Differential work ?

I have a 3.55 IRS pumpkin with 31 spline t-lok. Obviously the side gears need to be exchanged for 28 spline units, or the axles have to be swapped to 31 spline.
For those who disassembled their differentials, does a side gear swap sound like something doable without too many advanced tools ? Do I need to re-check or re-set any of the "adjustables" ?

As far as I know you need a special tool to get the "Z" clamp in/out of the inside of the carrier.

(As per AllData)WARNING: The differential clutch spring is under tension. Remove the spring carefully. Failure to follow these instructions may result in personal injury.

When re-intalling it you won't need to "set it up" again because you're not removing the pinion or anything. Just make sure you keep the left end cap/shim/bearing race marked and separate from the right side stuff. You don't want to mix them up. It would be good to "run a pattern" when you're done just to be sure you're still set-up good. Things shouldn't have changed because the pinion depth hasn't moved and you're not messing with the ring gear.



KEEP the clutch pack in order and DO NOT attempt to clean them with any solvents!

The spring can be wrestled in / out with pliers. You can get away without special tools on an 8.8. If you're just changing the side gears, all should be fine... but there might be some shims or something in the clutch packs that you might need to swap to get the correct pattern between the side gears and whatever the other gears are called.

sleeper said:

The spring can be wrestled in / out with pliers. You can get away without special tools on an 8.8. If you're just changing the side gears, all should be fine... but there might be some shims or something in the clutch packs that you might need to swap to get the correct pattern between the side gears and whatever the other gears are called.

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There were NOT any shims in mine but check the height of the gears to be sure they are the same.

If my memory serves me correct there are some slotted screws that I used my hamer style impact on to lossen up whilst using a couple of C clamps to keep the shell together while I removed all the screws. Cleaned everything up re-oiled and reassembled with only new gears. You should not need to reshim as they hold the machining dimensions from the pitch line of the gears, you only need to replace the gears and the clutch packs. Hope this helps