The small gear I believe is the pinion gear. You have to remove the shaft that connects to the motor and then there are 4 bolts that hold a part of the housing that can be removed so the pinion gear comes outthe front of the differential.

You got lucky. I have seen that pin come loose and take the differential housing, ring gear, pinion gear and both rear axles out all at once. I don't remember the cost all I remember was OUCH!

SJ

 

I think he is talking about the small spyder gears inside the ring gear that chipped a tooth. You cant remove those.
The pinion gear has to be removed with the special 30mm 13 point external hex. 75.00 just for the tool.

The rear is a solid spool diff, no pin in it.

The spot welds let go on the pin in mine, and took a chunk out of the diff case, and riped the roller bearing in front of the pinion out. LOL

I had extras though.

 

Oh and just so you know, put the impact wrench in forward to get the hex nut out, that holds the pinion in.
Then come from the inside, using a blunt punch, tap the pinion out. There is also a machined punch/knotch in the pinion nut itself. Its to keep the nut in place. Use a small flat head screw driver and lift it up. When you re-install your pinion, when the nut gets tight, make sure its as tight as it can be with the knotch aligned with the channel in the housing. You'll see what im talking about. Its pretty easy.

 

Thanks cat for your advice I was just wondering if you changed your rear differential also cause I believe you need to have the same gear ratio.Am I correct

 

The gear ratio for the manual cats are all the same. 3.6.1

So if you simply wanted to go to a locking diff the ratio will be the same as what you have now, so the rear would not need to be changed. If you wanted to change to a locking 4.0ratio gear, then yes the rear will need changed too.

 

My cat is an automatic so does that mean the ratio is different

 

It is different than a manual. But still works the same. Yours is 3.1 I believe. But when ordering a new ring gear, get the one for the 04 650. You will need to change both front and rear, but pull up a diagram and see what exactly needs changed. Compare your pinion tooth count to that of the 04 650 and also compare your ring gear tootu count. I believe all the changes in gear ratio is done with the pinion. If this is the case, you only need the right pinion gear in the rear, the right pinion for the front, and the locker ring gear and it's counter parts.

A easy way to tell what the ratio's are.... Number of teeth on a ring gear 36 divided by the number of teeth on the pinion 10 = 3.6. on the lower 4.0 gears it uses a thicker 36t ring gear and a 9 t pinion. The thicker ring gear is to make up the difference in the dropped tooth, and allows all the diff cases to be used, instead of having to make another one.

 

I have 11 on the pinion 34 on the ring

 

Sorry KatKrazy, I did not have my reading glasses on. I was thinkning it was the rear.

 

No biggy swampy.

So yes, you have the 3.1. The cheapest route would be to get a new or used front ring gear for yours.

But the option for the locker is available. Will be a little more expensive but you gain a gear reduction which is a huge improvement! Now, if you want an even greater reduction, go with the 4.0's. Then your cat will be a tank!