Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) gear change cost and difficulty

[bigbrassmonkey]

anyone looked into changing gear ratios, ie 3. 53 to 3. 7 or 4. 10 what is the cost and how difficult is the swap? and who did you use



ps. 4wd

 

[klaybus]

Originally posted by bigbrassmonkey

anyone looked into changing gear ratios, ie 3. 53 to 3. 7 or 4. 10 what is the cost and how difficult is the swap? and who did you use



ps. 4wd

Did you ever get your post answered by anyone? Wondering the same thing.



Clay

 

[JFinke]

Without pricing the parts I would guess about 1200. 00 parts and 8-10 hours labor @ $40-$60 an hour. It may require a carrier change also. They run from 200-500 each. It makes one long day in the shop lying under a truck all day. Jake

 

[rweis]

About $2k is what I have heard also.



What about going to 215's from 235's? ~ 10% < $2k



3. 54 to 3. 73 ~ 6% $2k



Bob Weis

 

[JBlock]

About $1000

I quotes $1000 for the gear swap by transmission shop. Complete Labor and materials 3. 54 to 3. 73

 

[Big-D]

Clay,



Call Randy's Ring and Pinion in Lynwood, WA for they can do the conversion. They told me unless you have a Dana 80 rear end the ring gear will not fit into the housing. Not sure about the front end for I only have 2WD and didn't ask.

Dave

 

[tpruitt]

I just did a complete gear swap and it was about $2200 just in parts. But then again i did it right and put a Detroit in the rear and an ARB in the front. I also put 4. 30 gears in. I did the install my self so it was free but time consuming. I am running a 4. 30 gear because i have a 37 inch tire. All is well now and i am glad i did it. If you are considering doing it i would contact Reider racing because i found out that they are the only ones who know what they are talking about. Most of the other companies just want to sell you something. I had a problem with both Randy's Ring and pinion and 4 wheel part. They said that my front axle was 30 spline when it really was 32. I told them this and they still said it was 30. I went with what Reider Racing said and they were right. I have no affiliation with either company but just thought i would share my . 02.

 

[Bill_L]

When I had my gear change done two years ago it was $1050 parts and labor.



You can go upto 4. 10s without changing the carriers.





Bill

 

[tpruitt]

the 4. 30 uses the same carrier as the 3. 55

 

[thejeepdude]

I changed the gears in my Jeep (D44/D30) and while it was time consuming, it wasn't really all that difficult. If I keep this truck long enough to justify buying bigger tires, I'll probably do the gears myself and put a Detroit in the rear. The gear sets seem to be about $300 or so each end for our trucks if you want genuine Spicer.



I ended up buying about $500 in tools when I did my gears. It's like paying the labor to do it once, but now I have everything I need so it's 'free' from now on. Oh yeah, the most important tool I would recommend before doing it yourself is the side bearing puller like the one from this guy: CARRIER / PINION BEARING REMOVAL TOOL Randy's sells it too but this was a better pic... the blue and red tool on the right, second pic down. With that tool I could pull both bearings, re-shim, and re-test in about 5 minutes without ANY damage to the bearings. Pricey but well worth it.

 

[rweis]

FYI



Our TDR went to Orlando Dodge and two service guys were working on a rear end. I asked them about it. They replace the bearings / carriers if the odo is > 75k when they change the ring gear and pinion. They were changing a 3. 54 to a 4. 10 or vice versa.



Bob Weis

 

[justinp20012500]

bigbrassmonkey,



You could possibly look under the tdr classifieds for someone looking to trade you gear ratios... Cheap solution??????

 

[thejeepdude]

Originally posted by justinp20012500

bigbrassmonkey,



You could possibly look under the tdr classifieds for someone looking to trade you gear ratios... Cheap solution??????

If he were to go that route, it would be a LOT easier to just pull the whole axle out from under the truck (trackbar, u-bolts, driveshaft and you're done). Of course this would only work if both people were in the same locale.