Reliable shop to rebuild and install TruTrac

[hucorey]

I'm looking to have my rear end completely rebuilt in my 99 f350 SRW and have a TruTrac installed. I'm in the Toledo, OH or Fort Wayne, IN area and wondering if anyone knows where I can find a shop that has a great reputation for building up rear ends. I would really like better than stock bearings etc put back in. I'm running close to the 500hp range. I called Moser Engineering and they don't do sterling rear ends, only Dana and GM.

[hucorey]

Bump anyone

[Macon]

DIY? Gears are a lot easier than folks make them sound. Just do your research and follow directions.

[GreenF350]

I redid mine myself. New carrier bearings and new pinion bearings. Really wasn't all that bad. Had to go buy a dial indicator to check backlash and I took to carrier to a machine shop to have the bearing pressed off and back on, but that was the only "setback". Still need to get it apart and do the wheel bearings in the rear one of these days.
-Aaron

[hucorey]

How do u set pre load on the carrier bearings?

[GreenF350]

I just used a hammer to tap as many shims as I could get in there. That style virtually never fails from being too tight (because it is hard to get too tight) and was confirmed by the instructions I got in the kit. I asked around about a differential spreader since one manual said it was needed and pretty much got laughed at. No one seems to use them so forcin the shims in is about the only other option. The trickiest part is once you get all the shims in there you have to turn around and readjust them if backlash is wrong. It's been like that for at least 10k miles in my truck and no problems.
-Aaron

[hucorey]

You may have gotten ridiculed because I believe only DANA axles specify using a carrier spreader. I work with a guy who used to work for DANA in their R n D shop and that's what he told me.

[GreenF350]

I know the front (Dana 50 in mine) requires it, but I am pretty sure that my 2 book Ford manual says to use one. Can't remember now. Lol. Either way....

[hucorey]

How far in or out do you set the pinion gear? I'm pretty confident I can do this change out. I've got the tools to do it now. Right now I have almost a 1/4 of backlash, lol. WOW is what I say. Definitely time for ring gear too. I will try and post pics later during the process. Its gonna be a little while before I can get to it. Looking to be around close to a $1000.00. Master rebuild kit, ring and pinion, and a TruTrac.

[GreenF350]

The end o the pinion gear is usually stamped with a starting point, but I've been lucky and used the original shims as a starting point on my last set and it was correct. You can tell if the pinion gear is set to the right depth from the pattern. It is a bit hard to explain and I'm not very eloquent. A google search might be safer than me trying to explain it.
-Aaron