Price For Gear Swap

redkaz04 · September 12, 2011

I live in a smaller town in south Ga and I want a gear swap bad for my truck with 35s. I think I want 4:88s because I have a 4spd and I tow sometimes.

1. Local offroad place wants 2k for everything included is the speedo calibration, and shift point stuff. Is this fair? He would be installing yukon gears.

2. Should I get a warranty with the work? I have heard it gears are installed slightly improperly, they will work fine for 10k miles then out of nowhere fail.....is that true or is it a rumor?

Thanks for the help guys,

txab · September 12, 2011

2k is in the ballpark

Stevens03 · September 13, 2011

Its a hair high... most places around me are between $1500-1600 for everything. I've seen higher and I've seen less. Either way, you need to make sure this isn't the first time the shop did a set of gears. Its tricky. Done right and they'll be awesome, done wrong and they'll explode in a very short time.

4.88's would be a good choice. I'd recommend the differential girdle. Since the gears are smaller, they are a little weaker and if your doing heavy offroading, the girdle will help.

redkaz04 · September 13, 2011

Its a hair high... most places around me are between $1500-1600 for everything. I've seen higher and I've seen less. Either way, you need to make sure this isn't the first time the shop did a set of gears. Its tricky. Done right and they'll be awesome, done wrong and they'll explode in a very short time.

4.88's would be a good choice. I'd recommend the differential girdle. Since the gears are smaller, they are a little weaker and if your doing heavy offroading, the girdle will help.

So if I drive it for 2k miles and I have no problems they are installed correctly? The reason I am so concerned is I am active duty military and I a moving in two years....across the country. If I have problems after that I won't be able to go back to the guy who installed them.

So in short if I get gears, it is either "done right" and lasts a long time or it is "done wrong" and it will explode within a short amount of time?

What are the chances it could be done slightly wrong and problems don't show up for 10k miles? Have you guys seen this happen?

Stevens03 · September 13, 2011

You'll know in a VERY short time if there not set up correctly. They'll start to whine and get louder and lowered.

Also, this is the girdle. Just a little extra support since your working with an 8.6" rear end

http://www.taperformance.com/products.asp?cat=48

blackout07 · September 13, 2011

Thats a fair price with the "tuning." Like Stephen said, maybe a hair high. You will enjoy the 4.88's and don't worry about the gears. Most differential shops only warranty the work for 6 months anyway, because if there is a problem with the setup, you will know quickly. I had mine done and the gear set was bad. I knew immediately because my truck sounded like a boat motor running wide out on the interstate. They swapped in another gear set and all has been good. Just know that some gears can make a little noise at certain RPMs. Search the web and you will find all you can handle.

redkaz04 · September 13, 2011

You'll know in a VERY short time if there not set up correctly. They'll start to whine and get louder and lowered.

Also, this is the girdle. Just a little extra support since your working with an 8.6" rear end

http://www.taperformance.com/products.asp?cat=48

Okay. I am going to research this fall some while I am deployed. When I get home, I am going to pull the trigger. "ta1807" in the link you posted, is the exact rear end girdle that fits my truck right?

Stevens03 · September 13, 2011

You'll know in a VERY short time if there not set up correctly. They'll start to whine and get louder and lowered.

Also, this is the girdle. Just a little extra support since your working with an 8.6" rear end

http://www.taperformance.com/products.asp?cat=48

Okay. I am going to research this fall some while I am deployed. When I get home, I am going to pull the trigger. "ta1807" in the link you posted, is the exact rear end girdle that fits my truck right?

Yeah, I believe so, but a quick phone call to confirm would be smart

redkaz04 · September 13, 2011

You'll know in a VERY short time if there not set up correctly. They'll start to whine and get louder and lowered.

Also, this is the girdle. Just a little extra support since your working with an 8.6" rear end

http://www.taperformance.com/products.asp?cat=48

Okay. I am going to research this fall some while I am deployed. When I get home, I am going to pull the trigger. "ta1807" in the link you posted, is the exact rear end girdle that fits my truck right?

Yeah, I believe so, but a quick phone call to confirm would be smart

no doubt! thanks,

blackout: what brand gears are in your truck?

wavery · September 13, 2011

You didn't say what ratio that you have now. If your gear casing won't handle 4.88s you may have to buy an entire new rear end.

sic lsx · September 13, 2011

ill keep my stock gears till 100k miles

blackout07 · September 13, 2011

blackout: what brand gears are in your truck?

Genuine. I got another set and they are just fine. From what I've read, all of the aftermarket gears are made by the same factories and stamped with name of whatever company buys and sells them.

You didn't say what ratio that you have now. If your gear casing won't handle 4.88s you may have to buy an entire new rear end.

All he will need is a new carrier.

Doug_Scott · September 13, 2011

As others have stated, rear ends are really easy to tell if they are not setup correctly. Something to also keep in mind (and I see someone mentioned it as well) is that gear sets with a lower (higher numerically) than 3.73 may be a little noisy on coasting over 40mph. Decelerating will not make a noise, accelerating will not make a noise and cruising will not make a noise, but that transition from cruising to coasting may have a slight noise. It is not loud in any way, but, is not dead quiet either. Just a slight "singing" sound. You will likely get this noise right from the time the install is done, and should not get louder. If it does, tell the shop right away, and have them listen to it. Most places should offer to re-adjust, but, some will insist you keep on driving to make sure it is getting worse. Rear ends are a lot like computers, they will fail right away normally. Bearings may "go away" slowly though.

redkaz04 · September 13, 2011

blackout: what brand gears are in your truck?

Genuine. I got another set and they are just fine. From what I've read, all of the aftermarket gears are made by the same factories and stamped with name of whatever company buys and sells them.

You didn't say what ratio that you have now. If your gear casing won't handle 4.88s you may have to buy an entire new rear end.

All he will need is a new carrier.

cool, thats what I thought, I have about the same truck as blackout...4spd 3:73 and they are slowww with 20s and 35inch MTs.......

wavery · September 13, 2011

With 3.73s, you will need a new carrier (not cheap). If yo had 3.23s, you would need an entire rear end. The reason I know is because I have 3.23s and there is no way that I can even go to 3.42s. The casing is different and everything else is different.

I'm just going to wait until next year and buy an '08 2500 5.3 w/ 3.73 gears.