Some quick and imporant questions regarding my rear end

[Jtegg007]

I blew my rear end today while out off roading, I had to drive home in 4wd (ouch! hope my transfer case is ok...)Opening it up, the spider gears are pretty badly chewed out and the two not connected to the axles had way to much play (plus theres nice little metal shavings in the fluid and everywhere else). While trying to get the gears out ive run into some minor questions. First, let me say, this is only my 2nd time disassembling an axle housing/pumpkin/differential. Ive removed the pinion shaft, pulled both C-clips, slid my axles out a little ways and now im stuck. Theres a nice little S shaped piece of metal in the center of the spider gears that im not sure how to get out. I get the feeling I could pry it out with pliers but im not so sure if I could get it back in when the time comes. Heres a picture of one from online with the piece im talking about circled-

View attachment 24188

Also, I was trying to remove the differential case as a whole to make my life easier. I removed the 4 bolts holding the clamps on each side but I cant get it to budge. I imaging that the pinion and ring gear are what's holding it in place but I didnt want to unbolt the ring gear until I was sure on that. If thats not holding it in place, what is? I can see bearings under where the clamps were, is there a process to removing those(if they need to be removed)?

Last question. Im obviously shopping for new spider gears right now. The tag that was attached to my Dif Cover reads-

S837J

3L55 88 4L23

Looking online at a few different places im told that means I have 3.55 gears with a limited slip differential. the only spider gears I can find are for open differentials (specificly this one off JBG). Will it make a difference to use them? It seems like I can only find the whole differential case for limited slip, and those go for about $250 (and extra $180 compared to just the gears!)

Any and all help is appreciated! I will be on a bike until this gets fixed...

 

[Justshootme84]

THe S-shaped piece is a spring that just pops out with a little help. it can be a pain to get back in, but there are no bolts or anything else holding it in besides it's own pressure. You are correct that you have the limited slip rear axle Ford 8.8". The carrier is different than that for an open axle (no limited slip). Once you remove the C-clips and slide the axles out of the way, the only thing holding the whole carrier in place is the bearing caps. It should slip right out, but may need some gentle prying. if ti won't budge, there may be a piece of the broken gears or a seized bearing holding it in. There are some links in the How-To & Tech Articles forum on the Ford 8.8" repairs, as well as a link to Miesk5's Homepage with tons of links. Since you have metal inside the housing, you'll need to remove the pinion gear, too, and thoroughly clean the housing. If you have a magnet, run that around the insides to help get any fragments and filings out before installing the new parts. The ring & pinion gear mesh pattern and backlash will need to be reset, as wll as the pinion bearing preload. JSM84

 

[Jtegg007]

Thx for the help, after much research I full understand how Open diffs, Limited slip and lockers all work and mine is fully repaired. I took your advice on the magnet along with a few cans of brake cleaner to make sure that it was shrapnel free. I didnt take the time to remove the pinion gear and im really hoping that doesnt come back to bite me in the butt too soon, But I intent to regear to something closer to and change it to lockers within the next 25,000 miles anyway so hopefully they'll last until then.