I bought Seed60's explorer 8.8. he said that he thought the limited slip was wore out so i was going to take it apart and check it before i put it in the truck. I took the diff cover off and there werent any chuncks of the clutch plates in the diff fluid so thats a good sign. But i figured i might as well take it apart and inspect it since i already had it open and easy to work on. The cross pin bolt came out easy, i know that it can sometimes be really hard to get out. The cross pin was then loose but it only slides out about 1/2 an inch and then hits the ring gear. The axle has 4.88 gears in it and i have read somewhere that you are supposed to used a notched cross pin. for 4.56 gears and up. I have also found some stuff on grinding a little bit off the teeth of gears so that the cross pin will slide by. Does anybody have any experience with this problem before or know a way to get it out without grinding the gears?

Here a couple pics of what im talking about.

 

If that current cross pin isn't notched...I would look to see if a couple of the ring gear teeth are already ground down for you. It would only be the tips of a few teeth that are closest to the LSD.

Those are the only two ways they could have installed it in the first place...as far as I know.

EDIT: The tooth would look something like this..many times it's pretty subtle - and could easily be missed:

 

Yeah, Ive looked around the entire ring gear and haven't found a single tooth that has been ground down. Is it an easy process to bring it down to be able to get it out?

Also I was putting the different cover back on earlier and one of the bolts wasn't going down all the way so I gave it an extra bump with the impact. Well it was one bump to much and it stripped out. Come to find out there was a lot of RTV in the bottom of the hole keeping it from going down tight. I think they are 5/16 bolts. Is it possible to try to run a 5/16 tap back down the hole to give it threads again or will I have to go up to a 3/8 bolt?

 

Yep, a Dremel type tool is your friend at this point Just do a little at a time & keep checking for clearance. Clean out the case really well afterwards as the shaving will be all over....

I still want to know how it was even installed without already doing this. I don't see how to install the C-Clips around the axle shafts when the entire assembly (spider gears, cross-pin, etc.) would have to have been put together before the ring gear was even installed.

I must be missing something...and interested to find out what the difference between this setup and my rear No-Slip locker is.

 

I ground my tooth down. Actually had to grind 2 different teeth down with my 4.56's.

 

I assume you’re talking about how you got your cross pin in...I had to do the same for my 4.88's.

But, I am wondering how this setup was even installed without grinding or without using a notched cross-pin in the first place.

 

I will check it out again today. What does the notched cross pin look like? is it just flat on one side?

 

Yep, pretty much.

I even ran the part numbers off the end of your cross-pin from your picture (80-0279-1) & came up with items from Richmond gear. However, it seems like they have those numbers used in both the standard 8.8" cross-pin as well as the notched version for the 8.8".


EDIT: On Randy's Ring & Pinion they list the Richmond part number 80-0279-1 as being a notched version: http://www.ringpinion.com/b2c/Produc...=Richmond_Gear

 

Ok so i looked up what a notched cross pin looks like and i do have one. But it still cant be removed from the carrier without removing or grinding on the ring gear correct? For me to inspect the LS i still need to remove the cross pin.

Here is a video i found about it.

 

Correct.

Otherwise the carrier would have to come out and the ring gear removed to fully install/remove the cross-pin.

If you’re not going to go through all that and you just grind the tooth (which will make future assembly and disassembly tasks easier) - I would recommend replacing it with a standard cross-pin setup for added strength if you can (not sure if it's an option on your LSD).

I opted for that route from the start on my locker...and in fact Richmond says not to use a notched cross pin with my No-Slip locker.

 

I dont really want to remove the carrier and mess with the gears. Would they have to be reset when i put them back in or is it as easy as just bolting everything back in? I guess the regular cross pin is stronger since you said replace it if i do grind the gears down. Im not sure what i want to do yet. I want to check it out and replace it if necessary before installing it in the truck but i dont want to go through all of the work just find out its fine.

 

Just grind the tip to slide it past & be done with it...people have been doing that forever - It's not even on the contact patch of the gears anyway.

Then, you will have to check if you could even use a standard cross pin with your LSD setup - you might not be able too. If not, just reinstall the notched version - since your LSD must have been made to work with it. For obvious reasons - a full size cross-pin is generally regarded as a stronger one – but if your LSD was made to work with a notched one – it will be fine.

My No-Slip locker doesn't use clutch packs so all the force is put right on the gears around the cross-pin which is why they say not to use a notched setup.

 

Ok thanks for all of your help! I post up what i find.

 

Not a problem...good luck!

 

What should i use to flush out the diff after grinding the gears down?

 

Good ole' brake clean....it's the duct tape of automotive cleaners - 1,000,001 uses!

Poke around some with a small magnet to collect what's left & you should be good to go.

 

Well got the gear ground down enough to slip the cross pin by and dissasembled the limited slip. Sorry I didnt get any pictures of taking it apart because my hands were so dirty. But i found out why he said the the L/S didnt work. The clutch pads on the gear side were worn down to bare metal and the others were also almost gone. So ill be getting a rebuild kit and also changing the order of the clutch plates and metal plates so that it is more effective. I did get some pics of the clutchs after i got them out.

here is how they sit on the gear


And these are the two clutchs that were against the gears

 

got all the parts in and worked on it yesterday. i had a couple friends helping me. we had a hard time getting the pinion gears and thrust washers back in the l/s and then also getting the S spring back in. We ended up breaking the new one and had to use the old one. My friend was tapping it with a wood block and a 4lb hammer because thats his solution to everything and it snapped. Then we lost one of the C clips in the bottom of the diff and spent probably an hour trying to get it out. but now its all back together and im just waiting to get new tires so i can put them in the truck.

 

So what was the new pattern that you used for the clutch plates?