[Steven K]

How difficult is it to change the gears in the Ford rear? I have never done one and was wondering whether it was worth the effort, or if I should just shop for the right ratio.

 

[stang8s]

I did my 1st one a few months ago. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish. You will need a press. If using motorsport gears you can get away with very little setup. You will need a install set with shims and a decent set of calipers or a micrometer to measure them.

 

[LuisO]

There was this thread a couple of days ago, I list there a couple of articles and a GREAT video on gears change.

It doesn't appear to be too difficult if you have the right tools. I'm not changing the gears, but just replacing all seals and bearings, I got me a 12 ton shop press for this (and other stuff, hubs, bushing changes, etc) and it seems to be the culprit, together with a few other tools (bearing separators, 2/3 jaw puller, dial indicator, magnetic stand) you can probably get all the tools you need from Harbor Freight for under $150 (I did!)

If you're changing gears, then you need to calculate the new pinion depth, again, the video I talk about is a GREAT resource, just $30 delivered.

Good luck.

 

[Steve]

Like Steve said - get Ford Motorsport gears and save yourself a lot of hassel. They are manufactured to Ford specs and the pinion depth issue shouldn't be a problem if you simply re-use your shims from the stock pinion.

 

[Mike Braddock]

Thanks Luis!

 

[Tim Cronin]

one warning on rebuilding the rear end and changing ratios. I bought all new seals and bearings as well as 3.55 gears. Once we had it apart it was obvious the axles were bent and scored. When it came time to put it together we dicovered the spider gears were bad.
Bottom line
Check your rear end carefully before ordering parts. I spent way more than a new 3.55 rear end from ford would have cost. Make sure yours is worth regearing!
TEC