I plan on swapping out the gears in my truck and putting in a limited slip and/or locker combo. I havent yet decided if i want to tackle this job myself or pay someone. If i do it myself i have the money to buy all the parts but i dont have the money to pay someone. If i decide to pay someone can i do the rear and then the front at a later date as long as i dont use the 4 wheel drive? Also what kind of bearing press do i need to get if i do it myself...can i rent that or is it something i would have to purchase?

 

If you have never set up a rearend before I would not suggest doing it yourself. If you don't get the lash and the pinnion depth right it will eat the gears up. I have not done a ford rear but have done a few chevys and trust me it is worth the money to have it done. I will never do another one.

my 2 cents

 

Read this, then see how you feel about it afterwards:

www.ring-pinion.com/downloads/yukoninstman.pdf

 

I have rebuilt an engine before and done a lot of trans work, but i think i will leave this one to a shop. I dont want to ruin any expensive parts that i will be purchasing. Now i just need to find one that i can trust. (like that will happen) Thanks for the reply's.

 

You're Welcome ! Good luck !

 

Summit sells a Richmond Gear video for about $20 that shows you how to change gears in several different differentials.

With your current knowledge, you can watch this video and change gears yourself. However, you will need some tools to do it right. One of these is a dial indicator for setting the backlash properly. And crushing the pinion preload sleeve is a bear, probably about 400 ft.lbs. to crush it. In the video, they do this with a large impact wrench which seems crazy to me. I think you could easily torque it too much with this procedure. When I rebuilt my 74 Ford rear many years ago, I put a pull handle and socket on the pinion nut and let the wrench hang down. then I laid on my back and pushed the pull handle with my foot. I was just barely able to crush the sleeve and this was when I was young and fairly strong. I had worked out with weights and stuff and considered myself to be strong. The 74 Ford carrier bearings preload was set by turning a threaded collar on each side. You need a special tool for this also. Chevys use shims. I don't know what a Ford truck uses.