8.25" Ring gear question

[Joenavy85]

Do all 8.25" ring gears have the same bolt pattern? ie, I want to change the gearing on my '05 (29 spline) with a ring and pinion set thats listed as being for a 27 spline. I know the yoke needs to change due to the splines on the "new" pinion, but can I bolt the "27 spline" ring gear to the 29 spline carrier? I'm not wanting to change the axles at all, merely the ring and pinion. Thanks for any help.

 

[Myke]

I'm not sure but what is your end goal why don't you get the 29 spline gear?

 

[Joenavy85]

Looking into a possible engine/trans swap next winter, and I want to know all my options for the rear diff.

ETA- the ratio I want isn't available in 29 spline

 

[u2slow]

The 8.25" pinion is 27 spline.

The 8.25" axle spline changed from 27 to 29 around '96.

More importantly, find out if its okay to use 3/8" ring gear bolts in a carrier that's made to use 10mm bolts. ('05+).

EDIT: Some of Nitro's ring gears have both SAE and metric bolt holes.

 

[Joenavy85]

The 8.25" pinion is 27 spline.

Ok, I was thinking they were either all27 or all 29.

More importantly, find out if its okay to use 3/8" ring gear bolts in a carrier that's made to use 10mm bolts. ('05+).

Not sure if that's sarcasm, but based on your edit I'm guessing no. I can't imagine the holes would be threaded, so it would basically be a clearance issue. I've never torn down a differential before, so forgive my ignorance, but is it only the bolts holding the ring gear in alignment? If so I could see there being a slight difference in hole diameters.

 

[u2slow]

They're smooth unthreaded holes, but slightly bigger. I don't know it its a real-world problem or not.