Anyone tried cryoing their rear end gears? Just wondering if it makes a difference...

Here's a site that explains some of it:
http://www.cryointegrity.com

Seems like it would be a good idea...

Mark

 

it makes them harder in componed but more brittle since the soft gears kinda "give" a bit. it also changes the size a TAD bit but don't quote me on that part

i was thinking about doing it till i taled to a few shops about it.

 

I hear of people cryoing internal T56 parts - wouldn't this be the same principle? Wouldn't you want the gears inside the transmission to act the same as the ones in the rear end?

I'm just trying to figure out whether it would be worth the extra cost when I put in new gears.

Mark

 

Everything I have read about cryogenic tempering indicates it is more useful in high wear items (cyl. walls, bearing surfaces etc). Since gears tend to fail due to sudden loads I doubt it would be cost effective, especially since ring and pinion set are relativly inexpensive.

From an article at http://www.carbotecheng.com/cryostudy2.html
"It is apparent that cryogenic tempering offers many benefits where ductility and wear resistance are desirable in hardened steels. These benefits extend to cast iron, aluminum, stainless steels, and other materials. While this paper discussed only the effect on high carbon steel, the concept of continuing alloy grain structure formation through temperature reduction applies to these other materials in the same fashion. While various experts dispute the benefits of time-at-temperature control; available research, along with a correlation with standard heat treating processes indicates that this control is the key to maximizing the potential of cryogenic tempering. As is the case with many scientific dicoveries, the cost factor limits the usefulness of this process in the production phase of the materials industry"

 

It barely changes the hardness on the "C" rockwell scale, it does help in the terms of life expectancy, 50% - 100% improvement. I have seen this being done on various parts over the last 20 years, and always with an improvement.