so im swapping the third member in my 8" from a 4.10 to a 3.09. When i went to drop the 3.09 in today the ring gear was just barely too big for the opening of the axle housing. Is this normal for this swap? Would it be ok if i "clearenced" the housing for the ring gear to drop in? Thanks!

Ill post pics when i get around to doing this..today was the first slow day in a while, and i got to finally do a lil work on the truck.

 

When I got around to putting a 4wd third into a 2wd axle, I found out the gears were just barely too big for the case.

I was about to grind a notch in it, but the darn thing fell in when I spun the pinion a little. It seems like it went in only one way.

IDK if that helps...

 

I have also found that they changed pinion flange bolt patterns somewhere along the lines. 77 2wd and 85 4wd have a different driveline pattern. And the splines from the pinion shaft are way different, about a 10t vs 28t. Other than that they swapped.

 

Thanks for the rotating the pinion deal ill give it a try next time. This ring gear is decently bigger then the one that is coming out. Its not the stock axle in the truck, and I don't know what its out of cause it was swapped in when I bought the truck. Ill post pics when I gut the axle again...