I've been reading as much as i can on the r&p gears in my tracker and i am just getting confused. I'm running 31's so i need to get 5.12-5.13 gears. what i want to know is, if i got some diffs with these gears could i disassemble them unbolt the ring from the carrier. take the pinion gear out and install it in my diff bolt the ring gear to my carrier and set the backlash and all that stuff. if i did it this way would it matter what year i got the gears out of seeing how i would be using everthing but the gears from my tracker.

As far as I kniw, there should be nothing wrong with swapping the ring and pinion - other than the fact that you can possibly swap the whole assembly without a problem.

The main differences would possibly be:

1. some rear diffs are equipped with Antilock - but you don't have to use it if your vehicle does not have Antilock.  The reverse may not be true...

2. some front diffs may have a steel case - which you definitely want to use!

3. some front difs may have different spline counts on the side gears from those found on youe axleshafts.

Because of this, it would be very safe to just swap the ring and pinions as they are al identical.  The downside is that you must set up the gears properly and, if you can afford it, do a complete rebuild with new bearings.  You will DEFINITELY need a new crush sleeve - the old one may not survive the diassembly/assembly process.  If it does not, you will start toget unwanted pinion gear motion.

I hope that this helps!

thanks ack that helps a lot. I'm up in Canada so from what I've been reading the Cami front diffs in sidekick's and early tracker's are no good to just swap in. so if i could pick them up and just swap the r&p gears in to my carrier it will easier then finding some thing that will swap right in. plus i can probably get sidekick gears for cheaper as there are not a lot of the on the road where i live. i am trying to track a steel front case for mine but they are like hens teeth here.