bad_idea

I had no prior experience setting up gears, but I do hold a journeymen's in Industrial Repair working in ship repair. I work with precision measuring tools enough at work, after a LOT of reading I was confident to knock it out. It wasn't that bad once I wrapped my mind around exactly what I was trying to accomplish. Did the work in the garage in 2 days, total 6-8 hours. Frustrated the hell out of me a bit, but I got it. Got about 5000 miles on it now, noise free. Just opened the axle this past week to change fluid and the gears looked fine.

As far as tooling, I would say you need the following: Press, dial indicator, inch/lb torque wrench, ft/lb torque wrench, clamshell gear puller, and bearing driver. All of these tools can be purchased at HF for a couple hundred bucks if you don't already have them, or know someone that does. With the exception of the inch/lb torque wrench which can be purchased on Amazon for maybe $20. I was fortunate I was able to borrow what tools I didn't already have.