I have done this before and have all the tools. It took me about 6 hours to change my gears. 5 days is a long time....Great article for the novice gear swapper....I would also get a piece of 1 1/2 wide steel about 8 inches long and drill holes the proper distance, about 1 7/8 center to center 3/8 drill, make the holes toward the edge of the steel. You can then bolt this to the pinion flange which will help when you are removing the pinion nut. Keeps the flange from spinning and is just like the special tool that ford calls for. Bolt it to the rear side of the flange so you have access to the nut. GA
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05 GT Techco 7psi, 428hp/395tq, Tillman tune, 18x9.5 GT500 wheels, 14" Brembos, Steeda Front strut pads and front relo kit, BMR lowering springs, Tokicko D-Specs, GT500 Front lower control arms, BMR adj upper third link, BMR adj PHB, BMR rear relo brackets, boxed stock phb brace, Hooker super comp LT with Pypes HF cats, Stillen adj front & rear sway bars, Steeda sport shifter.
One other note...The dimension that is on the face of the pinion is called the MASTER HEAD DISTANCE. If you are using an aftermarket gear set then this is very important. According to Ford Tech, If you use a Ford Motorsport gear set then the pinions are all pretty much the same. That way you can use the same spacer that came off the old gear set. I have measured the thickness of about a dozen ford pinions and they were all within 2 to 3 thousanths, Well within the 10k tolerance. Still a good practice to check this as mentioned in the article though.
One other part that was not mentioned in this extremely well done post, is the importance of the pinion pre load. The purpose of the crush sleeve is to set the pre load. This will take about 200ft lbs of torque to start. The 140 lbs mentioned is the final setting after the pre load is set. You will have to set the pre load and then back off the nut so you can set the final setting. The pre load is a light drag on the pinion so it is not "free wheeling". It is measured in Inch pounds, not very much. If you do not get the pre load correct there will most likley be a thunk when you take your foot off the gas. My congratulations on a fabulous narative on how to do this mysterious job. Thanks Gary Alpert
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05 GT Techco 7psi, 428hp/395tq, Tillman tune, 18x9.5 GT500 wheels, 14" Brembos, Steeda Front strut pads and front relo kit, BMR lowering springs, Tokicko D-Specs, GT500 Front lower control arms, BMR adj upper third link, BMR adj PHB, BMR rear relo brackets, boxed stock phb brace, Hooker super comp LT with Pypes HF cats, Stillen adj front & rear sway bars, Steeda sport shifter.
Last edited by Garyalpusa; 05-03-2008 at 01:48 PM.
Reason: spelling
Hey JJMT where did you get those gauges? You have done an excellent job here of showing how to do this job.The measurements are what scare me. How did you think of making that plate,wow that was ingeniouse.How are the gears holding up?
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Airraid CAI/BAMA tune,moto blue pullies,3:73`s,LPW girdle;Powerhouse DS,CHE safety loop,CHE LCA`S & Adjustable UCA,Kooks LT`S & O/R X Pipe,prothane MM`s,Steeda CMDP`S,Eibach springs,Tokico D specs,Polished TB(by Me),Steeda radiator support,MT DR`S,Zex kit 100 shot. Taylor Relocation batter kit and cut off switch
11:933 ET, 1.674 60`,111.877 MPH 5600 feet above sea level 6900 D/A
you can get the dial indicator, magnetic base, dial indicator at most tool supplies. if you dont want to spend a ton try like harborfreightusa.com or you could go all out at a tooling supply but you will pay for the big brands. i`m gonna be redoing the rear end in my v6 7.5 at some point.ive got the tools and i`m sure i can do it. i need to pick up the posi and i might just go to the 355 or 373 gears. great write up and pics, awesome job on the post.
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goina hundred in a 55, and i dont know why..
some things were just meant to be..
05 V6 auto, torch red, basic, a few mods
06 V6 stick, vista, premium (g/f`s car)
