Hey Its me again. Just put my motor in my car. AS some of you people know. did a 355 with LT's XE cam all that good stuff. Now my REAR END has a 373 gears in them. They have been in there for at least three years. Yesterday I was hearing some low grinding noising kinda like a mild whining noise. I drove it today hered the same noise. As I was getting close to my house. "THANK the LORD" that noise became very LOUD. alot of clacking and clanging goin on. Felt like I lost power when I stepped on it. I jacked my car up on all fours to inspect the drivshaft and the rear end area. Started the car put it in NUetral to see if I here anything. ANd that noise seems to be coming from the rear end differential. I mean theres a JUNK loal of clangin going on. i pulled off the driveshaft. took my hand and i can wiggle the U joint part the holds the driveshaft in the rear end and it feels like theres alot of play. Feels like when I turned it it felt like it was grabing or something NOW my quetions. IS it just the GEARS. (Rack and Pinion) Cuase if it is. IM thinking about putting my stock 273's back in. I plan on adding my nitrous back on the motor. ANd I would like to have more TOP END power. I miss dropping my car into 2nd gear doing 70 mph on the freeway. ALso what are the Benifits in putting the TA girdle on? IS it worth it. OR should I upgrade and go with 410 gears. (IFY on that one ) Thanks
Chris

 

Before you look at buying anything you'll have to figure out what broke. So you should pull the girdle off and take a look.

The TA girdle has a few advantages. It has load bolds that press on the carrier bearing caps. I'm not entirely sure how this affects things, but I imagine it prevents the carrier from moving away from the pinion under high torque. It also allows more oil to be put into the differential and comes along with a drain hole. Plus, it looks good. I dunno if it's worth it, but I doubt I would've bought it if it didn't come with the installation kit I purchased. So far the advantage of the drain hole has saved me lots of time, especially since I've been experimenting with different types of oil for the rear end, but at a price tag of $150 US, I think I can justify it over taking out 10 bolts to drain the oil.

 

OK thasss what my buddy told me to. ILL do that tomorrow and pull off the bolts. Take a look to see whats going on. Can you tell me what im looking for. I do know if the teeth on the rack and pinion are not good then thass most likly my problem. And also if it is my rack and pinion can i change them myself? How much labor involed. Thanks
Chris
ttt

 

setting up gears is not a job for amateurs really. when your dealing with something thats spinning that fast under that load, the tolerances are very tight. it's not as simple as bolting in a new ring and pinion set and closing it back up. there's a lot of shimming and adjusting to get the gears to mesh together EXACTLY right. do it wrong and at BEST it will whine forever...at worst it will fly apart...my rear was blown and the new setup was done by a pro. since then, i've beaten on it hardcore and it doesn't make a sound.

also it kind of sounds like you blew up the posi-unit. if the ring and pinion were straight out broken, you probably wouldnt be able to drive the car at all. my guess is u busted the posi and set all the litte gears and springs bouncing around the inside of the differential case. eventually that crap will get jammed in the ring and pinion teeth and break those too.

if it were my car, i would eat the cost and get the whole rear redone RIGHT, a new posi unit and a new ring and pinion set. its pretty expensive but if the noise is as bad as u say it is it sounds like u have done a pretty good amount of damage in there. good luck.

 

I would look for broken teeth. Either from the ring gear, the pinion or the spider gears. The ring gear will be easy to check, since you can just rotate the carrier and take a look. The pinion will have be done by feeling it since it's hidden behind the carrier. If those check out, take a look inside the carrier (there are large square holes in the side of the carrier you can look in through). There should be gears in there, try and see if any are broken. Also, check the oil for any broken teeth.

 

well I hope that the gears ARE OK. I like the 373's alot. BUt if I have to swap them out. Then ill prolly go back to the 273's. Now Posi unit. How often do they go out on LT1's 10 Bolt. WHen I had my car on all fours. I was turning the driveshaft and Both Tires were spinning like nomal. A posi unit is suppose to turn both tires RIGHT? Pretty sure they do. Just wanna make sure. how much do posi units COST. Thanks
Chris
ttt

 

Ok Guys thanks for the help. Its pretty obvius. I pulled off my Girdle this morning. And very quickly there was two pieces of metal sitting there at the bottom. As the oil Drianed away it was clear that the spider gear TEETh were missing. Putting the pieces togather the broken metal was the teeth on the spider gear. IM talking about the smaller of the two gears. The one that sits near the drive shaft. The posi unit was in GOOD shape. NO noticable damage.. I rotated the tires and saw no other matal. SO its clear that the gears are GONE. SO having said that IM going to purchase the TA Girdle. ANd upgrade to 410 gears. I have a Ford Ranger that I have been daily driving So my Camaro is for the track NOW. only. With maybe occasional trips to super market or friends house. But 410s 2800 stall. and some nitrous. ON a XE cam and 1.6 Rockers should see 12's no problem. IF anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. Im OPEN
Chris
ttt

 

good to hear u figured out the problem though im sorry ur gears are toast. just a little note though, i think your talking about the pinion gear. the spider gears are the gears inside the posi-unit.

 

Yeah thass what im talking about. LOL. the Pinion Gear. But I need some help in my next Gear chioce. I hered 410 gears are gonna make your Low End torque scream. But im trying to knock into the 12's ALL motor no nitrous. Then after I get all motor then ILL add the juice. Also whats a good stall to go good with the those Gears. IM not gonna be drivig it much at all.
Chris
ttt

 

on an LT1, probably a 3200 or so.

 

Ummm... maybe I misread what you posted. But the spider gears are the gears inside the carrier and are not the same as the ring and pinion gears. The spider gears are what lets your wheels turn at different speeds when you're cornering. Did you perhaps mean the pinion gear? That's the gear that is attached to the yoke.

 

Yes the pinion gear has teeth missing. SO the pinion gear on the YOKE is whats busted. I wander if I can just buy the pinion gear. THe RACK looks GOOD To go. OR you just replace everything togather.
Chris
ttt

 

You have to replace both the ring and pinion. They're matched sets. You're looking at $200 for new gears and probably another $150-$200 for installation.