After some research, I have decided to buy an Eaton Posi. I hate to spend the money, but if I don't, all of the other "performance money" spent on the truck is a complete waste.

I will be doing this myself because I can't afford to pay some one.

I was wondering if you guys could rate the "install difficulty" as compared to say:
Lowering a truck
Installing a cam
Installing a TC and tranny?

 

Not too sure, I hear it is not very hard to install. I paid to have mine installed just to be on the safe side, but you might want to try it, I'm sure its not too bad.

 

I would pay to have it done, with changing your posi, you have to reinstall and setup the ring and pinion, and you really want the backlash and gear mesh on those to be spot on to prevent rear end whine and premature failure, a local guy to me only charges like 150/200 bucks to do a rear end, and for the peace of mind, it is worth it, I might find me a 3.73 and posi here soon, and have him do mine when my warranty runs out. Till then i got the G80 i believe it is, the locking diff, for now i'll live with that.

 

Save up the $$$$ and you know its done right

 

Since you are not doing a gear change also then the posi won't be that hard to install. You will not have to touch your pinion gear so you won't have to worry about setting the pinion depth which is the hardest to do correctly. Check with an indicator what your backlash is on your stock differential and set the new one up to the same lash. You need to have enough shims in to allow for a snug fit between your carrier and housing.

 

Also I would buy new carrier bearings for your posi and not waste the time and chance of damaging your old bearings by trying to swap them. You can get new bearings and races at a bearing supply for about half the cost from GM

 

Woops that right the pinion stays put, brain fart, I still prefer to have my rear end done by someone who is proficient at it, peace of mind.

 

its easier than the 3 you have listed
mine went in perfect
no shimming or anything
just put everything back the same
and do before and after checks on the lash

if you can do those 3 you listed above
you shouldnt have any problem

 

If both carriers were the same width between bearing flanges and the ring gear surfaces were in the same relationship then you could use the same shims. That is not going to happen so you will need some shims to get the right fit and backlash

 

i never seen the inside of a differential until last year when i decided to put in my Eaton myself. i wanted to learn. of course the first time you do it, you will run into some difficulty, but that is part of the learning process. i did mine in a couple of days since i ran into a few problems. plus it was xmas eve and day.

i think the hardest part was getting the rear rotors off of the parking break shoes. another thing was trying to get the bearrings on the new carrier (posi). i had to take it to my dealer, and they put them on for FREE. then the last part that was a PITA was trying to get the shims in place from the shim kit.

i used the stock shims instead, and it went in a whole lot easier.

i say do it yourself. a member on this website named "agreif" has a great website with pics that show you how to do the installl