I know it's a long shot but I was hoping for any feedback on local shops for doing a rear differential swap for a TRUETRAC. The dealers are being real dorks about it. They say " we just swap them out...we have never taken one apart before....I don't even have the right tools..."

Where is Edmonton...If you were in Maryland i could refer you to a couple places.

Where is Edmonton...If you were in Maryland i could refer you to a couple places.

Alberta,Canada....about 500 miles north of the Idaho border. :)

Alberta,Canada....about 500 miles north of the Idaho border. :)

yup, I have no idea about the shops up there!

The good news, it is roughly 100 km SOUTH of Whitecourt.

215 km soutrh of athabasca

In the States, when water gets to the temperature of the Athabaska river , it turns to solid ice. Only place where I got out of a car on the sandy shoulder and saw bear footprints (got right back into the car).

I am going to do mine as soon as it gets here. I ordered it from 4x4 parts.com

I will post later to let you know if I was able to do it without screwing it up. From what I have read, it is a simple job. There are no shims in the rear end, just adjusters. I wrote up a procedure to follow, and I hope it works out.
I purchased a magnetic dial indicator from lee valley tools for 45 bucks. I am going to use a socket bar that is 1 foot long and a small fish scale to check the existing preload specs before I remove it. I will also check the existing backlash before anything is removed. After digging around for a few days I found all the magic torques and specs for the rear diff.

Wish me luck. :thumbsup-big:

It was real easy to install the truetrac myself. All you need is a dial indicator and a magnetic base. Check the backlash first before you remove the carrier. Take out the old junk and remove the ring gear. clean up the threads on the ring gear and install on new carrier with loctite. Freeze carrier overnight and in the morning cook the bearings at 100 degrees C in the over or 220 Deg F for the south folk, once the bearings are hot pound them on the new carrier. Make sure the are pointed the right direction or you are in for some trouble. Once the bearings are on lube them up with some light grease and install the carrier in the housing. You will have to hold the races in place as you install the carrier. tighten the carrier bearing bolts barely hand tight. Take out the free play in the bearings and check for axial movement with the dial indicator. You want to have no free play when you move the ring gear left and right with your hand. Once the preload feels good, check the backlash. Set the backlash to around 6 thou and you are good to go. You don't want too much preload so don't tighten it too much. Fill back with oil and take for a drive. I went 60 or so miles and got out and felt the rear housing and it was barely warm. Change the oil after 500 miles or so. Check your housing vent at the same time. Mine was plugged with silicone. I drilled it out and attached a piece of garden hose to it and ran it up the side of the frame. All is good. Note, there are no shims, all the adjustments are made with the adjusting rings on either side of the bearings.

what do you use to turn the adjustment ring? does it require a special tool?

Once you loosen the cap bolts the adjusters move real easy, just use your finger. Mine didn't seem very tight at all when I first checked it. My truck had 130 000 km on it when I changed the carrier, so things may have loosened up over time.

On a side note, I am getting some gear whine after a few hundred miles. I don't think I put enough preload in the carrier so I will be going back in and rechecking everything. I tried to only get the side bearings tight enough so the ring gear didn't deflect when I moved it back and forth with my hand, but I am going to add a little more. Better loose than tight.

Good luck.