Differential R & R w/DTE Diff Brace
All of these installations are to be performed at your own risk!!!!
Step 13 continued :
Once you have lowered the driveline enough you may slide the diff from the tranny and out of the vehicle. You may have to lower the driveline a little more than you think so once again, be very careful when doing this. After removing the differential from the vehicle jack the drivetrain back up and replace the jackstand.
Here is a picture of the cups I used to contain all the bolts just in case you were wondering.
Step 14 (DTE Differential Brace) :
If you are not installing the DTE brace skip to Step 15. Since my differential was going to be out I decided to install the DTE differential brace for even more protection. This install is A LOT easier when everything is apart. I'm so glad I did it at the same time. Anyway, I'll pretty much crib DTE's instructions but include my pictures and changes that make things a little easier.
Here are the components laid out:
Transmission Bracket Installation
1. Remove the four 13mm bolts on the passenger side of the transmission mounting flange where it attaches to the torque tube. New bolts are supplied with the DTE package for the install. I bagged and labeled all of the OEM bolts in case I ever take the brace off and want to sell it later for some reason. I probably will not do that but I would rather have those bolts instead of tracking more down later.
2. Remove the main wiring harness retaining clip from the stud on the upper mounting bolt and drill the original mounting hole out to 3/8". This is not quite enough so hog out the hole a little. You will reinstall this later.
3. Locate 24 large washers from your parts that are supplied with the kit and separate them into 8 stacks of 3 each. These are used as spacers between the differential strut transmission bracket and the O.E. transmission flange.
4. Using a little bit of super glue, glue the three washers together and and then glue them onto the transmission mounting brackets. Make sure they line up with the bracket holes exactly.
5. Place passenger side bracket up and thread bolts in. I had to hog out one of the hole on my passenger side bracket because they didn't quite line up correctly. To do this, just use a rat tail file. It take a little time but it is not that hard. Maybe about 10-15 minutes to get it where I needed. There isn't any room for the incorrect hole placement because the passenger side bracket fits behind two protrusions/tabs on the tranny so it is unable to move forwards and backwards. The driver's side is not like this. Install the bolts with a 17mm socket and use blue Loc-Tite on the bolts. Once the bolts are in tighten them down to 42 ft. lbs.
6. Perform these same steps for the driver's side. The driver's side will not have a wiring harness or the "tabs" described above. It is easier to do.
