Manuel trucks are awsome, id love to have one. But in the city they can be a pain in the arse. Ive heard they have a tuffer drive terrain or transmission somthing along that means, so they hold up alot better offroad.
Ok guys, My input here is if ya wanna re-gear... buy a gear set, master install kit, another new inner pinion bearing (setup bearing) gear oil, dial indicator, inch lb torque wrench (dial or needle type, not click type) and Ft. lbs torque wrench... all this can be had for about $550.00-$600 Yup! and do it yourself! I did and it took about 4 hours out of my time and I have some new tools to use in the future... Or just drive to me and I'll set up your axles... $250 each haha really it's very easy and as long as you have the tools and take your time to get everything to spec you'll have no issues... Pull off tires, brakes, open/drain housing remove driveshaft from yoke... remove center pin retainer bolt remove center pin push axle shafts inward remove horse shoe retainer pull axle shafts out 6-8" mark and remove carrier bearing caps remove carrier remove ring gear remove pinion nut smash pinion out into the housing using a drift pin in the dimple otherwise you will murder that pinion shaft beyond recognition haha it takes a bit of force to get it out remove bearings from carrier although yours are probably fine and you can reuse em remove old pinion races in the housing (brass punches, and hammer) replace pinion races (use the old ones to seat them) grind out the inside of the setup bearing so it slips onto the new pinion with a bit of force but can be easily removed place a shim pack under your setup pinion bearing similar to the thickness of you stock pack to start no need for a crush sleeve through the entire setup process until final assembly install the pinion with its bearings and set it for 15-19 inch lbs of rotating torque (a phillips screwdriver through the yoke to the webbing on the housing will lock it in place to crank it down) install your new ring gear on the carrier using locktight and tourque in a criss cross pattern to 75 ft lbs press new carrier bearings on if you removed the old ones insert carrier with some shim packs to make it a tight fit adjust backlash by moving shims from one side to the other using your .001" dial indicator to get .008-.010" apply marking compound and spin your carrier to get a gear pattern too close the the "crothch" of the ring gear teeth pinion needs less shims... too close to the top of the gear teeth pinion needs more shims adjust and retry again and again until you got it right break it down and use the correct shim packs to press the new final inner pinion bearing on put it all back together with your new pinion seal and crush sleeve don't over-tighten past your 15-19 INCH lbs spec on the pinion nut or you will have to use a new crush sleeve, some would hammer it out and reuse it but I'd say it would weaken it make sure everything's to spec and you can't go wrong! This is really simple and hard to eff up because there's precision measurements and if you take your time you will get to them and have no problems... The 9.75 and 8.8 front and rear have the carrier shims outside of the bearings and utilize a crush sleeve for a simple setup... I really should've done a writeup when I did this but I guess I kinda just did but without pics... If I can remember all of the above without looking at any literature on this subject you can do this on your own... let me know if you have any questions!
