4.11s need a ring gear spacer

[400hp_76]

I am in the middle of my tranny upgrade and gearswap and i have run into a little problem. I need a spacer for the ring gear. companies are telling me that i have to change the carrier(which i am not going to do) I will fabricate if i have to. I can not believe no one sells spacers for 63-79 corvettes. I am sure others have run into this problem. 500 dollars for a new carrier/ i dont think so. When you change ring gears in a 10 bolt chevy and run into this problem you dont have to change carrier, you just buy a 29 dollar spacer. You CAN change the carrier in a 10 bolt to make it work but why do that. Any way i need some help finding a spacer.

 

[JohnZ]

Ring gear spacers aren't a great idea, as they more than double the shear load on the ring gear bolts; may be a reason they're so hard to find.

 

[Gunther]

Hi
I'm watching this post as I'm also interested to change to 4.11 from my 3.70 without going to the extra expense.
Pls post what you find.
Do you know how many teeth the 4.11 ring gear has ?
I have an offer on a ring & pinion, ratio unknown. Only thing I know is that the ring has 37 teeth.
Gunther

 

[JohnZ]

Corvette original axles with 37 tooth ring gears are either 3.08 (12-tooth pinion) or 3.36 (11-tooth pinion).

 

[400hp_76]

johnz,

Ring spacers arent hard to find at all for OTHER types of rearends(10 and 12 bolt rear, and just about any rearend). Spacers are quite common. They are of course not as strong, but for the street they are perfectly fine. I have seen some use them in there drag cars though and find no prob. I found a spacer. I called richmond and finally got in touch with a tech. He was extremely knowledgeable and i would recommend anyone else that has questions to call.(1-864-843-9231) Gunther, you will probably have to have a spacer also. No biggy though, the spacer is only about 25 bucks. Your carrier is probably suitable for 2.41 to 3.70 gears, so if you step up you will prob. need a spacer