[Dubz]

i doubt i'll be swapping out the gears again anytime soon, and would like to get the new gears in and have the car on the road

how much would a shop probably charge for a gear setup for a 9" if i supplied all the parts

just thinking if i need to buy a couple tools, it may not be worth it if a shop would do it for cheaper

[stepside454]

local hot rodder/mechanic down the street generally charges $225.00. Maybe less in a 9" Ford if you bring the center section to him.

[poncho62]

I have the dial indicator etc, but have never had the nerve to try one.....should try it one of these days.

[k-star]

In my shop i get $125-$150 for a 9" that's out of the car.

Keith

[71gtx]

thats pretty good. before i did my 8 3/4 project i called around to see how much a shop could just change gears for in my 8 1/4. they wanted $500 even if i supplied parts. same went for a few of the shops.

[Dubz]

i'd need a dial indicator with a magnetic base, a pinion depth tool, and anything else?

[302 Z28]

If you supply all the parts, bring the third member to them, where all they have to do is press the old bearings off, clean it up and reassmble it with new bearings, ring and pinion, it should be no more that 2 or 3 hours labor charge. The Ford ishop in my town gets 5 hours labor for a rear axle overhaul in the vehicle.

Vince

[Thom Laybourne]

I drove the truck to the junk man and had my rear gear changed to a 3:42. They also added a Posi. Out the door in 4 days. $550
Amazing the work they will do and how much cheaper than most people.

hr41pearl

[red347]

Just for setting up the gears? $75.00 should be about right.

Ron

[trees]

I feel ripped off. I paid $230 for the last two I had done (each). I'm not sure I would do it for that tho.

Trees

[FASTCHEVY]

Why does it cost so much? and how much training does it take to
be able to repair a rear end?

[Dubz]

it's tedious, and if it's not a 9" it sucks to be under the vehicle setting up the gears for the right patterns.

tools are a dial indicator and i dunno what else

[Igosplut]

It can take anywhere from two to six hours depending on alot of factors. Setting pinion depth with a guage and hitting the right setting the first time is still going to take at least 3/4 of an hour. Tolerance for most gear sets is .004 + or -. Pinion shims commonly go behind a interference (pressed-on) bearing. So if its wrong (and you dont have a set of old honed-out pinion bearings for the most popular rears like we do) you press the bearing off, change the shim, press it back on, and check it again. The purpose of the honed out bearings is that you can slip them on and off for faster checking. And most bearings differ by .001 so thats not a factor.

After thats done, then you go to pinion bearing preload. Some (like Danas) have shins for that. Most use crush collars. If the rears in the car, its a little easyer just because you can brace better. The time that you can spend looking for the inch pound reading (tightening, and testing) can be 1/2 hr.

Then the backlash, Rears like Ford 9" are easyer in that they have screw-type adjusters so you dont need shims. The others you have to shim for backlash AND side bearing preload. So to get that correct, checking at three points on the ring, and if it has to be changed, moving shims from side to side, remembering your preload, it can take awhile.

And when its all done, and you put the marking dye on the gear face and roll it thru and it comes up with a bad pattern then its back to square one depending. And before anybody else says it, Yea I know theres guys that just use the exsisting shim and only go by the dye pattern, forgoing the depth measurement and say they've had no problems. I've done it myself with my own rear using factory GM gears (factory GM gear sets do not have tipical numerical pinion depth settings. They have letter codes made for use with the Kent-Moore factory bearing simulators. So if anyone offers to sell you a set, keep in mind that they have to be set up by the dye pattern) There are tipical starting shims for different rears (.032" is a chevy twelve bolt)

Why do I use the pinion depth method? Because thats what its there for. After twenty years of doing this, I've only had trouble with a couple of sets making noise (which I believe was bad gear sets) Being carefull to get the pinion depth to the nearest .001, I've only come up with a couple that didnt dye well. And I've only had complaints with the two I've mentioned (one was a friend that used Zoom gears on a twelve bolt in a 55 chevy. I reset it twice changing it both a little tighter/looser and it still made no difference in the whining) I'm a small shop in a small town, so I go the extra distance to make things right. And I cant afford alot of warranty work.....

So for the time it takes, its all a matter of how much clean-up, and setup. But I can tell you right now, If someone is doing it for 75.00, Their either giving you a hell of a deal, charging 25.00 or less an hour, Or you just getting 75.00 dollars worth......

And one thing I want to add, Was that if you supply me with the gears and parts, and I have a hard time with set-up (lets say because of a sub-standard, or cheap set of gears-parts) then you cant blame me for the extended amount of time it took me to get your selection of parts correctly installed...

[trees]

And what Igo said is why I would not set up a rear end. Screw it up and you have to buy a new set of gears, which are close to 3 times the labor charge. I leave this job to the pros!!!

Trees

[FASTCHEVY]

I guess thats why everybody goes to the junkyard for another rear end, instead of repairing the old one.

But what is the easiest rear end to change the gears out on?