[85Sierra]

ok well i have an 81 el camino with a 7.5" with a 273 posi now what i want to do is take the gears from a astro van (7.5") with 342's now can i use my carrier from the 273 and posi with the 342 gears

 

[yesgo]

Probanly not without a spcer or carrier change. The 2.73 is probably a 1 series and the 3.43 is likely a 3 series carrier.

 

[ecrusch1987]

I've been where you have before with a 1978 Elky, I tried going from 2.41 to 4.10 with the stock carrier and it didn't work, the carrier would go in crooked and couldn't even shim the thing.

I have a new theroy about rear ends (they are such a pain in the ***, shim, preload, all types of **** I don't understand), if you have a question hire a shop to do it because you can't.

Good luck,
Eric

 

[85Sierra]

i think i read somewhere that the 273 was the beggining of the 3 series carrier is this true?

 

[Robinson Robin]

i think i read somewhere that the 273 was the beggining of the 3 series carrier is this true?

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Depends on which axle it is and off hand I can't remember for sure about the 7.5" I imagine though that the 273 is a 2 series. Go to the eatons websight it has them listed there

 

[68Velle]

I beleive that 3.08s are the start of series 3 and they end at 3.73.

 

[M&M CUSTOM]

Many of the new gear manufacturers make typical 3 series gears that are specifically machined to fit on the 2 series carriers.

In this case the gears are not going to work on the other carrier.
Is there a reason the carrier and everything wasn't removed from the donor vehicle, this little mess would have been avoided?

Setting up a set of gears isn't rocket science, you need a minimal amount of tools and the concept of reading the instructions that would normally be included with a new set of gears, if you don' have them they are all over the internet.

I set up a a set of used gears in my Malibu that I scored for free.
The axle was from an S-10 and had the exact same thing I needed to do the gear swap from 2.29 to 3.73.
I read as much as I could, and researched everything I could find on the internet that "showed" me how to do the swap and do the proper gear mesh patterns, and spent the money on a complete installation kit.

I ended up not having to use everything in the kit (good thing in one instance because I was sent damaged parts in the kit) whatever I didn't use, or couldn't, they took back for credit and I got away with the whole job even cheaper.