LX Forums Forum banner

How to rebuild your Getrag with upgraded clutches

63K views 47 replies 25 participants last post by  Jmartini530 
#1 · (Edited)
Level of difficulty: 3/10

Time commitment: 2.5 hours max with setup/cleanup, double-checking torque, referring to directions and making several phone calls to Fargo59

Parts needed: Upgraded clutch packs and Belleville springs from Fargo59 (he got the part numbers through a series of e-mails between OEM manufacturers and SRT Engineers). Per SRT engineer Adam Forte they had initially planned on using clutches like these but found that although they would be more suitable for drag racing they were less suitable for road racing. These are available through Fargo59 for $350 plus shipping

For those who aren't aware the clutches in the Getrag tend to go bad with alot of burnouts and drag strip use. Mine lasted about a year before I started getting frequent peg-legged burnouts. My diff oil was black when I drained it after about 3K

Tools needed: 10mm, 13mm and 17mm sockets, 3/8" ratchet, air ratchet gun (powerful one), flat-tipped screw driver, hammer, decent size blunt-tipped punch, dental pick, something to use to scrape gasket material.

First off you'll need to drain your Getrag. There are two allen-headed oil plugs (one on the side and one on the bottom). My clutches were pretty fried so my fluid was black and the magnetic plug on the bottom was loaded up with metallic debris.

You can then remove your Getrag from your car (see Hemi31's half-shaft replacement "how to" thread for details)

With your Getrag on a bench you will notice (12) 10mm bolts and (1) 13mm bolt holding the cover on

View attachment 25607

After removing all these bolts you will pry off the cover. I used a crescent wrench between the bottom half of the housing and the upper half. There is a lip on the upper half that makes this easy to do. Once the two halves start to come apart walk a flat-tip screw driver around the edge to separate the two halves.

There is a metal peg on the upper half which is press fit into the lower half. It will require a little prying to get it apart. Be gentle with your prying because the housing is aluminum.

View attachment 25608

Once you remove the cover this is what you will see. The carrier sits inside the housing with nothing holding it down. You basically reach in and pull it up and out. Note the (10) 17mm bolts holding the carrier to the ring gear.

View attachment 25609
 
See less See more
#2 · (Edited)
This is what the housing looks like with the carrier/ring gear removed. All that is left is the pinion gear

View attachment 25610

Here is a side view of the carrier with the ring gear still attached.

View attachment 25611

Use a 1/2" air gun to remove the (10) 17mm bolts holding the ring gear to the pinion. These are torqued to around 136 ft/lbs so an air gun will make this easier.

Once the bolts are removed hammer around the upper edge of the ring gear (the flat side) and it will just fall down like a pair of pants without a belt

View attachment 25612
 
#3 · (Edited)
Use a hammer and a punch to drive out the long metal pin holding two spider gears in place

View attachment 25613

When you drive out the long pin the other two half pins will pop out enough that you can pull them out with some vice grip pliers

Automotive tire Gear Bicycle part Wheel Rim


Once the pins are all out you can pry off the top of the carrier with a flat tip screw driver. There are three notches along the top of the carrier that you can use to pry off the top. Just work each one a little at a time until the top starts to come off.

View attachment 25615
 
#5 · (Edited)
Here are your side or spider gears removed

View attachment 25619

With the spider gears removed you will see the bottom gear. This pulls up and out easily

View attachment 25620

Now you'll see the bottom Belleville spring (on top) and clutch pack underneath.

View attachment 25621

Once you remove the last clutch pack you can clean the inside of the housing and carrier with the brake cleaner to get out any of the black residue left from your burnt clutches. Dry with compressed air.

I also wiped down some dirtier surfaces with a lint free rag.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Install new clutch pack and Belleville spring. Belleville spring will be on top with cone facing upwards

View attachment 25622

Re-install your spider gears. There is a washer on the back of each gear so don't lose them. They tend to stick to the back of the gears but may fall off if you aren't careful.

When putting the spider gears back in I found it helpful to use the punch to line up two of the gears before dropping the other two in place. These gears will have to line up with the holes for the pins (rods) that hold them in place. Unfortunately you cannot install the pins until the carrier if fully assembled and pressed together (I will explain later).

View attachment 25623

Place top gear back on top. Place new Belleville Spring with cone shape down with cluth pack on top (metal spacers will be on outside and clutches will be in between spacers).

View attachment 25624
 
#7 · (Edited)
Put top of carrier back over clutches. Find 3 bolts and equally space them around top of carrier through bolt holes. Attach some nuts at the bottom and compress the top of carrier to the bottom of the carrier. You need to do this as the Belleville springs will need to be compressed in order to hammer the long pin and two short pins through the carrier housing and through the spider gears.

Once the pins are back in place you can remove these bolts and nuts.

You then slide the ring gear back up on the housing from below and put the ten 17mm bolts back. You torque these to 136 ft/lbs. I used an air gun that was set to about 120-130 ft/lbs.

Fargo 59 told me to pour some 75w90 diff oil (I use Mobil 1 with the limited slip additive) on the pinion and pinion bearing (between the pinion and lower housing) and on the other visible bearings.

View attachment 25625

I lucked out and found some Mopar differential RTV gasket maker at the shop I was using. I put a 1/16" bead around the edge of the housing after scraping the surface (making sure the scrapings didn't fall into the housing).

Torque the 12 10mm and 1 13mm bolts that hold on the case cover to 20 ft/lbs.

View attachment 25626

Let dry for 24 hours and refill until fluid comes out of the top fill plug on the side of the housing.

I'd like to thank my sponsor - West Coast Mufflers in Concord, CA for letting me use their shop and tools:thumbs_u:

View attachment 25627
 
#9 ·
Great write up!
 
#13 ·
Great write-up. I can't figure out how this sat for over a year before anyone found it though. Very detailed and from a valued member, it is odd that none of us found it up till now.
 
#20 ·
I only ran the rear at the track once before moving on to an 8.8 rearend to go with my stroker build. It ran fine on the street and I had my best local day at the track before my motor blew (unrelated to rearend).

If I planned on doing a lot of drag racing with a getrag I would do this mod before putting the rear in the car
 
#24 ·
What would be a reasonable amount of time for a dealership to charge to do the clutch swap?
 
#26 ·
Bump
 
#27 ·
Oh no!... Where did the pictures go? I was planing on using this when I replace my clutches next week. Great write up regardless!
 
#28 ·
I took screenshots of this install not too long ago when it had all the pics. If you pm me a cell number or email address I can send you the screenshots with the pics. I just did this install and it was very handy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4t5Gunner
#29 ·
Uh-oh; the FnkyChkn is gonna get you if you let pics disappear from a post...
 
#30 ·
BUMP for all the others that hadn't seen this post before.
 
#33 ·
I have the complete write up in PDF, if somebody can host it! (I copied the tread in the when it was made!)

If not, I can post it on Scribd or something like that!
 
Top