new rear gears!

[7 sek mark]

ok i finley have enough money saved up to buy a set of 4.10's for my mark! My question is do i realy need to change my carrer berrings? My car has 162k miles on it and it drives smooth so can i save a few bucks and just get the shim kit? How long does it take do install the gears in the mark? I am going to school for auto tech so i have access to a lift, air tools and a teacher that kinda knows what he is doing. My question is about how long will it take me to get the diff housing out of the car, put the gears in, and get the car back on the road? If i work quick can i have this done in 7 hours??

 

[Mad1stGen]

7 hours YES.
Reuse old bearings NO.

 

[calviroman]

If you've never done this before I think 7 hours is pushing it. The first time I did this it took me at least 12 hours total.

New bearings are a must - they are cheap compared to all the work your already going to do - to replace the carrier bearings you will need a good 2-jaw puller and an impact, and a press to put the new ones on.

 

[Brad]

to get the new ones on you could heat them up by getting a Stainless steel pan and put some oil in it and heating the oil up then when it is really hot you can drop the bearing in. Dont do this inside the house I had a thing for deepfrying turkeys so it worked for me.

When the bearing has been in there for 3-5 mins get it out and put it on and place a piece of wood over it and gently hammer it on evenly

 

[driller]

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
to get the new ones on you could heat them up by getting a Stainless steel pan and put some oil in it and heating the oil up then when it is really hot you can drop the bearing in.
[/div]

You can put them in the oven with your cookies at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. :+

Serious.

 

[7 sek mark]

hey ok ive taken difs out of axles before just to chnage berrings but we did not have to reset the gears. Ive never set gears up before so thats the only thing i have not done. Im pretty sure the school has the tools to do it since they have axles on a rack just for that. So maby i could practis on thoes first and get good. Do i have to take the chunck out of the car to change the gears or can i do it in the car?? thannks guys for all your help!!

 

[calviroman]

It will be MUCH easier to pull the center section and do the work on a bench.

You will definately want to get a MMC shaft BEFORE you do this (approx cost $450). You will thank me when you can cruise at 80mph without a horrible driveline vibration.

You will need (not a complete list):

36MM axle nut impact socket (to get the halfshaft nut off)
Torx bit (TX500) to get off the lower cont arm bolts
Dial indicator with base (to set/check backlash and ring gear runout)
Large 2 or 3 jaw puller to get Knuckle off of cv halfshaft
impact gun with assortment of sockets
21mm deep to get off forward center section mounting bolts
RTV to seal up the center section cover
Torque wrench good up to 110FT*LB
Diff rebuild kit (shims, bearings, end seals, the works)
New 36mm axle nut (may have to mail order)
VSS sensor for 4.10 gears (goes into tranny)
You really should get a mail order SCT tune in conjunction with this mod

You should have a good protractor to check the pinion angle afterwards.

I'm not trying to scare you but this is a big deal. I have done this twice on Marks (last time was last month). I remove the center section in one session (about 3 hours), rebuild the diff the next day (minimum of 4 hours to get right you first time - could take 12+). You need to get a nice pattern, the right backlash, and the right carrier bearing preload. The third day do the reinstall and tie up loose ends.

You will likely find other problems while doing all this. Last time I found a leaky brake hose on one caliper and both sway bar end links were shot. Also - my pinion angle was off and required shims.

Where are you located? It would be good to have someone who has done this on a Mark help you with the R&R, and then have help from a rear end specialist for the actual rebuild/gear swap.

 

[7 sek mark]

im in florida and oh damm thats a but load of work!! There is a 93 mark in the junk yard with the chunk still in it. Would it be worth getting the chunk out of that car to put the gears in? That way my car will not be down long and i wont have to be rushed to have it done. Is it possable to pull the chunk in the junk yard with out the presses and stuff? Im not sure what they would charge for me to pull it but do you think its worth looking into? If i get the new chunk and get the gears set up in it how long would it take to chnage the chunk out do you think?

 

[driller]

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
im in florida and oh damm thats a but load of work!! There is a 93 mark in the junk yard with the chunk still in it. Would it be worth getting the chunk out of that car to put the gears in? That way my car will not be down long and i wont have to be rushed to have it done. Is it possable to pull the chunk in the junk yard with out the presses and stuff? Im not sure what they would charge for me to pull it but do you think its worth looking into? If i get the new chunk and get the gears set up in it how long would it take to chnage the chunk out do you think?
[/div]

That's sort of how I did mine to keep down time to a minimum. I gathered all the parts and built up the spare with 4.10s and traction-lock. That was one afternoon's work at about 4-5 hours.

