10-Bolt 2.73 Gear Change?

[MirandaB]

Hi,

I have a 1981 C-10 2WD with a 250 straight six and a 4-speed manual with 4th gear overdrive. I posted recently asking what to look out for when swapping rear ends from another year Chevy. Got some great advice (Thanks Guys!) and ended up not finding a swap-worthy replacement.

Sooo...........I want to change the ring gear and pinion myself if I can get access to a press. However, I read an article in Hemmings that said 10-bolts above 2.73 have interchangeable ring gears and pinions without also changing the carrier.

If I read this literally it means that my 2.73 carrier will not fit a 3.73 ring gear and pinion, and that I will also have to get a separate carrier when I make the change.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,

Miranda

[mud.man.rj]

I believe the 2.73 will fit up to a 3.42 ratio on the same carrier but not higher numberically, for a 3.73 you will need a different carrier for sure.

[ont_guy_38]

Provided you have a 10 bolt you can put 3:73 on your carrier , I put 4:10 in place of my 2:73 . The 12 bolts have a few different carriers but 10 bolts only has 2 carriers and the one only does up to 2:56 and the other does 2:73 to even 5 something ratio

[gchemist]

Carriers come in two sizes. Gears up to 3.73 on one. The other starts at 3.73 gears and goes up. You have to buy a matching gears set to match the carrier. I can't remember is this true only for 12 bolts or 10 bolts rearends.

[ont_guy_38]

only true for 12 bolt