Looking to regear? Then look here!

LongrangeLauber · March 12, 2015

I know I've been looking for gears for the 12 bolt 9.5" 14+ rear ends and no one seems to have them! So I emailed Yukon gear to see if they're working on a solution. Turns out, they already have one!

Here's what Paul "Blue" Tipton told me (he is a very nice and informative gentleman who answered all my questions I threw at him; A++ in my book!):

The 97-13 14 bolt 9.5" ring will work in our rear housings! Only bad part is, you have to buy the 14 bolt carrier and a new yoke for it to work as well as outsource the pinion seal for it (he said he would give me the part # at time of my order).

This makes me want to lift my truck sooner than later now! Hope this helps for those other guys who can't stand a laggy lifted truck with lesser towing capabilities. The added cost of a new carrier and yoke are totally worth it in my book.

Guess I gotta start saving for a lift kit, wheels and tires, and gears all the way around. Thinking 4.56 for a bit more pep around town.

For those with 3.42's currently and 35's on your truck, if you're looking for stock performance, go with a 4.10 gear. For those with 3.08 gears currently, if you're looking for stock performance go with 3.73's or 3.42's (my vote is for a steeper gear IMO)

skennel23 · March 13, 2015

what kind of price are we looking at to do this?

LongrangeLauber · March 13, 2015

Between the new carrier, gearset, yoke, and any type of bearings/ kits, it would be around $1000 just in parts just for the rear. Kinda pricey but IMO it's worth the coin

blackout07 · March 13, 2015

I had to get new carriers on mine. Pretty common actually.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · March 13, 2015

I want 3.73 but will settle for 3.42. I hope someone will come out with just the ring and pinion 3.73 for the 9.5" 12 bolt. I know right now there's 3.42 and 4.10. Maybe you can't make 3.73 work with the size of the gears. I want to be able to just swap out the ring and pinions without having to get a new carrier.

LongrangeLauber · March 13, 2015

I had to get new carriers on mine. Pretty common actually.

Yeah I did too on my 02. Got a Grizzly locker in the rear with 4.88's

I want 3.73 but will settle for 3.42. I hope someone will come out with just the ring and pinion 3.73 for the 9.5" 12 bolt. I know right now there's 3.42 and 4.10. Maybe you can't make 3.73 work with the size of the gears. I want to be able to just swap out the ring and pinions without having to get a new carrier.

Go factory GM for either of those. It will be a direct swap. If i kept my truck stock it would get 3.73's. But since I want to lift it sometime in the future I'll hold out until I can afford the lift, wheels and tires, and probably 4.56 gears (on 35's)

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · March 13, 2015

Go factory GM for either of those. It will be a direct swap. If i kept my truck stock it would get 3.73's. But since I want to lift it sometime in the future I'll hold out until I can afford the lift, wheels and tires, and probably 4.56 gears (on 35's)

The stock 3.73 gears are 9.76 12 bolt, not 9.5 and what I've read on here is that you'd have to do a whole axle swap if you go all GM diff.

I don't plan on even leveling the truck, but I'm used to 3.73s from my last truck and I want the extra pulling power. It's more or less embarrassing that my '14 with 3.08s tows less than my 98 with 3.73s. That's why I'd settle for 3.42s because that would go from 6,600 to about 9,500 lbs. I don't even plan on buying any kind of trailer, but I mean pulling power for emergency type situations to help someone. Plus it was also embarrassing that a few weeks ago I helped my best friend move furniture and all I had was a love seat and with the 3.08s I actually felt it. It took a lot more weight for me to feel it in the bed with my old truck.

LongrangeLauber · March 13, 2015

The stock 3.73 gears are 9.76 12 bolt, not 9.5 and what I've read on here is that you'd have to do a whole axle swap if you go all GM diff.

I don't plan on even leveling the truck, but I'm used to 3.73s from my last truck and I want the extra pulling power. It's more or less embarrassing that my '14 with 3.08s tows less than my 98 with 3.73s. That's why I'd settle for 3.42s because that would go from 6,600 to about 9,500 lbs. I don't even plan on buying any kind of trailer, but I mean pulling power for emergency type situations to help someone. Plus it was also embarrassing that a few weeks ago I helped my best friend move furniture and all I had was a love seat and with the 3.08s I actually felt it. It took a lot more weight for me to feel it in the bed with my old truck.

It doesn't make sense cause when you look at the owners manual for towing capacities, they have the 5.3L with max tow (3.73's) rated as the same as the 6.2 with max tow. Now, from my understanding, the 6.2 is the only motor that is allowed to get the 9.76" axle.

And yeah I agree. Another delearship tried to sell me a truck with 3.08's and that was the first thing I looked for when I bought my truck because I tow a 5k pound trailer often and with those gears it'd be a struggle. Now, the High country models come standard with the 3.42's which is another reason it sold me on it (that and the brown interior).

