Parts needed for diff swap?

[Lucky_Ls]

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I guess that’s a good thing seeing as how most of my posts were questions on stuff screwing up on my LS! Anyway, I’ve been thinging about doing the 3.31 to 3.58 gear swap. I’ve done some research on some past threads but I can’t find a list (besides the gears) of parts I need. I’m listing parts off of Teamfordparts.com that include most of the inner workings of the gear diff. If any of you guys who have done this mod can tell me what I do and don’t need even if it’s not listed I would be very thankful!

Ring and pinion 3.58 ratio
Side bearings (x2)
Bearing cup (x2)
Side gear kit (includes washer) (x2)
Pinion gear kit (includes washer) (x2)
Inner bearing cup
Inner bearing

 

[Quik LS]

have you ever set the backlash and pre-load on a diff before?

 

[Lucky_Ls]

No, my cousin offered to help me with it. He’s swapped out a few differentials and he hasn’t had any problem with them. Honestly I just want to know if there anything else that needs to be replace. I’ve asked him but I want to know want you guys replaced while you did this mod. Don’t want to replace something that doesn’t need to be replaced.

 

[Justin00LS]

What about an LSD???

 

[Lucky_Ls]

Nah, just this simple mod will do. I have an Xcal 3 and it’s great but I want a little more. I think after this upgrade I’ll start to work on the appearance of my baby. But all the threads I’ve read on the 3.58 gear they say it’s a noticable mod so… Common guys, fell free to chime in with your input on my question. "What parts besides the gears was needed to do this differentail swap?"

 

[Lucky_Ls]

Common guys... There's no tech articles on this that's why I'm asking.

 

[Quik LS]

Shims.

the way this works - you have to provide spacers at each end of the diff to position it properly. You mark a set of teeth with grease paint and then rotate it - depending on the pattern you see in the paint it tells you if your pinion it too high or low, or if the diff is to left or right.

If you were just swapping in an LSD (no gear change) you can most likely re-use all the same shims since the new LSD would be the same size as your current one. But since you are changing gearset, and replacing the pinion - you have to redo your preload and backlash.

There are ways to take measurements before and after you have everything swapped to give you guidance on which shim widths to get, however you usually have a little work to do to get a perfect mesh.