Nothing too crazy. It is a BSP car (no cams stock turbo).

Sorry for the slightly off topic. Although it will be imprtant for the correct gear oil to be added to the upgraded rear diff.

 

I've always done annual changes in the spring with Diagueen for the TC and rear diff. It's easy enough to buy a container and you have it. One container has been good for about 3 yrs worth of maintenance. Not bad for about $44 or so. I spoke with Jon about fluids and he said Diagueen is fine with the upgraded diff.

 

Yes the factory Diaqueen #3775610 works very well with the rear diff upgrade, actually better than the REDLINE Shockproof because it doesn't have the heavy paraffin building up on the friction plates which will reduce the lock-up to some extent. For more oil recommendations so your EVO performs its best check here,

http://www.teamrip.com/faq.htm

 

For those who are thinking of doing this yourself be prepared to deal with ball joints...I am trying to avoid the put the nut on and hit it hard with the hammer routine. I also could not get the abs sensor out. The car saw some salt in it's early days. Ugh.

 

I don't think the salt would affect the ball joints? The tricky part with the rear ball joints is applying separating pressure while striking the side of the spindle. Last time I did this I ended up getting creative with weight lifting equipment strapped to parts. A ball joint tool would certainly be easier. I would never hit the nut.

 

If you want to separate ball joints without destroying the boot or nut, please use the right tools. Spraying some WD40 on the joint about 5-10 minutes before also helps. This is the one I use. It's worth the investment if you do a lot of suspension work.

 

how much does that cost? who makes it?

 

Uhh, I don't think you don't need to remove any ball joints to replace the rear diff . . . I don't remember doing it . . .

 

The rear axles need to be removed from the diff in order to pull it. I suppose one could pull the rear brake caliper and rotor and then just remove the rear hub and axle as a unit. No BJ work then. Of course you'd have to see if the inboard part of the axle fits through the spindle.

 

My bad. Maybe we didn't remove the axles when we put in the new AMS solid diff mounts. I'll check and see what my buddy remembers. . . for now disregard my previous statement. . .

 

The salt was affecting the ABS sensor removal. It may be one of those situations where two slightly different metals + salt + heat = interesting corrosion.

BTW I have seen mechanics hit the nut on the bolt. Not that I agree with it or would do it myself....If you read closely, I said avoid doing this.

I ended up using the ball joint lifter pictured above.

 

I would recommend using a tool like this one. I rented one at Advance Auto Parts. They did not know what a ball joint lifter is. You want to ask for the front end service kit. They still may be confused but hang in there. Most people know about the pickle fork that will most likely ruin the boots. If you are not going to reuse the ball joint this tool is ok. Some poeple also advocate putting a hammer on one side of the ball joint and with a second hammer hitting the other side. I don't think that this works nearly as well as the lifter.

Tap it in until the lever end sits in the middle of the bolt. Make sure of this because the force on the lever is very strong and if it slides down the bolt the threads will be shot. I found it easier to tap the second one in because the grease came out of the boot and coated the prong end. You need to crank it down quite a bit. A light tap on the side of arm or joint helps to release it. While I was getting a hammer, it let go on it's own. When it lets go it kind of explodes. Interesting to think how much energy is stored in that joint. I used this device a few years ago on my Honda think it is the way to go if you want to preserve your ball joint boots.

 

On another note, when you are getting the three bolts off the back of the diff that attach to the mustache bar use a box wrench (closed end). You will need one with little or no offset to get the upper two off. I used an open wrench (under the car and too lazy to get a box wrench) and ended up stripping the bolt head. Now I will have to drop the crossmember...I guess that I will do the mustache bar bushings. At least that is some benefit to going all the way with this procedure.

 

talk about doing something the hard way. I removed the rear shocks and lower lateral link to push the suspension out far enough to pop the axles out of the diff housing. The end.

It did take two people to do that. and a couple zip ties to hold the axles up while the diff was out.

 

I used the same method when I pulled the diff this winter. It's just a PITA and sucks with one person. Pulling the hub really is probably easier, IMO.