Cracked ring???

[white96x]

i'm assuming this is the right forum..here goes: i was having some problem with my rear end lately, i had taken it apart and knew the bearing were shot, so i replaced those, and while i was at it i noticed my ring had a 'hairline' crack along where some teeth were grinded down to put the notch pin back in, so i was doing some mild offroading this weekend and i hear a loud pop in the rear and then the truck was done after...so i had it towed and my local shop said that the ring had cracked and even showed it to me. they said when you do gear swaps you're not supposed to grind down any teeth or you'll weaken the structural integrity of the ring(which made sense) and also since my stock carrier came with a limited slip it was reused in my original gear swap also and the shop said that you are supposed to use a different carrier to accomodate the larger ring and pinion...so i obviously know i need a new ring and pinion but are they scammin me on the new carrier? they quoted me a grand for new bearings, ring, pinion, and carrier with new posi, but i'm wondering if i could just get away with the ring and pinion...your thoughts?

 

['97 V8]

a grand!?!?!?! Wow. go to a junkyard and buy a jy axle for an 8.8 and do the gear swap. I have never heard that you need a new carrier for a gear swap..which is BS by the way. What carrier are you supposed to use..another 8.8 carrier...wait you already have one of those. Have him replace the ring and pinion for at most 250 bucks.

 

[IZwack]

x2 -- you can't replace the carrier becasue there is no other carrier to replace it with. There are only two types of 8.8 on the Explorer -- the LimitedSlip and the non-LimitedSlip.

There are carriers out there that require a carrier swap when changing from one gear ratio to another (the dana 44 is an example) as the deck plane is moved closer to the pinion gear. But the 8.8 is not one of those axles.

Also about grinding the ring gear -- it has been done before but not often on the 8.8 axle. Who grinded the ring gear? Because I think the proper way of using "deep" gears on the 8.8 is not to grind the ring gear, but rather to notch the carrier pin to allow the C-clips and axle shafts to be removed w/o removing the carrier pin from the carrier.

 

[white96x]

thats what i figured b/c i even asked where they would get the new carrier from and they said from ford, so i said it's going to be a stock carrier then? and they said ya...but it's possible when the ring shattered that it could have damaged the carrier, no? so unless the carrier is damaged, i shouldn't need a new one obviously?

 

[RockRanger]

I'd put an aftermarket limited slip in instead of a factory one if you dont want a true locker.

If they said not to grind the teeth down on the ring gear then that means they are going to grind the cross shaft to get it to fit. I grond the tooth on my gear set to get the cross shaft in.

I would find another shop. If they didn't know that there was not a carrier split in the 8.8 then I would question what they know. That or they are trying to sell you extra parts and make a few extra bucks.

$1000 sounds high but sounds about right with pretty much all new parts.

$400 aftermarket L/s or locker
$200 gears
$150 install kit and bearings
$250 labor and shop cost to install.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

You could try this:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172493

Its 4.10's but its pretty cheap-