Then one day a buddy helped me with the swap and 6-7 hours later(I admit I'm slow), we were rolling down the highway in the '93 with 4.10s.

 

[sleeper]

We swapped the diffs in jeremi's car in a few hours, it wasn't that hard at all. of course, i've done it about 4 times now.

 

[calviroman]

Getting a junkyard center section to use would be ideal as you could take your time. Be sure that the person who is helping you establish pinion depth/shims, carrier backlash/shims is experienced in rebuilding rears. A few THOUSANTHS of an inch is the difference between smiles and tears when you try to drive it down the road.

 

[7 sek mark]

hey calviroman why are you saying that it is going to take me 12+ hrs to do the job? everyone ive talked to says it doesnt take that long this is coming from a guy that was on the mark 8 R&D team. they say its about 1-2 hrs out about 1 hr to set it up taking your time and about 2-3 hrs back in.

 

[calviroman]

1-hour to set up if your taking your time!!! NO WAY! You could spend one-hour with a puller and press just changing the carrier bearings. Let alone getting the pinion set-up.

If you did this everyday you could probably set up the rear in 1-2 hours. Also, if you've swapped the center section a few times before (I have) you could do the R&R in 3 hours. But not your first time.

I'm just suggesting you do it when you can dedicate 3 days to it - so you can take your time and do it right.

 

[7 sek mark]

thats just it i cant dedicate 3 days to this project. i only have 7 hrs at a time and the car MUST be drivable after eath 7 hr time slip. The ford guy at my school said he could orrow the ford tools for the marks that will make the job go a lot faster. and i dont see how it took you 2-3 hrs to press berings on ive done it in like 30 min with a hammer and sockets in my drive way. so with a hyd press and the proper bering clamps should take no time at all.

 

[driller]

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
...i only have 7 hrs at a time and the car MUST be drivable after eath 7 hr time slip.
[/div]

All the more reason to purchase a used pumpkin. The actual swap can be done in that time frame - especially if you have a lift, air tools, etc...

 

[calviroman]

I agree - given the time limitations you have placed on this project I see no other option than buying a used 3.07 or 3.27 pumpkin for around $100-150 and setting that up with your lower gears and limited-slip. You can definatly do the swap in the 7 hours if the new pumpkin is ready to go in.

 

[7 sek mark]

wow you think a pumpkin from a junk yard will be $100? My friend got a 1 ton D44 from a junk yard for like $50 and there is less to this set up. so i was planning on about $50-60 but damm this swap is going to coust more than i thought. So im looking at $219 for gears, $119 for full install kit with berrings, about $100 for the chunk, maby $45 for the polly chunk bushings, maby $25 for the poly trans bushings. Is there anything else i should get while im at it?? How about the poly rear arm bushings that are on the super coupe performance web site are they worth the $165? While I have it apart does any one know about how much a trac loc unit will run me by any chance??

 

[driller]

I bought my trac loc used for about $50 and bought a $50 rebuild kit for it.

 

[calviroman]

I know you don't want to hear this but you will need a MMC driveshaft with 4.10s. Many of the people who post here (myself included) went through this when we did our gear swaps. Dont think that you can do 4.10s in a Mark VIII and drive on the interstate at 85-90mph without a HORRIBLE driveline boom. Do the smart thing and get a MMC shaft at the same time as your gear swap (save yourself alot of work). The shaft you have now is a two-piece aluminum shaft.

Also know that without some EEC-IV tuning your non-LSC Mark will be governed electronically by the PCM to about 97MPH. A chip or a tuner can be used to handle this.

 

[sleeper]

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
My friend got a 1 ton D44 from a junk yard for like $50
[/div]

I didn't think there was such a thing as a 1 ton dana 44. in later years GM must have gotten really cheap. dana 44's were standard half-ton axles, and they had a beefier version for the 3/4 tons. 1 tons used dana 60 fronts, 14FF rears. of course that may all have changed after 1980 or so.

oh, and yeah, you'll need an MMC driveshaft with the 4.10's, unless you don't plan on going faster than 60 or so.