All: I am investigating ring and pinion choices for my 73 Apollo. I have some experience swapping gears in Ford 8.8 rearends using a comprehensive install kit. It made things straight forward. Has anyone used a kit to update their Buick 8.5 rearend gears? Summit seems to offer a lot of brands/choices. Thoughts?
Jim at JDrace.com will hook you up. Monzaz on the v8buick board. I use his kits every time I set up a rear. In the past I have used the summit kits. They work, but the bearings are cheapies. You get what you pay for.
Thanks Ken. I did reply to one of his for sale posts re: used ring gears. I'll ask him for a kit when I hear back.
I went with a Motive kit for the 12 bolt I did this summer. The 'Timken' upgrade had a mix of Timken and Koyo bearings. The shim kit was a disappointment, The carrier shims were the wrong diameter, sized to fit between the carrier and the bearing.... not between the carrier bearing and case. WTH? I had other shims in stock so was able to get it together. Reason I bought the Motive kit was price..... Bought from Advance Auto with the TRT30 30% discount code and beat other prices by a good amount. Bought the axle bearings and seals from Amazon. I did buy an extra inner pinion bearing for set-up use.... sanded the ID so it would easily slide on/off the pinion until i could determine the right pinion shim to use, then I pressed on the unmodified bearing. Both Brian and Jim will sell you the correct parts... that will fit!!:TU:
its worth mentioning that the shim kits Jim sells are very good. Summit shim kit was four thick washers and shims togo in between. Can sometimes be loose to handle. Jims shimkits have thick machined washers with a lip that kind of located the shims in between and helps to lock the shimpack together, making it easier to handle.
