Schweet97Z

iTrader: (35)

well i broke a tooth off the ring gear on my 3:73's i have now. i dont recall what brand they are, but almost positive they are GM gears. what brand should i go with next?

blue94

iTrader: (7)

motive

TDP

iTrader: (23)

Neither, go with GM gears.

chicane

None of the above....... USGear.

Schweet97Z

iTrader: (35)

i had GM gears and thats what broke...

chicane - where do i get these USGear's? ive never heard of them.....

chicane

USGear is the oldest (and best in MHO) of factory OE and aftermarket gearsets for GM, Ford and Chrysler. My 40 year old F-body has 40 year old factory OE GM/USGear's in it and they are still in excellent condition.... considering the abuse's it has taken in stride.

Second to that would be Precision Gear, which bought all of USGear's older machine equipment (the very same that cut my 40 year old gears) when USGear retooled a few years ago.

USGear is the only gear set I have actually had any real success in it living..... in the tiny little 7.5" of the F-body. De-burring the roots of the teeth on both the ring and the pinion will also increase their life and make them a tiny bit quieter. Not that noise is any kind of problem with USGear sets, because it is not.

Ill send you a PM on where to get them as they are not a sponser here....

Schweet97Z

iTrader: (35)

anyone else using USGear gears....im definately considering these gears....and would like more input....

ABA383

iTrader: (1)

Also look into the Yukon gears from Randys Ring and Pinion...I know of a few 9 second cars running those in the 3.73s in place of some broken 3.73s from Strange...Good company to deal with, too...

--Alan

Dragman

I do gears everyday. I would use US Gears 1st and or I would use Motive Performance. I would not use the newer GM gears as we have had issues with them. For whats it worth dont use noisey Richmonds. I would not use anything that Randys sells, Long story.

TDP

iTrader: (23)

I also do this type of work every day, and have been since 1998. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this. I strictly use OEM gears whether its GM, Dodge, Ford, etc. They have proven to be quiet and long lasting. If the OEM gears are not available, then my second choice is Motive Performance. I don't really trust any other brands.

TDP

iTrader: (23)

Actually, AAM (American Axle and Manufacturing) is the company that GM uses for their gears. GM has been using them since the 60's. US Gear is an aftermarket company, which has nothing to do with AAM. So, the 40-yr old gears in your car are GM (AAM) gears, and that's exactly why I trust that brand the most.
www.aam.com

TXZ28LS1

iTrader: (5)

im looking into running 3.73 in my auto. i dont care if whines. i think it sounds cool, cuz its like a s/c..lol. but i hear the richmonds are one of the stronger gears.

chicane

Well..... actually, AAM is just one of the few differential manufacturers that GM (and the big three) use for production contracts. USGear is, and has been, the master OEM supplier to include Meritor (Rockwell), Dana, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, with a variety of differential and transmission gears. GM does not specifically use AAM for anything except to fill small production contracts when the proprietary manufacturer can not fill the demand.

And for your information, the gear set in my 40 year old differential.... were made by USGear Corp for GM, under contract. Not AAM. Just like the majority of all GM contracts since the 60's. In fact, the three new (circa 2001) sets of gears from USGear that I have for use in my 40 year old are the same net production cut and finishing machining as the 40 year old set in my 12 bolt.
Which just happens to be the very same production equipment that Percision gear now owns.... due to the fact that they purchased USGear's older machine and tooling when USGear re-tooled in the late 90's.

So.... I guess that covers that.

RICKY00WS6

iTrader: (1)

What about Auburn?

01sscam

get motive gears, i've ran the richmond 3.73's and now the motive 4.10's in my car. the richmond gears broke teeth the second race of the season. motive's have been great.

Bossz28

So Richmonds are noisy? How are motive gears?

richnew

I already bought richmond gears for my Z28 camaro from summit and I let you know how it works out when I finish rebuilding my 2002 Z28 camaro 10 bolt 5.65 gm rear.

TDP

iTrader: (23)

Ok, well how do you 'know' all of this? Where did you get this info from? I would have to see proof to believe it.
I got my information straight from AAM, as I used to be a dealer for them. I also used to work for GM 8yrs ago, and they also said that AAM was and has been the only manufacturer.
I have also installed a few sets of US Gears, and there is no GM part number on them. Plus the markings and design of the gears are different. I normally buy the AAM gears, which have the GM part number stamped on each and every gear set.

richnew

Well last night I changed my axil bearings and seals.The carier and pinion were ready from local machine shop but because I had to sand down the pinion to fit the outer bearing it took to long and I didn't get to put in the carrier.So tonight or tomorrow I will finnish the carier install. Well one more thing I sanded down the mating surface of my ring gear as per the advise of this website .ANYONE OUT THERE PLESE HELP ME WITHANY ADDITIONAL ADVSE ON THE rest of the job I'm taking all weekend and will let every one know how it works out.

WELL here it is monday and I finnished the rearend saterday.I set the runout at .008 and the preload to 43 in lbs. I would show the gear patern but the files too big have to fix that and show it later.
YES THE GEARS ARE ALITTLE NOISY on deseleration mbeethey have to break in a little .NO HOLE SHOTS for 300 miles the book says. Well it does feel good.

chicane

Well.... knowing is half the battle isnt it ?? I know this because.... I have been in the differential business for 18+ years. To further this, I have been involved in specific drivetrain failure analysis for GM, Ford and Chrysler and other multiple after market manufacturers. There is also some time involved with GM's factory (and farmed) racing efforts to include the Corvette Racing Challenge and the middle SCORE efforts. That... and just about my wife's entire family are legacy GM employees that ranged from Truck and Bus, drive train, GMPD and Millford PG. So I guess you could say I have understanding of what is being ranted.

AAM in the past ten years has had a greater hand in GM's purse supplying a lot more of the production differential components than of years past, so I could see how someone would see it that way. But.... of course you are not going to see a GM part number on an aftermarket USGear set. That is because it is an aftermarket gear set. But I would venture to say that USG had near 50% of the gear sets, in the last 10 years of the F-body.

GM part number or not..... they are both quality. Both in the OE form and in the aftermarket.... just like the AAM sets. Its real easy to tell when you put a 40 year old set right next to a new set and they have the same net finish but with a better finish machine in their aftermarket sets. Ill see if I can round up the two sets and get pics...