just drove my car about an hour ago with the new 3.73's!! and i have to say... i LOVE them! the difference isnt HUGE... but i can tell. i didnt really "get on it" yet. im gonna take it easy and do the 500 mile break in period. i do have some questions for you guys that have had your gears changed.... did you guys have a gear whine after the install? did it go away? i have a pretty bad gear whine now... but they told me it should decrease once they are broken in. is this true?? hopefully!! and they also told me to bring the car back for a check up in a few hundred miles, so they can open the rear again to make sure the gears are wearing properly. they guys at the shop are pretty cool, only charged me $150 for install. im sending the PCM to PCMforless this week. i LOVE being able to shift into 6th a lot sooner than before. i seriously think 3.73's will increase my gas mileage! but anyways just thought i would share! if anyone is thinking about doing it... i would say go for it! cant wait till mine break it... they are going to be tons of fun!!!

 

When I had my Richmond 3.73 gears installed, I did have a slight whine. No big deal though, but when I switched to the 4.10's, man the gear whine was a lot louder, mainly at about 60-69 mph. I took the car back and the wear pattern was fine. I've heard that Richmond gears are usually noisy. What brand gears did you go with?

 

If the gears were set up right, they should NOT whine. My first set was fine for about 2k, but then they whined. It seems they didnt set them up perfect. I was told that when they're like that, they can become brittle and break easier. I was living in a different state at the time, so I had a different shop do the rebuild, with new gears. Now, they are completely silent.

 

when i put mine in i did not have any but if you set them deap i am told you will get a whine but it's better they are set deap then two far out and start chipping teeth

 

Mine whined when I got them so I took them back. Turned out DTS (I guess they make the GM Motive gears) had changed something they do with the crush bearing or what not and didnt' tell any of the shops. All in all, they found out what they were supposed to do, did that, and now they are perfectly silent.

 

Gears definetely SHOULD NOT whine if they were installed and shimmed properly. When u break in gears, u only need to do so for about 150 miles. Basically keep the car under 50 and drive around for a short period of time, then let them cool down. If u go to quick at first and beat them in, u will get some gear whine and u will also shorten the life of the gears.

 

I was told before mine were installed that Richmonds will whine a bit. And they do.

 

Damn! I want some gears now! I'll get them once I find a shop around here that will do them for a price like that!

 

thanks for all the replys! i went with the motive gears. yeah im hoping they quiet down a bit. i mostly hear them when im slowing down.

has anybody else heard of this with motive gears?? lt1homer, do you what it was they had to do?? if the whine doesnt go away, then im def. going to bring it back so they can check the wear pattern, and re-shim if they need to. i jost woke up today and realized that they kept my old gears!! im gonna go pick them up today so ill talk to the guys about the whine.

 

what does your tach read at 60 mph with the 3:73's?

 

i honestly dont remember, i only drove the car for like 10 min late last night after i got home from work. and besides it wouldnt be accurate anyways, i have not yet had my PCM done. this week im sending it over to bryan at PCMforless so he can set the computer for the 3.73's, and his "power programming", which hopefully i will be able to get a few extra horses out of!

once the computer is done, ill be sure to let you know about the RPM's, and i will keep track of gas mileage for those who are curious.

 

In my A4 I'm turning 50mph @ 3000rpm in drive.

 

I run motive 4.10 gears and have no whine. I used to run Richmonds in my cars and every set installed had some noticeable whine. SInce I switched to motive I have had no problems. All gears were installed by the same person who has done many gear changes.

 

with my 4.10's, at 60 I get about 1700-1800 rpm in 6th

 

Something is wrong with that, or something is wrong with me.

I'm turning 2400rpm at 70 in drive. I know, because I just went out and observed it.