Gears - low end?

[crazypete]

Official answer: It's very difficult...blah blah dont attempt it blah blah you'll blow up your axle...

The gears are like $150 and install can range from $200-300

Now if you buy fms gears (and this only applies to fms gears), you can attempt it yourself. Worst case: it makes noise and then you take it to a shop. Hell, you can drop the axle and take it to a place that deals especially in them (commercial truck shops do this a lot).

I pulled the sway bar off, took off the back panel to the axle (the gear oil smells like CRAP!), pulled out the "pin", removed the c-clips, unbolted the differential, hammered the gear off, boiled the new gear and dropped it onto the diff, took a happy dead blow mallet and coerced the pinion out. Since these are fms gears, I decided to try and see if it was true that you could use the existing shims. I simply reused all the shims and I even, in my great wisdom, reused the old crush sleeve. If figured it was crushed enough already the first time around. I bolted everything back together, tightened the pinion nut and threw it all back together. Took it for a spin. Howled. Tightened the pinion nut till it didnt wobble at all and had some drag on it but was still turnable by hand. Threw it back together again , took it for a spin and it was silent. Took it on the highway and it was silent.

Like I said, if this doesnt work, take whatever you've done to the gear shop and have them "fix" what you did. If it's grinding and howling, have it towed for saftey, you dont want to chew up the gears