I am swapping my 2.73s to 3.42 gears. what will i have to do to make these work. im hoping i do not have to switch the carrier. I mean, the 94s came with either the performance axle with these gears or the 2.73 gears with the non performance axle, so without deep research i would imagine they are interchangable.

thanks

will

 

No, they aren't interchangeable. The 2.73 base A4 cars came with a 2-series carrier, the 3.23 performance axle A4 cars came with a 3-series carrier. You either need to upgrade to a 3-series carrier, or find a 3.42 ring gear that is made thicker to fit in the 2-series carrier.

The 3.42's were only used in the 94 and up M6 cars.

 

Injuneer is correct; I did this swap, using the thicker gear. It worked perfectly, and the difference in performance is awesome.
An option is to find a series 3 takeoff, which would be a manual trans rear end that someone replaced with a 9 inch or 12 bolt.

 

What about 98? I am getting ready to do the exact same thing. What else will I have to change/replace?

 

Richmond Gear makes the thicker ring gear for the 2 series carrier. Summit sells these gear sets for just under $200.

Changing the ring gear is a snap but the pinion is where the installation gets tricky.

regardz