bww3588

iTrader: (49)

18mm socket and wrench, 13 mm socket and wrench and i think a 15 mabye...

Kevin01Z28

iTrader: (8)

The one im about to put in my car sat in someone's backyard for almost 3 years. Grinded off the rust and painted it black and it looks like new.

Formula93

To the OP.. Do some searching on google and on here to see excatley all is involved and if you feel confident go for it! Otherwise man take it to a reputable shop. I've never done it but doing it in a drove way I'd be scared of dirt and small debris getting in the housing! I know there's a lot of precise work to be done. Plus if you were to do it your self and mess somthing up it could end up costing you more in the long run than having a shop do it! Goodluck man!

Sabbath87

iTrader: (1)

hmmm, maybe i will look into a new rear end. i dont really want a rear end just laying around tho, so a gear swap sounds a little better for me. its more expensive but oh well.

i know there is a lot of ppl that have gone from 3.42 to 3.73, was there a bug diffrence? night and day? i know 3.73s will be a huge diffrence for me (coming from 2.72) but i was just wondering if it was much diffrent than 3.42s. any opionions would be great, track times would be cool to if anyone remembers a before and after time.

cowboysfan

only way to learn is do it your self. just be prepared to pay for your own mistakes.... me, I would rather pay a pro then me pay double cause I didn't do it correctly...... my suggestion is to go with 4.11's since oyu have a manual car. I'm currently running a Moser 9" with 4.10 gear and on the highway at 70mph tach reads 1900/2000rpm's. I think you will love 4.11 better.....

BJM

iTrader: (1)

My site was listed as one of the references. I taught myself to do my own gears. Shops local to me charge $500 and up to do the job and the result is hit or miss. I had many of the tools already but certainly not all.

If you really don't have some technical gear knowledge I recommend staying out of the differential. Most of the write-ups you see make the HUGE assumption that dismantling the rear, re-using the pinion shim, and reassembling properly will work. In many case it will. If not true in your case do you have what it takes to go back to first principles and fit the gear by pattern matching? That is the problem.

In my case the differential housing seems off, I think the hypoid distance (the distance between the pinion axis and the ring gear axis is off. I cannot get text book patterns with any combination of shims. I set my gears as best as possible and in my case even the factory set up was way off.

I am glad I taught myself as this is a skill almost no mechanics possess. However with a lot of prep it took me at least 20 hours of real labour to complete the task. If I did it more times I figure I would get it down to a solid days work, 8 hours. Would I charge $100 for this, no way. If I simply did a tear down and shim swap with new gears I could get the job down to 4 hours, I could measure the pattern as a check but if it was wrong the job just became much longer.

Whatever you do, question the installer before they get your car torn open about some of these topics, you might be surprised at the answers. Check our the gear pattern pictures on my site, they are the only series I have seen on the internet. I get multiple hits on those pictures from around the world on those alone.

My car is a 2001 SS M6, I first tried the 3.73:1 gears going from the stock 3.42:1. My second try is what I have in there right now, 4.10:1, much better. My gas mileage barely changed and I check it every tank. Clutching from a stand still was too long on the stock gears, it is much easier and quicker now.

Sabbath87

iTrader: (1)

was there a big difference from stock to 3.73?

OMGWTFBODY

iTrader: (5)

Not huge, but 3.73s made a good performer out of my T/A.

millersta

iTrader: (2)

i have gone from 2.73-3.42-3.73 but in an auto car and even from the 3.42 to the 3.73 was a decent sop feel. id go bigger than a 3.73 though being an m6 and all

colt_impala

iTrader: (3)

agreed. it didntmake my camaro a super car or anything but there was a noticable dif in 1 and 2 after i swapped.

Sabbath87

iTrader: (1)

im just trying to decide if i should spend the extra money to have 3.73s installed or swap the rear end with another m6 myself.

coming from 2.43, im sure 3.73 will be a huge diffrence!

if i do a rear end swap, i will do it myself. if i change the gears, i will take it to a shop. so the rear swap would be much much cheaper.

what would YOU do in this situation? would 3.73s be worth an spending an extra $500?

406malibu

you keep saying 2.43, but you don't have 2.43's. 2.73 are what you have.

millersta

iTrader: (2)

you may be able to find a used rear with a 3.73 if you really look i found one cheap but blew it up 3 mounths later i guess its true u get what u pay for. personally though the 3.73 wasnt that much better than my 3.42.

Sabbath87

iTrader: (1)

haha sorry. i dont know why i keep doing that. at least i got the title of the thread right

Y2K_Frenzy

There’s a reason the labor is so high on a gear install. Gear swap for a beginner- Never. I’ve seen non-beginners have to do it twice because they couldn’t/didn’t get the pre-load tight enough. As a matter of fact I’ve had to buy another gear set because a mechanic didn’t get it set right…

theunderlord

This thread is so old it would be in 5th grade.

Y2K_Frenzy

I’ve gone from 2.73’s to 3.73’s before in a Mustang. It felt like a night and day difference but the actual performance gain wasn’t too much. They didn’t help me outrun anyone who I previously couldn’t.

Y2K_Frenzy

I’ve never made it out from a gear swap under $700-$800. $200 is close to only one labor hour. Do you not change out 20 year old bearings while you’re in there? In fact the other day I got an estimate for a rear end rebuild and it was a good deal more than $300. Granted this is for a rear end rebuild & not just a gear swap, but if memory serves I paid over $400 or so back in ‘09 for just a gear swap. But maybe I guess there’s a guy that does ring & pinion for $300.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Agreed. The measurable performance improvement isn't really consistent with how impressive the difference can feel, especially when comparing sprung weight (i.e. roll racing).

Yeah, 12 years later I think we can put this one to bed.