feel more confident in doing this job myself. I have a Motive master rebuild kit on the way, and installing a Powertrax Grip Pro. Keeping same ring and pinion, as my tire size won't increase too much.

 

Hope you don't mind me adding this to your thread, but here's all the torque specs to anyone else looking to do this themselves. This is for the 3UR engine, 10.5" rear diff: