How bad of a job is this? i realize the gears have to mesh just right or blah blah but i need gears and dont want to pay anybody $200 to install them.

btw... if you had yours installed by a shop, what was the cost of labor to install a delux kit with all the seals and bearings included?

 

brad you are an idiot to consider throwing 200 into gears and having them whine when for 400 you could get gears installed and be happy.

 

who will install them for $400?

 

400 is a ton for a gear install

 

gears are about 200 and i have heard great things about Nails performance i think in wichita they do them for about 200 bucks. They won't let you leave unless you are happy with the gears. Check on the KSFBA. I had a post on it. When i said 400 i meant gears and install. Did you give up on the 9 inch idea?

 

You could do the job yourself. To consider doing the job you should already have an aircompressor and 1/2 air impact.
You should also have a 1/2 torque wrench to set bearing caps, pinion nut and so forth to spec. You will need a pinion setting tool to measure pinion depth, a dial indicator to measure ring end play and a place that has a hydraulic press. Depending on what tools you have you could spend $200.00 on tools but you would always have them and then you could do someone else's rearend. Hey that didn't sound right!

 

I have seen a lot of people say that gears are not something you should DIY. I don't believe it can be that difficult. It may be tedious, time consuming and all that, but if you know how they work and have some ability, I think you can learn. I just got a set of gears and an install kit and I'm going to try to tackle it myself. I know someone who will help me. If you have a friend who knows how and will work with you, you can learn to do a rear end. I've done cam, heads, headers, exhaust, clutch, etc., etc., by myself, I'm doing gears...

 

I did mine myself.. but I also spent a good chunk of $$ on tools and a new gearset because the person who put them in first screwed them up... That's why I trust no one to work on my car but me..... but that's another story...

If you plan on doing it yourself.. my main suggestion is going to be TAKE YOUR TIME and meaure everything atleast 3X... I say 3 because that way you have 3 measurementsto compare to see if you're setup right.

I setup the 4.10's in my rear axle with less than .001 difference with 3 measurements; to the supplied specs in both the install instructions (Motive's instructions don't tell you everything... read how to do it from a GM Service manual.. there's about 3 or 4 measurements/instructions missing from Motive's instructions). Even though everything is set to spec I've still got whine...

Although from what I've heard from THE driveline shop in this part of NY is that 97 F-bodies were almost impossible to get quiet with most aftermarket gears, so I'm just assuming it's normal. I'm at ~1500 miles on the new set and after checking the pinion depth/bearing preloads, backlash at both 500 and 1000 miles and they only changed ~.001 which is pretty typical. So I don't know what' causing the noise.

 

$400 isnt all that bad. i gave up on the 9" for several reasons including cost and the fact i dont need anything near that heavy. after reading a thread about those TA girdles and how guys with them have cut some low 60' times(like in the 1.5 range)... im convinced i could get away with new gears and a TA girdle to hold it all together. thats about 1/3 what id pay for a 9" and much less hassle.

 

brad, i got mine installed for 40 bucks, the guy who did it worked at buxmans so i can ask him if he'd do it if you want me too, just lemmie know. im not on here much anymore so email me at keggerfour20@hotmail.com if you want.

 

You don't need all those tools. Just use the pinion shim that is already on your old gear, and put it on the new one.

Take your pinion gear and new bearing to a trans shop, and they will press it on and off for nothing. If you want to do it yourself, get the $10 bearing spreader from harbor freight and get a length of pipe from home depot to knock the pinion bearing back on with.

Set the preload at 2 ft lbs on a regular torque wrench.

Set the backlash first, then set the pattern after, go to randy's ring and pinion dot com for some tips and richmond gear also.

It's not that hard, it just takes some patience.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by onefastgta
You don't need all those tools. Just use the pinion shim that is already on your old gear, and put it on the new one.
[/QUOTE That's a good starting point, but is not always right. Stock spacer measures .035, My gears are setup at .045, and that .010 makes a TON of difference in the wear pattern of the gears, especially when the tolerence is +/- .002.