NITRO 5.29s & REAR BRAKE OVERHAUL
Well dammit this project is finally DONE! As some may remember I started collecting parts for this months ago. Wanted to get everything up and running before the MUD camping trip next month so I had to get on with it! Everything is back together as of this morning. Gave it a quick test run to make sure nothing detonates and so far so good. Truck definitely has a little more pep to it. Haven't taken it on the freeway yet, but I did notice my speedometer is about 10mph off now! Didn't realize it'd make such a big difference. For example, my speedometer reads 50mph and my GPS says I'm really going about 41mph.
First off, rear brakes. A few months ago I overhauled the front brakes so I decided to take advantage of this while I had everything taken apart. Rotors and pads are the
Powerstop K1156 kit. The calipers are remans from Advance Auto. They have a $40 off $100 coupon code and free shipping. Can't beat that!
Ok on to the gears! This is an expensive project no matter how you look at it. Even if you do most of the work yourself and drop the 3rds off at a shop you're gonna pay some $$$. Install kits cost just as much as the gears so that costs quickly add up. Here's a list of all the parts I used. Everything came from JT's:
Front
http://www.justdifferentials.com/T8R-529R-NG-p/t8r-529r-ng.htm
http://www.justdifferentials.com/YOKTOYFITKIT-29-p/yoktoyfitkit-29.htm
http://www.justdifferentials.com/MKT8-ELOC-B-p/mkt8-eloc-b.htm
http://www.justdifferentials.com/SKCSTV6-p/skcstv6.htm
Rear
http://www.justdifferentials.com/TLC-529-NG-p/tlc-529-ng.htm
http://www.justdifferentials.com/MKTLC-ELOC-p/mktlc-eloc.htm
http://www.justdifferentials.com/SKCSTLC-90-p/skcstlc-90 .htm
The ring/pinion gears were cryo'd, adding about $100 to the project. Gears were sent here for a cryo bath:
http://www.performancecryogenics.com/
Here's a photo after the 3rds were removed. The rear 9.5" third is an absolute monster. To get it back in I set it on my chest and laid directly under the diff then 'bench pressed' it back into place. Fun times.
The rear third was done by a local shop and the front was sent to Zuk (Ken) since it's the more fragile of the two. I would have sent him both but shipping is a killer, adds about $200+ just to ship both ways.
River City Differential took care of the rear third. Ken was happy with the patterns of their install. This shop has a good rep on all the 4x4 forums.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/river-city-differentials-rancho-cordova
After picking it up from the shop
Stock ring gear vs the giant Nitro 5.29
Patterns
The full write-up of the front is on Ken's website here:
http://gearinstalls.com/jose.htm But I'll add just a few highlight photos. Huge props to Ken. He's great to work with and very detailed in what he does - and he keeps you up to date with the whole process!
Why it costs so much to ship!
On his bench
Patterns of the stock gears....BAD! He said this is due to old worn bearings
Solid collars were installed front and rear
Ken's notes
Final patterns...GOOD!