bsummit

How hard is it to change out gears in the rear end? Had a lot of trouble with tranny and I am considering changing out the gears. I do a lot of towing and I think that might solve a lot of my problems. In the shop now having tranny beefed up and a triple disc converter installed. Where is the best place to order the gears from?
Thanks, Bill

darrenG

I order gears from Randy's but the last set I ordered (for a jeep cherokee) were Yukons, which sucked badly.

Gears aren't hard to do, but they have a learning curve. The special tools you will need are a press, or some method to get bearings on and off and you will need a dial to check your backlash. Once you do gears a few times you don't really need a dial, you know what is right and what isn't.

Your first install can easily take the better half of a day for one axle. It can be very frustrating if you get crappy gears (Yukon) because they don't pattern well, or even at all.

Hope that helps.

bsummit

Thanks Darren. Sounds like it may be more than I want to tackle. Will probably have a shop do. I don't have a press and besides that I do get crappy when I get frustrated.

ramcummins

I'm with ya. I did it once and it is kind of a pain. It is probably worth it to have a shop with the right tools do it.

pmtg

i would not change gears.

you need to look at why your last tranny failed! probably heat, a result of the weak torque converter and lower line pressures from the factory while towing. and on top of that, a Power Puck.

you are now having the tranny beefed along with a triple disc converter so this should solve your tranny issues. its not your gears, its your tranny.

once you get it back, take it for a tow. watch your tranny temps and take note what shows up. maybe an auxilary tranny cooler would help.

im willing to bet you will not have anymore problems with the tranny with the current 3:55 ratio.


let us know,
Pat

check out this thread, 3:55

bsummit

Pgilles, I got my truck back about an hour ago and it's a world of difference with the triple disc. Good firm shifts all the way thru. A little extra firm when it goes into OD but that will probably be alot smoother when I hook up to my 5er. (11500 lbs.) The guy who built it is a good friend of mine and he said the same thing you did about the 355's, said I shouldn't have any more problems. Besides the triple disc and all the the other clutch pacs, he added an extra disc in the 3rd gear pac from 4 to 5. Considering everything he did $2700.00 was the end result so I guess that's not bad.
Thanks

bulabula

I wouldn't bother going from 3.55 to 3.73. I would think they're too close to warrant the cost. Now, I always liked 3.90 gears, and wonder why more vehicles don't come with them. I wish I had a set of those in my Dodge.

Unless you're skilled in the art of changing out gears, I'd spend the cash and let someone who knows what they're doing. Granted, any knucklebusting gorilla can "do the job", they may not do it right. Unless you like WHINE with your cheese.