3:54 gears...

[EEngel]

Gears

Hey guys,



Just felt a need to chime in on a few things.



1. I work at a machine design company as a design engineer, and there is no problem with a machine shop producing the gears for our trucks. We change the gears in large reducers (rated at 1000hp) a few times a year for various customers. However, experience has shown me that gear houses like Foote Jones, Brad Foote and Faulk have the heat treating down to an art. So if Nick is serious about getting gears made, he really should that the sub vendor route. Your 2 choices on the sub vendor route are as follows:



A) Provide a print to the company (which may be a hard thing to get).



B) Provide them with a current 3. 73/4:10 gear and let them do the engineering to make it a 3. 54.



Brad Jones has a GREAT gear company in Pittsburg. We send all our gear boxes there to be reworked. If you are serious about getting gears made, and you can offer up one of the above options (A or B) I can probably get a good price out of them.



2. On the issue of speed... . Well... . We were all 18 at some point and we all let our "thrill" side sometimes overwhelmed our smart side. Like they say, learn from your mistakes and make your own mistakes. They way I look at it is that there are people who speed (high speed) and people who smoke. They are both potentially dangerous, but the person rarely stops until a "major" event has occured.



Sorry this was so long. I give Nick credit for wanting to build his own gears and having the motovation to do so. However, I just don't think making them is a good option when there are people who are doing it daily for a fair price.

 

[rbattelle]

Just remember, X, that gearing is a subject that people go to school for a long time to learn.



One thing I think you bring to this board is excitement, however misguided it might be. In a world where cynicism so often stifles risk taking, it's refreshing to hear someone with such a youthful lack of it!



Do I think what you're proposing and trying to do is ill-advised? Yes. But who am I to tell you what to do with your life and property. Just don't hurt anyone else.

 

[EEngel]

Machine shop

Nick,



I am down in Chicago every 4 weeks or so at one of our sub vendor machine shops. It sounds like your family has a good size shop. Can you post or PM me the name of your shop? I may be able to throw some work your way.

 

[JHardwick]

Originally posted by XcumminsX

Trust me i can make my own gears... I can program it on mastercam, generate the toolpathes of my tools i have programmed in the and make it. I can operate any lathe, mill, ANYTHING... i program 5 axis mills everyday... You guys take me lightly, im a pretty smart one when it comes to that stuff . .



Nick

Trust me, that equipment aint gonna get it. Gear machining is specialized. It's fairly common to cut a simple spline on the the equipment you listed, but not in volume.



I send all of my HP driveline stuff for the monster truck industry to a gear house once the parts are complete. I've been machining since '82 and currently run SolidWorks to do my programming. I'd have no problem machining the blanks on my Ikegai, but would be a fool to try an cut the gears on my 5 axis Haas.

Originally posted byEEngel

I am down in Chicago every 4 weeks or so at one of our sub vendor machine shops. It sounds like your family has a good size shop. Can you post or PM me the name of your shop? I may be able to throw some work your way.

Hey man, throw the dog a bone, I've got some idle spindle time

 

[stevenknapp]

FWIW, 90MPH is pretty common on Chicago highways. Not saying it's sane, but if you don't want to get over you're running some speed.

 

[EEngel]

Idle time

JHardwick,



Do you have a web site with your shop info?



We are always looking for vendors with good equipment and some open time. We currently have about 2 month lag in parts orders. We use about 8 shops and they are all pretty busy.

 

[XcumminsX]

if some of you are interested



www.sonicmfgcorp.com

 

[KCJackson]

One thing I haven't seen i the thread yet is the capability of the tires...



I don't know of any speed-rated 35s. Heck, it's tough to find speed rated tires in the OEM size. You couldn't pay me to do 90+ mph on a set of footwear that wasn't rated for it. When that tire explodes from stress, it's taking the truck with it in one hell of a rollover. You think the Explorer/Firestone accidents were bad?

 

[SRadke]

It doesn't sound like the truck is out of rpm at 90 it's out of power. If course it feels out of wind and non responsive, do you know how much wind a rig that size is pushing at that speed? A 90 mph cruise probably yields what... 15-20 pounds boost? That's a lot of load! Get your power thing done and you'll feel better.



Oh, yea... how about a set of soft gears for racing? You'll have much better luck not breaking those.



-Scott

 

[XcumminsX]

speed rating for my tires are 106 mph

 

[rashwor]

Something to remember...

I won't get into the moral issues of to do or not to do... been there done that as a young kid; had a V-6 pontiac Fiero in college, black with all the goodies! The girls liked the car; the boys didn't. I could get the girlfriend and outrun the boyfriend. Ahhh, those were my stupid days. Thanks for bringing back the memories. Now that I have gained a little grey hair, I don't want to go that fast anymore.



One thing to remember. If you go down in ratio, the truck gets faster to a point... I venture to say that with stock power it won't be much. You will have to add power to handle the higher gear ratio and achieve what you want. Otherwise, you will have a truck that could run 120 - 130, but you won't have the power to run 100. Keep in mind, these trucks underwent massive engineering and compromises were made. You will do the same.



I would also venture to say that the 3. 73 gear ratio to the pavement on these trucks is about what the 2nd gens ran with 3. 54s (tires and rim sizes changed and probably offset each other pretty well).

 

[JARichard]

OK !! What would be the best Gear Ratio for MPG with 315/70/17 and an auto? That would be what I would want to do. I know these 315's have dogged my low end. But man they look GOOD. Any way, What would I be sacrifcing to get the best MPG?

XCX,

Could you make that gear ratio after you make yours? Maybe we can start our own business. Rear Ends are us!! And if it doesn't work we can always keep the name and have a strip joint!!! Don't you have a 4 wheel drive? If so you need to make 2 gears!!

 

[DPKetchum]

He needs a ISUZU P'Up diesel.

 

[mberry]

What would be the strongest, and most durable material for these gears? Titanium or something? I would be interested in this too as my truck is going to be a daily driver as well and I want all the MPG I can get. It will tow occasinally, but not enough to warrant even 3. 73 gears.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I think Titanium is too brittle for that application.



nevermind the COST!

 

[SRadke]

Gears are a tradeoff between hardness and strength. Steel works best. There are Ti alloys that would be hard enough but too brittle as well as other that would be strong enough but too soft. The secret is in the heat treating. Hard on the surface, strong in the middle.



-Scott

 

[realsquash]

I drive into downtown Chicago on I-90 all the time and when I'm lucky enough to do the speed limit I haul a$$. I have 4. 10's and a 6-speed with stock tires and an EZ on 4... . 90mph is very easy to get to but 105 is overrevving the engine.



Of course I can tow 8500 lbs at 75 and never slow down for any hill WI has thrown at it so far.



Andy

 

[JEly]

Hey I'm just an outsider looking in and I'm wondering how fast you were going when you had your accident? Remember speed kills



Jim

 

[RichardAndrews]

Leave the kid alone everybody has been their and done that , it is his time let him enjoy it. WILDMAN

 

[JHardwick]

Originally posted by Forrest Nearing

I think Titanium is too brittle for that application.



nevermind the COST!

It'd cost more than the truck itself to do front and rears :-laf



I've machined alot of that stuff. You can crowd some materials, but Stellite, Titanium, Waspaloy, all that high temp stuff ... ... ..... just sit back and let 'er eat at it's own pace, not to mention the initial cost of the material.



Besides, alloyed steel is the best bet. As mentioned, you can surface treat it to maintain a strong inner and hard surface. Beyond that, the tooth face will burnish or work harden.