I have a set of 5.38's from my 91 4 door that i want to put into my new sidekick, my question is I had previously welded the spider gears in the rear third, and it broke and recked the carrier. Can I take the carrier from my 5.12' and swap it in place of the old one and not have to worry about resetting the pinion depth? I can not see that it would change but I could be wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Why don't you just use the whole third? Swap it in complete. Maybe I'm missing something in your post, but why would you want to change carriers ?

Why don't you just use the whole third? Swap it in complete. Maybe I'm missing something in your post, but why would you want to change carriers ?

The carrier that the the 5.38 are on is no broken, I am still using that third I just want to take the carrier from the 5.12's and put it in the third that has the 5.38's, and was wondering in doing so will that affect anything as far as gear set up goes?(pinion depth) Hopefully that makes more seance?

The Ring and pinion are a matched set. you can not take the carrier with a 5.38 ring on it and put it into a third member with a 5.12 pinion in it. If on the other hand you are asking if you can put the 5.38 ring onto the Lincoln locked carrier and install it back into the third with the 5.38 pinion without moving the pinion, then yes it is possible. You will need a dial indicator. Check the back lash before you take it apart and adjust it to EXACTLY the same number when you put it back together. If you don't get it real close you could end up with a gear whine.

The Ring and pinion are a matched set. you can not take the carrier with a 5.38 ring on it and put it into a third member with a 5.12 pinion in it. If on the other hand you are asking if you can put the 5.38 ring onto the Lincoln locked carrier and install it back into the third with the 5.38 pinion without moving the pinion, then yes it is possible. You will need a dial indicator. Check the back lash before you take it apart and adjust it to EXACTLY the same number when you put it back together. If you don't get it real close you could end up with a gear whine.

Ya you got what I am saying I am reusing the third from the 5.38's I never touched the pinion just took the ring gear and carrier out, put thr ring gear on a different carrier and put it back in the same third. Reset back lash to what it was(useing a dial indicator)

I picked up some gear paint today and rolled a pattern, they are just as they should be