COMPLETED: 4.56's and lockers.

[fishsticks]

I figured I'd start an actual thread for this similar to the one I have on the OS. Seems like a great time since I actually have some parts to show off!


I purchased these rear gears.



They took my offer of $185 for them. As of right now there's still a set left. USA standard gears review well for longevity but apparently are a bit noisy. I figured between tire howl, exhaust drone and stereo blast I wouldn't notice.

FedEx showed up today with my package. Here's what I got.




Wait a second...




Part number on the ring and pinion is "GM10-456"... which matches this auction.







I like getting free upgrades. The PN on the install kit also matches the second listing.



Hoping the Powertrax No-Slip I got a screaming deal on shows up next.

[janesy86]

Sweet deal! Can't complain at all about that price! Def looking forward to updates, wish I had 4.56's...

Edit: Haha just noticed the look on your cats face!

[fishsticks]

Well, the gears are in!

I don't have any pictures of the install itself. I thought I was going to have an extra set of hands yesterday but ended up not. I also got a late start on the project and didn't finish up until a little after dark.

Since none of my bearing pullers fit on the pinion, I ended up measuring the shim thickness and transferring that measurement over to the new pinion. I was pretty nervous since without a bearing puller, this was a one chance deal.

Tried putting the carrier back in with the factory shims and could barely turn the gears. There was zero backlash. A little trial and error and I ended up with the carrier shifted about .02" to the left. This gave me .012" of backlash. (The gear sheet indicated .008-.012"). Painted up the gears and my pattern was perfectly centered from heel to toe but coming right up to the edge on the face. Since I couldn't adjust the pinion out any more I decided to move the carrier in a tiny bit more. Moved one shim over from passenger to driver and rechecked backlash. .008" Cleaned the gears and ran another pattern... success! My pattern is biased out very slightly to the face, but ends before falling off the edge.

I took them around the block last night, then drove my son to school this morning and ran a couple errands. They're whisper quiet! It feels like having 4.10's on stock sized tires again, which basically means it feels like a hot rod compared to before. Especially with the 3.73's I'd gotten used to over the past month.

I went to put the Powertrax in yesterday as well, but discovered it actually has two of the same side part, and won't fit into the carrier. I'm going to email Richmond today and see what they can do.

Sorry again for no pics. I'll be sure to take some once I get the Powertrax installed.

[bartonmd]

Good job!

Mike

[janesy86]

Good deal man! Hopefully you can get the locker situation straightened out soon.

[Trail X]

Did both coast and drive side contact patterns look pretty similar?

Out of curiosity, how did you load the half shafts down for the pattern test? Did the E-brake work?

[fishsticks]

Did both coast and drive side contact patterns look pretty similar?

Out of curiosity, how did you load the half shafts down for the pattern test? Did the E-brake work?

They were pretty similar, yes. I really wish I had taken a picture of my pattern.

I ran the pattern tests without the axles in. I used a small piece of wood and pried down on the carrier as I turned the pinion. Then I pried upward from the bottom to run the coast pattern. Was just enough to create some drag. It sure was fun doing that by myself on the ground.

[djthumper]

Sounds like everything is going fairly well.

[Trail X]

I ran the pattern tests without the axles in. I used a small piece of wood and pried down on the carrier as I turned the pinion. Then I pried upward from the bottom to run the coast pattern. Was just enough to create some drag. It sure was fun doing that by myself on the ground.

Gotcha, I haven't heard of doing it that way.

I guess we'll know in 10k miles if it worked!

[Zero]

what r ya doing with your 3.73's?

[fishsticks]

what r ya doing with your 3.73's?

Right now they're sitting on top of the freezer in my garage. (I was worried the freezer might float away otherwise.)



They are for 8.5/8.6 30 spline axles. You need a set?

[Zero]

I have the EXT, so I do have the 8.6 rear end. Will your gears work for me? PM me with a $ you want for them.

[fishsticks]

Found a snag.

The No-Slip I got for a stupid deal is for 8.5 diffs. Apparently, while 8.5 and 8.6's can swap gears, the internal width of the carriers is different. So my 8.5 No-Slip won't fit. There is a model specifically made for the 8.6, which I was unaware of.

I could take the outers of the No-Slip to a machine shop and have a little width taken off of them, or I could buy an empty 8.5 carrier and install that into my housing.

Nothing can ever go totally smoothly.

[bartonmd]

Never.

[djthumper]

You really expected a project like this to go smooth?

[teebes]

Just a small hiccup... Gotta love GM

Another thing to quickly check is your axle shafts, specifically the little button at the end. Mine required a little reduction in overall width to fit in the ECTED (Auburn actually mentions this step in their manual for this locker, too).

Good luck!

[fishsticks]

Found what I need.

GM PN 26010481-XHD. An 8.5 carrier with larger 8.6 style carrier bearing journals. Should fit into my 8.6 housing with the two extra carrier bearings from the 8.6 master install kit I have.

$145 shipped from ronsmachiningservice.com. Even with this extra expense I'm still into this over $100 less than if I had bought the No-Slip at full price...

Back on track.

[djthumper]

Good to hear

[fishsticks]

So the latest...

Break in period is over, so I pulled the cover today to change fluid and check everything out.

I had developed a minor whine while coasting, which I read can happen if the pinion bearing races don't seat all the way during installation. Sure enough mine hadn't and had opened up some play in the pinion when they finally did seat. I was able to correct this with some judicious application of my impact gun to the pinion nut.

Got the pinion bearing preload back into spec and ran another pattern to check everything out. I took pics this time!

Drive side:




Coast side:




As far as my No-Slip goes, I've given up on the one I got. Right now it's not possible to put my hands on the proper carrier to adapt the 8.5 to my 8.6 housing. Places either didn't know it existed or didn't have it in stock and had no ETA on backorder.

I'll resell it on Ebay and buy one for the 8.6.

[Trail X]

Cool. From the little I know about setting up gears, those look like decent patches.

What's with the contact patterns at the bottom of the second picture? It looks like there is heavy rubbing near the top land. Or maybe those didn't get painted as heavily?