Hey Im really planning on getting sum 3.73s soon but before i do i was wondering a few things.

From reading threads im under the impression that Richmonds are a bit noisy. How are Motives or any other brand for that matter? and how do they measure up to Richmonds when it comes to performance?

Also i have an '01 A4 Z28, do i have a series 2 carrier? How do u no? (i read the sticky at the top but it didnt quite answer my question?

And how long should i baby the car before going WOT?

Thanks a lot guys

 

ok when you do 80 on the interstate are you at 2000 rpm..if so you have 2.73's

 

If the gears are setup correctly it doesn't matter the brand. Motive,Richmond,Gm,Yukon are all good gear sets if installed and set up right. After the install run the gears for a little while(100 miles or so) so they can wear in and heat cycle. After that then change the fluid and get any shavings out of the oil and off of the magnet and put in new oil and additive and beat the hell out of them.

 

Motives are the way to go IMO. Richmonds are brittle and loud.

 

What make the Richmonds brittle and loud?

 

I don't know why the Richmonds are loud but that's what everyone says. Motive's have a good rep but I have heard the best gear to get are AAM gears. The series of rear end you have (2 or 3) depends on your factory rear end gears. If you have 2.73, you are 2 series. If you have a 3.42, you are a 3 series. 2.73s came stock on all Z28s and TA's but could be optioned with a 3.42 rear (I believe this is correct, if not, correct me). Then, the SS's and WS6's came factory with 3.42s (again, correct me if I'm wrong). If you do not know what gears you have you can call up a Chevy dealer and give them your Vin # and they will be able to tell you.

On a side not, what other mods do you have? If you want to gain some quickness a stall converter is the best mod you can do for an auto car, I would do that before gears. You can drop .5 to a full second in your 1/4 time. It is very similar to dumping the clutch in a standard car.

 

look on your driver's side door sticker with seemingly 100 alphabetical codes on it. if you see GU2, you have 2.73's and a series 2 carrier (thicker, stronger gears). if you see GU5, you have a series 3 carrier with 3.23's (thinner gears).

baby the car for 500 miles for breaking in the gears. i'd not even attempt half throttle unless you love gear whine i'm serious - not a mile less than 500, but the more the better.

 

i have a 98 m6 car and my code reads gu6 what gear is that in my car

 

If the code reads gu6 then you have 3.42's

 

I'll add my two cents;

We have cheaper priced gear sets because they are not lapped like some of the premium gear sets. Having a better finish on the gears can potentially make them quieter. This wouldn't be a problem specific to, say, Richmond. It would be a problem specific to the cheapest off-name gear sets imported from China.

With all this being said, the cheapest gears on the market with the poorest surface quality could be quieter than the best-finished "quiet" gear available IF they were set up better.

The biggest difference in gear noise will come from how well they are set up.

As for gear break-in, I have installed PLENTY of gear sets. I like to see the gears get atleast one or two COMPLETE heat cycles on them before any full-throttle passes. I have never used 500 miles before you go past 1/2 throttle rules of thumb. Usually, I will test-drive the vehicle and let the gears cool off. That'll happen twice before I roll the throttle to WOT letting off between gear shifts. I do like to see hundreds of miles pass before a weekend of hard racing on slicks. What does that mean in today's terms? A week of driving around and they're good to go.

I'm sure others will not like this approach, but it works for me. I've set up countless gear sets, and this is what's working for me. Keep it mind that drag cars don't go 1/2 for 2000 quarter mile passes (500 miles) to break-in gears. They just heat cycle them.

Oh, as for Richmond gears being "brittle". I don't think I agree with that. The biggest problem is the fact we have puny 7.5" gear sets in our cars from the Factory. If we all has factory 12-bolts no one would be saying that Richmond gears are brittle.

Also, ever try to break a gear with a hammer? I've attempted to "mark" a particular pinion gear by "pinging" it with a 20 oz hammer. It turned into crushing, over-head blows from a framing hammer. What did it do? Did the gear shatter? Nope. It cracked ONE tooth.

Don't knock Richmond here. Knock GM for putting us a crappy rearend in our cars from the Factory.

Ben T.

 

hah yea i hear ya. thanks man

 

GM AAM GEARS