Rear Gears

[87GrandMarq]

A little rant, I called around a few different shops here in town for a quote to swap out my gears. I have 4.10s and hate that my speedo is off and can’t be calibrated and the stacked shifts are annoying. So I called around expecting around 500 or so but damn the minimum these places charge are 700 not including gears. I hate it here, you have to be pretty well off to do anything with cars around here. There are no mom and pop shops around here and a lot of places cater to top tier auto manufacturers.

Anyway, what do you guys think is reasonable? I might just have to go to Miami or something to swap these out for a reasonable price. Have you guys swapped them yourself? I don’t feel comfortable shimming the gears but I know I could do the rest.


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[BlackVic_P71]

I have done it myself once and paid to have it done twice. It took time and research to do it myself and around $250 to have it done, supplying everything...NY can be expensive.

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[87gtVIC]

My pops has the factory ford tools for installing and setting up rear gears. We did the set in my Vic back in 2013 I believe. Wish I paid more attention as I don't know when we will be doing that again. Seems like a skill that is dying and I would like to pick it up.

[jaywish]

If you knew they would do it properly and really set the pinion bearing torque and re-shim them if slop is out of spec it would not be so bad. It is a slow process to be done "right" and it is best done with a shop press at hand though you can, like me, take the pinion to a shop for that part of the process.

Most folks and shops just swap them in with existing shims and call it good. Generally it is good but not always.

[Mustang Eddie]

Sounds very high, the shop I last worked out was a specialty Mustang performance shop & we got $650 for the job including the gears,all bearings except axle bearings & redline lube.They are not that hard to do if you have a press,a dial indicator & something to measure the shims with.Learned how to do my first ones from an older tech in the shop I worked in 35 years ago & have done thousands of them since then.

[87GrandMarq]

I would like to think I know my way around a garage but I think it would be a little out of my leage or else I’d try it. And all I have are hand tools and ramps... I’ll keep calling around, maybe someone a little further out will be reasonable.


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[Lincolnmania]

Most folks and shops just swap them in with existing shims and call it good. Generally it is good but not always.

it's how i was taught and the only way i have ever done it, i have reshimmed the carrier already but i always reuse the pinion shim. then set it up and check preload with an inch pound torque wrench. then install the carrier and check endplay with a dial indicator.
i have had one comeback, the gears were defective and made a ton of noise, changed out the ring and pinion and all was well
now i can't vouch for these modern made in china frpp gears, i always went for used oem gears from a truck after ford switched to chinese gears.
i have also told people looking to build a "race" rear to find someone else.

just charged my buddy 300 plus bearings and seals and gear oil to rebuild his dodge dakota rear....darn i'm too cheap!

[DerekTheGreat]

I paid ~$700 to have an entire axle swapped out, inspected (replaced two bearings and the axle seals), stripped & painted for my Fireturd at the Ring & Pinion shop over on Gratiot near me. I still go there for rear end and U-joint stuff. I feel that is reasonable. Now, that was damn near ten years ago now though.

[clutch47]

Might be time to buy a few measuring tools, feelers, a magnetic block and a shop press. Once you learn it on this job, you still have the tools to use afterwards.

[gadget73]

yeah, this is the point where I go for the learning process as well. Precision measuring stuff can be had amazingly cheap if you aren't shopping Starrett or one of the other big names. The cheap-ass China indicators work fine for this. I have several and my fancier stuff reads the same. The mag base might be the exception, some cheap ones have weak magnets so watch what you buy there.

the in-lb beam wrenches can be had for not too stupid $, the only trouble is you will usually need a stack of adapters to use them. Most are 1/4 or sometimes 3/8 and the socket to turn the pinion is 1/2 drive. Not the end of the world, just FYI.

[87GrandMarq]

I might give it a go but it won’t be soon. I got a vintage craftsman beam style torque wrench a few months ago for free from a buddy I’ll finally get the chance to use it lol. I saw a video on the install on I think Latemodel Restoration not too long ago. It doesn’t look too hard except for setting up the gear pattern. I guess as long as I understand the concept it won’t be hard. I will have to get a few tools first.


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[jaywish]

You need multiple torque wrenches. Inch lb for pinion drag. Other heavy units for setting bolts etc.

[gadget73]

pinion drag is like 20 in-lb? something fairly low anyway. I have two, one I had in an old box that I forgot about and a newer one that I bought to re-set a pinion. Ended up using the older one since the range was more favorable. Its the cutest little thing, the whole wrench will lay in the palm of your hand. The handle is maybe a little smaller than a ping-pong ball. It gets operated with a finger and a thumb only.

[packman]

Mine was $500; and that was after gutting, cleaning, and assembling it to see how close I could get. Unfortunately, I couldn't carry it out of the basement fully loaded.

[Mustang Eddie]

it's how i was taught and the only way i have ever done it, i have reshimmed the carrier already but i always reuse the pinion shim. then set it up and check preload with an inch pound torque wrench. then install the carrier and check endplay with a dial indicator.

Same way I was taught as long as you are using factory gears. Have done thousands this way in the past 35 years & can count on one hand how many come backs.Use the factory pinion shim & make sure the backlash is about .010 you should be good to go.