Toyota 8" Rear Differential ReGear / Rebuild

Hey Dudes,

If you are interested in learning how a pro does a regear / rebuild of one of our 8" rear diffs, this is your opportunity to learn the process.

We flew out from California to North Carolina to film this video and a video of installing an Eaton locker in my front 7.5" clamshell diff.

Hope you guys like it.

Timmy

https://www.youtube.com/embed/W-GN-1bgZwU


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Timmy,
Great video! Thanks to you and Chase at ECGS for taking your valuable time to document the science & art of building a high-quality differential.

 

That is a great video- very detailed and easy to understand the process.

Here is a question for you @Timmah! - Now having witnessed that process firsthand, would you be tempted to order the supplies from ECGS to do that on your own?

My general gut feeling is that I would go for it- but I also have enough tools on hand (welder, press, access to a lathe etc...) to make some of the custom tooling required. That being said, there was a lot of "art"/experience going on there, where things went right the first time, and we didn't get to see a detailed trial and error process to address meshing issues (paint patterns) or any of the multitude of other issues which could arise.

It would also be interesting to follow up with Chase/ECGS in a year and see if he has noticed an increase in Toyota owners tackling their own diff rebuilds.

I am looking forward to seeing the front rebuild.

 

Yes, I'm tempted to give a shot but I would want that special Yukon puller set so I could remove the pinion bearing multiple times to dial in the pinion depth to get the correct meshing of the pinion gear with the ring gear. I'd also need to buy a beam style inch pound torque wrench and also buy a set of those ARB pliers to turn the side adjusters to set the backlash and the carrier bearing preload. I'd probably also buy those adapters that allow you to torque the carrier bearing adjusters. So, it would be an investment. I know ECGS rents the tools, but I'd rather own them.

Yes, there is still an art to setting up gears and this is something the video can't give you. Guys like Chase and the people he employs have tons of experience. Since they do this day in and day out and they know the gear sets they are working with and the differentials they are working with, they know ahead of time what a good shim stack would be for the pinion bearing depth. If for some reason the initial paint pattern doesn't look right they will probably know the adjustment in the shim stack height under the pinion bearing to get it right in one shot. That's where the experience comes in. This is why in the video Chase says, start with the stock shim stack height. See what the paint pattern looks like and then change the stack height and run it a little shallower and then also run it a little deeper and see each time what the pattern looks like. By doing that, you have now educated yourself to know what is optimal and you might even find yourself even going more shallow or more deep depending on what the pattern is looking like. Experience also definitely helps with setting the pinion bearing preload. Chase's guys know pretty well the shim stack height to add to the solid spacer to get the bearing preload right on the first try. You could go with the crush sleeve but it's clear to me the solid spacer with shims is the better way to go in case you have to remove the pinion flange for some reason.

Chase is a busy guy running his company and I understand why he didn't decide to show what the paint pattern would like if he ran the pinion deeper or more shallow. On the first day of filming, he spent around 6 hours with us because we filmed the interview and tour on the same day. And, as you saw, the video is already super long so I'm kind of glad he didn't want to show that. People will just have to put in the work when setting up gears and follow his advice by changing the pinion shim stack height to see how it affects the paint pattern. This is a job that should take a DIYer a ton of time the first time they do it to make certain they are covering all their bases. No doubt this is an art that you get better with repetition.

I don't think Chase will be able to quantify how many people have chosen to tackle this job after watching our video but maybe he can tell by how many more questions come in from DIYers. Chase did say most of his diff builds are for shops, not individuals. Here's what I think. For every guy that watches my video and decides to challenge himself doing this job, I bet 100 will say, screw that, I'll just buy my diffs from them. They'll pay more, but they will have the peace of mind it was done right.

The front regear and locker install was abbreviated because Chase didn't have as much time to give us on the second day of filming. It's mostly to show people the intricacies of properly getting the Eaton e-locker installed. But, since the rear diff regear was so complete, people can watch that one to fill in the gaps and that's what I'm going to tell people in the intro I film for that video. The video will probably be out in a week or so.

In addition to the diff regear videos, I'm also going to be putting out a Part 2 for the Front Diff Swap because I have some further information to share that makes the removal and installation go much smoother. I'm also going to put out a video for the wiring of the Eaton e-locker and testing. So, stay tuned...

Timmy

 

When necessary, I have put diffs. together using a crush sleeve. But just as Timmy stated, I would spend all day pulling and reinstalling the pinion to get the shim pack just right for the proper preload when using a solid spacer. I just don't think my quality would come close to ECGS's product. I once screwed up torquing the crush sleeve on a 9" Ford diff. by going just 1 grunt too far with preload. The experience level behind ECGS's work is very evident. One little error is all it takes to ruin the final product. It would be a blast to assemble your own diff. with a pro looking over your shoulder to capture and correct your errors. And there would be errors. Error management is a vital part of the learning process. You would come away with more knowledge and experience. Just look at everything we learned from watching that video. For me, the most important thing I learned from that video is to simply have ECGS do my diff. work. Without a doubt, Chase/ECGS has more trade secrets on diffs. than were revealed. I do most of the work on my Taco because I cannot get top shelf craftmanship locally. But with the diff. exchange option available from ECGS, top shelf diff. craftsmanship is just a phone call away. The KISS principle works! The orange FIPG is drying on the new front clamshell diff. from ECGS right now. And Curtis emailed that the new front diff. bracket bushings from DuroBumps are in the mail. It is all coming back together.

 

I agree that it would be awesome to play the role of apprentice with an experienced tech looking over your shoulder and giving you tips and instruction. Yeah, I'm sure there's things Chase didn't share and that might have been intentional or most likely he just didn't think to mention it. He shared a ton of great tech with us. Just like when I make videos, there's no script and Chase was just delivering the material off the cuff from his experience. I did ask some clarifying questions so people would better understand the process like when he'd pull out a tool that was clearly custom made by them. Without a doubt, building diffs is an art and you don't get good at it by doing it once. Three guys at ECGS pump out around 13 Toyota differentials a day. They can do them that fast and with accuracy because they have the right tools and they have the experience. Chase said about 70% of the time, his guys don't need to do pinion shim adjustments to get the right meshing of the pinion and ring gears because they know ahead of time the shim stack that works. Same goes for the pinion bearing preload. They get it right on the first try. That's where the experience and knowledge comes in. There's way less guesswork and trial and error on their part.

It is hard to beat ECGS for the service they provide. They do great work for a fair price and it shows with their customer satisfaction. I haven't heard one bad word about ECGS on the many forums and Facebook pages I frequent. They have a great reputation in the industry.