Diff gears - recommended brands?

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Rat Patrol

Rat Patrol

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Looks like I may have to swap my diff gears out after a recent change - theyre just whining far too much even though the lap patterns were excellent and a new install kit and appropriate backlash was set up..

Id like to know which brands are considered to be better quality gear sets...a lot of sets dont appear to have the surface hardening that the OEM types do.....
 
I like Richmond. Opinions vary, that's mine.
 
Talk with Cass, Doctor Diff. I've bought from him several times. Honest, knowledgeable and great customer service. Sent pics of my pattern and followed his advice. I now have a quiet rear gear.
http://www.doctordiff.com/
 
Running Richmond 4:10 and they whine loudly on deceleration, but I think the shop that set it up didn't set it right and they're gonna fix it supposedly. We'll see.
 
Running motive gears with ok results. Not silent, made in Korea, held up for 5 yrs. takes the abuse.
 
I have Yukon. My dad has Dr. Diff's. Both run quiet.

I vote Dr. Diff. My dad was happy with the product and support when he had some issues.
 
The prices seem to vary a lot - Yukon are around $340, Motive can be had for $230

Wondering about Strange and Moser...anyone used them?
 
I bought a set of Strange/US Gear from Dr.Diff and set them up as the instructions said.
They are not noisy at all, just a very SLIGHT amount of whine on acceleration and coast.
They are 3:55s in a 489 case with a cone sure grip 8 3/4 and i used Timken bearings as well as the crush sleeve eliminator kit.
I'm very happy with them and the service from Dr.Diff.
Also, i'm using 75/90 Amsoil as lube with a friction modifier as well for good measure.
 
Glad to see you have more responses than I did. (1) I ordered my 4:10's from Dr Diff. $199 to the door for Richmonds gears. I'll get back to the thread after the install.
 
Appreciate the feedback - Didnt know Strange was also US Gear...
There seems to be a lot of cross over with brand names....
 
6pkScamp said:
Glad to see you have more responses than I did. (1) I ordered my 4:10's from Dr Diff. $199 to the door for Richmonds gears. I'll get back to the thread after the install.
Click to expand...

For those interested, Dr Diff's Richmond 4:10 gears were in installed and they are perfect. No whine at all. Richmond recommends 500 miles of easy driving for break in. Don't think I'm going to make it. More like 10.
 
Noise is from the installer.

Moser uses motive, Strange uses US gear, Motive has been richmond for more than 4/5 years now. Nitro, US Gear, AAM, Dana, Motive, Precision.

Yukon reboxes all types of crap and paying top dollar for some usa standard or maybe you'll get motive or another isn't worth it, especially if you get usa standard and they don't do run in on their stuff.

The rest of you all have set up issues , pin is deep on some of you and shallow on another. Reading a pattern isn't all that easy. When using set up bearings the pattern you get then is changing when you go to the right bearing, if you think .001 isn't that important.... then enjoy the opera coming from the diff.
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Supershafts said:
Noise is from the installer.

Moser uses motive, Strange uses US gear, Motive has been richmond for more than 4/5 years now. Nitro, US Gear, AAM, Dana, Motive, Precision.

Yukon reboxes all types of crap and paying top dollar for some usa standard or maybe you'll get motive or another isn't worth it, especially if you get usa standard and they don't do run in on their stuff.

The rest of you all have set up issues , pin is deep on some of you and shallow on another. Reading a pattern isn't all that easy. When using set up bearings the pattern you get then is changing when you go to the right bearing, if you think .001 isn't that important.... then enjoy the opera coming from the diff.
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Click to expand...


Pretty much what SS said. I just set up a set of Richmonds. It took a while to get the thing right. Several setups could have been "acceptable" going by the enlcosed literature.... Sometimes it takes a careful eye to read the pattern properly. Last 3 setups were .003" changes to get the drive and coast patterns "right". I'm also a firm believer in break in routines for new gears. Not "easy for 500 miles", but run them unloaded (on jackstands), let them cool, do a light test drive, let them cool, then you're good to go. I've installed Motive, Strange/US Gear, Richmond, & Yukon in lots of trucks, jeeps, and various mopar rears. Quiet is all about assembly - little to do with brand or ratio.
 
Rat Patrol said:
Looks like I may have to swap my diff gears out after a recent change - theyre just whining far too much even though the lap patterns were excellent and a new install kit and appropriate backlash was set up..

Id like to know which brands are considered to be better quality gear sets...a lot of sets dont appear to have the surface hardening that the OEM types do.....
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't catch moper's comments. I agree
I know you're asking about brand recommendations but, I'm surprised nobody mentioned the whining. What diff are you working on? What brand are in there now and how many miles on them? Something is amiss if the pattern is "correct" and they are making noise. Maybe you should post up a pattern picture before ya change it out. Whining gears is almost always setup.
 
Reality is they were quiet as a mouse for the first 100 miles......then I went on a long trip avging around 70 mph...

I didnt give them any chance to cool down and after about 150 miles on the hwy they started howling....DOH!!

Ill know more when I drop the diff...but at this stage installation error is the least likely cause... The guy that set up the diff does rear axles for our = to SCCA...he knows his stuff.

Ive almost certainly cooked them...

Im not going to point fingers at the quality of the gear set....they were supposed to be Yukon.....but thats another argument for another day.

At this stage any diagnosis is premature.....

Thx for your thoughts...
 
what I see here is some guys say setup is bad and some gears are junk? in my loud 5.13 zoom gear 742 is it the bearings, the gears or the setup? turn up the stereo, oh wait , I don't have 1
 
Rat Patrol said:
Reality is they were quiet as a mouse for the first 100 miles......then I went on a long trip avging around 70 mph...

I didnt give them any chance to cool down and after about 150 miles on the hwy they started howling....DOH!!

Ill know more when I drop the diff...but at this stage installation error is the least likely cause... The guy that set up the diff does rear axles for our = to SCCA...he knows his stuff.

Ive almost certainly cooked them...

Im not going to point fingers at the quality of the gear set....they were supposed to be Yukon.....but thats another argument for another day.

At this stage any diagnosis is premature.....

Thx for your thoughts...
Click to expand...


If he Informed you that the 1st 100 miles are the MOST crucial in a new gear, and that the FIRST 2 20 minute/20 mile runs should be around town and VARY as much as possible with all the time it needs between both runs to completely cool and not do more than 20 mins/20 miles... Then the problem lies with you

However YOU don't have to point fingers at yukons re-boxing crap. I'll do it for you.
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Well - I finally dropped the diff - the only damage I can see is along the short edge of the ring gear tooth where I am pointing - the drive and coast faces don't appear to be scuffed and have a 'tempered' shine too them.

Cant remove the pinion = thats up to my diff guy....

Thoughts?

IMG_0965_zps9nkbnoxz.jpg


IMG_0967_zpsfmrtuaby.jpg
 
not enough clearance on that coast edge, went bad as temp climbed. I will guess a combo of small problems - gears could have used more chamfering, more break in, more ?
 
Take a picture of the face of the coast and drive side, not the pics you have now none of that will have any issue on noise.
 
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