I'm looking to replace the 3.50 gears in the Ford 9" Detroit Locker I have in my 1985 Regal Limited to 3.89. I've seen them listed from $120.00 to $500.00 and all of them claim to be the best of course. I'd like to get some opinions from some of you on what you use and how well it works for you. I need something strong and dependable for daily driving and an occasional back road race. My Regal is an 85 weighing 3625 lbs. with a JW 470 producing 570 HP @ 5600 rpm and 578 lbs.ft. torque @ 4600 rpm, Janis 200R4 trans. with a JW 3800 rpm lock up converter operated from a toggle switch on the dash, boxed upper and lower rear control arms and Spahn rear roll radius bar. Tires are P275/60-15D and 27" diameter. I have a 2012 Mustang GT and 1970 R/T 440 waiting on me for this summer. The Dodge owner claims he's never heard of a 455 Stage I ( I'll introduce him to one ) but he's only 24 years old. Any and all opinions are welcome. Thank Roger On The Eighth Day God Created Buick
Larry, Yukon was one of the gear sets I was looking at but was not familiar with. Your using one makes me confident it would work for me. Thanks
I think Monzaz recommended them at one point or another and that is who I went with for my 8.5 10 bolt build. They are dead quiet and have held up to my 1/4 mile passes.
IIRC, I have Richmond gears in my 12 bolt, 3.42 ratio. No noise or issues since they were installed and set up about 20 years ago.
Well - Yukon is good but any gears tyou buy will all depend on how well you or your installer puts them in. So really any gear will usually hold to most driving situations... Just how much work there is to setting the gears up. The finish and lapping will make some difference in how well it patterns up upon set-up. So when you can see the pattern clearly you usually will get a good quiet set-up. We use some of the cheapest gears on the market in the test mule 8.5 race car and have never had any issues with 4.10 or 3.90 we have used and have plenty of passes on them. 100's I really would concentrate on the set-up more than the gear itself. Your preload, carrier preload and keeping clean oil in the rear will go the furthest in keeping a ring and pinion alive. Jim Companies been in the business for years Motive gear and axle (seem to own everything these days. They bought out Richmond Gear, Alloy axle brand, G2 gear and axle etc. ALL ARE UNDER THE MOTIVE BRAND UMBRELLA) U S Gear Yukon, USA STANDARD Jim J D
Thanks Jim that's all great info. I'm not doing the gear change myself a local mechanic who has a G-body drag car with over 900 HP is doing it for me. I'm only pulling the diff. out for him. He runs a 9" Ford in it and sets them up his self and has never blown one up in 20 years so I trust him. Thank You
I've used Yukon Gears before and I've found them to be a real good company/gear... I buy all my stuff through Randys, they have treated me great, they have great customer service and they stand behind what they sell... http://www.ringpinion.com/
So how many gears have you sent back? How many posi units have blown up and sent back for replacement? Jim J D
Jim, he has never blown any part of his rear end. Only changed gear ratios for different race conditions. He uses Richmond gears.
No that was ment for DavidC77. ' I buy all my stuff through Randys, they have treated me great, they have great customer service and they stand behind what they sell...' It all does not matter anyway. It is easy to sell parts and back them...Until you have to deal with issues that may or may not be the manufactures fault. A lot of gray area when it comes to ring and pinion set-up being correct... it takes quite a bit a major error for a ring and pinion not to move your car or truck. If they truly work with you when there is a issue, then truly that is all you can ask. These days getting a fair shake from anyone is a big deal. Hope a warranty never has to be used. that is what I say. Jim - J D
Just going to throw this out there if the OP wants a lower set, i have a new set of 4.10's from Randy's Ring/Pinion i never used. Bought them for my off road truck and never installed them. The 9" couldnt stay together long enough to put them in. Paid like $240 with shipping, would like 2 bills and i will pay the freight just to get rid of them.
Luckily I've never had to send anything back... I bought some stuff from another company who sent me the wrong stuff, I put it together before I tore the other parts out, it ended up being the wrong parts that they sent me and the company I bought them from wouldn't refund me, they said because I put the parts together they couldn't resell them, they didn't care that they sent me the wrong parts... I called Randys and told them what happened and they gave me a huge price cut to help me out... Plus I was into JEEPs for a long time and your always changing gears, axles and lockers on those things :laugh: I also ran a College Fleet for 25 years so anytime I needed parts for the college stuff I used Randys... As I said great company... .
Yep, I understand and as it should be. Reason for us not doing 4x4 stuff as it is almost as bad as old Muscle cars... not having what came in the car/ vehicle from the factory as you can fit many different rears under these vehicles. This is the Reason for all the questions when we sell parts or you need to send pictures when some one buys 65-72 era parts and the big 8.2 10 bolt rear comes up... It seems there are not to many Muscles cars with their stock rears under them much anymore after 50 years of service. Jim J D
Thanks for the offer but 3.89 is as low as I want go. I'm just trying to increase my rpm's from 1700 rpm's to 1900-2000 at 60 mph when I lock up my converter to get rid of a slight lugging sensation I get with the 3.50. My Regal will be driven every day and highway speeds here in the UP are 55-60.
Well this was really the company's screw up and they didn't stand behind it, I told them what it was (It was a brand new JEEP TJ) and asked about it when I called, they insured me that they knew what I had and sent it... It was my bad in a way as I put the axle together at home to save some time at work where I was putting them in, I should have waited till I had it right next to the JEEP, but as I said they said "It Will Be The Right Parts", my bad... It was inner and outer axles with the joints, I had to install the joints to inner/outer... I learned after that to look at everything 1st before putting it together... OK enough off topic I guess, back to OP , contact Randys and they will hook you up :TU:
