I have an open differential w/ 5.29's that I picked up used. Previous owner had pulled the locker out and so I got it disassembled with an open carrier.

I went to put the carrier back into the housing and I found that the carrier won't rotate around completely because it hits the pinion. Obviously this is the wrong carrier for the housing or vise versa. Is the V6 carrier larger around than the 4cyl? My only thought is that the ring gear got mounted to a V6 carrier instead of the 4cyl.

Got some clear pics? some bearing numbers would help clear things up and does the pinion appear to have almost 1/4" worth of shims on it?

read the faq and it tells you all about it.

The pinion does have about a 1/4" shim under it.

From what i read in the FAQ... This must mean I have the shorter pinion head gears installed into an 86 or later 4 cyl or V6 housing. Does this mean I can't use the carrier out of my '85 housing?