Another thing I have a problem is with their grizzly locker. In my other truck it's always trying to lock both tires even in turns so that causes one tire to always slip and chirp. For a stock truck, the stock posi is perfect IMO

GRN69CHV · March 13, 2015

AAM makes the current 9.5". here's a link to what's available. http://www.demandaam.com/axle-results?vm=GM&q=9.5%22+12+Bolt+-+Rear+Axle. Basically comes down to this, if running factory 3.08. you'll need a new carrier. If running factory 3.42, swap to 4.10 is a drop in. If using a Yukon gear set for the 9.5" 14 bolt, although this will bolt up to the stock carrier, deck height requirement on the carriers are off enough to either involve shimming the carrier off-center and dealing with it at the caliper mounts or getting a new carrier. Pinion seal is different as is the yoke diameter requiring a new 1415 yoke.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · March 13, 2015

It doesn't make sense cause when you look at the owners manual for towing capacities, they have the 5.3L with max tow (3.73's) rated as the same as the 6.2 with max tow. Now, from my understanding, the 6.2 is the only motor that is allowed to get the 9.76" axle.

And yeah I agree. Another delearship tried to sell me a truck with 3.08's and that was the first thing I looked for when I bought my truck because I tow a 5k pound trailer often and with those gears it'd be a struggle. Now, the High country models come standard with the 3.42's which is another reason it sold me on it (that and the brown interior).

Another thing I have a problem is with their grizzly locker. In my other truck it's always trying to lock both tires even in turns so that causes one tire to always slip and chirp. For a stock truck, the stock posi is perfect IMO

Ya I know I've read 5.3 comes with 9.5" and 6.2 comes with 9.76 no matter the gear ratio. So if you have a 6.2 with 3.42s then GM 3.73s are easy ring and pinion change. I just haven't seen 5.3 with the max tow. Maybe you saw that the 5.3 is the standard (which it is for the upper trims) and has the optional 6.2 with the max tow. I don't think you can get max tow with the 5.3. Maybe I'm wrong, just going by everything I've read on here.

Crf450r420 · March 14, 2015

5.3 max tow comes 3.73 and I'd think the larger 9.76 to deal with the loads but I don't know directly.

ccdies · March 20, 2015

Im lost when it comes to gears, and sucks even more that i have 2 gears, a front and a rear, I'm lifted 12' with 35" tires, i pull my 16' low boy trailer with a polaris RZR 800 on it, why would changing gears help, and want that hurt that gas milage, im already getting 10-13 MPG as it is, depending on the wind ect

Crf450r420 · March 20, 2015

Your motor rpm and wheel rpm don't match because there are six different gears in your tranny that then go through you axle reduction before spinning the tires. Stock your tires rotate 652 revolutions per mile, but now your large tires go further per revolution. So your truck drives like it doesn't have first gear and is starting in second. Think of riding a ten speed in low and high. If you put a taller gear in your axle the motor could again spin the same rpm at the same speed and rotate your large tires slower. This could increase your mpg or hurt it, but there is a better change it would help with the bigger wheels, but it certainly would increase how fast it accelerates.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/gears.htm

LongrangeLauber · March 20, 2015

Im lost when it comes to gears, and sucks even more that i have 2 gears, a front and a rear, I'm lifted 12' with 35" tires, i pull my 16' low boy trailer with a polaris RZR 800 on it, why would changing gears help, and want that hurt that gas milage, im already getting 10-13 MPG as it is, depending on the wind ect

Change in RPM per gear= towing less weight. Think about trucks with 3.08 gears that tow max 5800 pounds and then you have a truck with 3.42's and they can tow 9300 pounds. It's literally all in the gearing. For 35's go with and least a 4.10 for factory RPM's but if you want to counter the added weight then go 4.56's

Makes the truck snappy as hell too. My 02 lifted on 35's with 4.88's will basically outrun my 14 both with stock 5.3L motors

Less wear and tear on the tranny too. Not trying to spin at a lower rpm than need be so it's not lugging. It's worth the coin to get regeared, I can guarantee you that

darkfox1 · March 20, 2015

So.. from reading all this, can someone with 3.08s do a direct swap to 3.42 from the 9.5" rear? Like if someone lifted were taking theirs out we could buy em used?

I had originally hoped to go 3.73 too but from what I understand here I have the wrong diffs for that.. and I'm NOT swapping axles on my truck.

5300 pound towing capacity is unacceptable. My classic plus trailer would probably be more than that. I'm gonna have to make this a priority. Right now in traffic I pull 3500-4000 rpm in 1st 2nd and sometimes 3rd trying to keep up with the cars around me. The engine sounds great but I think it hurts my fuel econ and wears on my engine more than it should have to.

I don't plan to lift, level, or run oversized tires on mine.