Advice on replacing 8.8 IRS rear differential bearings

[SonicBlast281]

Hello all. I currently have the transmission and irs out of my 03 cobra for some upgrades. Found out the pinion seal on the diff. is leaking. The crush sleeve and nut will be replaced with the new seal. Should I replace the bearings as well, while it's apart? I ask because the car only has 19k miles on it. However with that said, I am replacing all the irs bushings with a full tilt boogie kit. The car right now is in 570whp to 600whp range. Thank you all in advance.

 

[01yellercobra]

Since you're going to take the diff out I'd inspect the bearings before making the decision about replacement. I would imagine with that few miles they'll be ok.

 

[1wild-horse]

If you have it apart and some extra cash on hand I would recommend putting a trutrac in be it either an Eaton or a Detriot. The helical style differential has no wear parts (clutch plates) so they will be maintenance free. In the process of doing just that with mine. I pulled the IRS at 14k to do bushings and a gear change and now I'm doing it again because the clutches are worn to the point where I can hold one tire and break the other loose by hand. Or spin them in opposite directions. Car has 37k on it now, but I do use it hard. I'm upper only on the eaton yet with e85, right around 500/500. With your power level I would go ahead and upgrade the diffy while its out.

 

[P49Y-CY]

the 8.8 rebuild kit is about $85 retail and it includes all the bearings and seals you'll need, so yes imo, you might as well go ahead and change them out all at the same time.

and for a nicely bulletproofed center section, use a tru-trac (or wavetrac) lsd, main bearing studs, solid pinion spacer instead of the crush sleeve, and an aftermarket cover with bearing load bolts built into it.

best of luck with it, and enjoy

 

[SonicBlast281]

Update on this. Decided to get a bearing kit and just replace everything while it's it out. Thank you to all who posted.