(Gears Gone Wild - continued)

After fighting the pinion for hours John B. makes the difficult but necessary decision to pull the entire differential housing out from under the car. It's not the first time he's had to do this, but he recalls "the other times were also on 2000-2001 Mustang GT's. It's as if Ford changed the pinion bearing lubricant or something and therefore they seize into place."

We applied lubricant, heat, and lots of force to no avail. It's not often the pinion is frozen in the housing, but this was one of those times.	Looking at the pinion gear from inside the case. Usually the gear will drop right out and you're on your merry way with assembling the new gears. We had to take more drastic measures.
Removing the entire rearend seems to be a massive undertaking, but John B. has the springs removed and control arms disconnected in no time. The brake lines route against the body so they are not of concern.	Within 20 minutes of making the decision John B. has the entire 8.8 rear-end sliding out from under the car on a floor jack. We're shocked at just how little time this took.
The differential is placed in a hydraulic press. Surprisingly the press can't even break the pinion gear loose! Heck we even applied heat to the bearing. No go.	When all else fails take extreme measures. John breaks out the plasma cutter.
A few cuts into the pinion bearing and the pinion is free. Normally this bearing doesn't need to be replaced which is why we only cut it out after all else failed. Fortunately we found a replacement at a local parts store.	The stock 3.27 gearset is being replaced and therefore this pinion will go right into the trash but first we'll remove the bearing and take the shims.
Measure the thickness of the shim removed from the stock gearset. This is usually between 0.028" - 0.032" inch from the factory.	New gear sets have a "checking number" stamped on the pinion reflecting the measurement needed when the pinion is installed. The problem is without the Ford tool you can't measure this directly. Most shops simply compare the new pinion gear thickness to the stock unit and make up or subtract using shims if needed. It's not the best method but usually works. We've found that Ford Motorsport gearsets are usually spot on with the 0.030" shim. If you want to get it perfect, Ratech has made the checking much easier with a cheap fixture. See sidebar.
Install the shims over the pinion gear and then press on the new bearing.	The old ring gear is removed from the Traction Lok assembly. If you are rebuilding the clutch pack check the side bar for instructions.
Use a dab of Loctite on the ring gear bolts. Blue is preferred, but if you only have Red as we did then use it.	Run a flat file across the back of new ring gear to remove any burrs or high spots. The ring gear bolts should all be threaded, then snug up the bolts in an alternating fashion to draw the gear evenly. Torque to 80-85 lb-ft.
Remove and discard the old pinion bearing race and seal. The new race and front bearing is set into place followed by the seal.	New gearsets include a crush sleeve. This must be slid onto the pinion above the bearing as shown. Then install the pinion through the case. Use some antiseize compound on the pinion spines.