need help with diff change

does anybody know what could be holding off the carrier from going back into place it seems to be about a 1/8 of inch out to far to set properly on the gear side

Did you upgrade gears and not the carrier? 
I know carriers are series specific, like 2/3//4/5 series.

I know the carriers will not fit right if the gears are changed, being they are changed to a different ring gear size.

Well, gear sets are gear *sets*.  If the ring is changed, so should the pinion.

However, that is besides the point...  We really need some more information on what you actually did before we can recommend any resolution.  Did you swap out the gears?  Swap out the carrier?  Just pull things apart to see how it 'ticks'? 

If you pulled it apart to change out the gears, have you established your backlash and proper shim pack thicknesses on both sides?  The shim stacks may not be the same as they were originally with the old gears.  There is a lot more to it as well and I will elaborate more if this is the case.

But again, we need to know what work was performed and what parts were changed out if any.

I replace the gears only not the carrier

I can't seem to find your vehicle info anywhere. Without knowing what you are working on, it makes it hard to give advise.

I put 3.08 gears in from motive gear in a 98 jimmy


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When you installed the new pinion, did you check for the appropriate shim height on the pinion shaft or did you just reuse the old shims from the original pinion?  This really shouldn't be a problem, but I have to mention it.

Also, did you install new bearings and a new crush sleeve?  You have to tighten down the yoke retaining nut to zero end play, then check the preload with an inch pound torque wrench.  Preload should be at or below 2.7 - 3.6 Nm (20 - 32 inch lbs.) on new bearings, or within 1.0 - 1.4 Nm (8 - 12 inch lbs.) for used bearings.

From there you have to set the proper preload on the differential bearings.  You then have to adjust the shim packs for the proper backlash. And last but not least, check for the appropriate contact pattern.  This is a very simplistic run-down, but if you've done everything correct along the way, you should have a nicely centered contact patch.

^^^^ Exactly what I was thinking. If you put in a new crush sleeve and did NOT adjust the pre-load, that would be about 1/8".

I just used the same shim thickness as stock thanks for the help I will let you know how it turns out

I just wanted to let eveyone know how it worked out. I ended up putting a used rearend due to a mistake on my part I order the wrong size gears and waited to long to be able to send them back. I am going to just sell them because I really could not afford to keep driving my old chevy c20 it burns to much fuel going back and forth on the commute.