Prodigious

So a couple months back I had a shop install Richmond 4.10 gears into my 10 bolt. The 2.73s they replaced were fairly quiet and whined slightly on deceleration. The shop called me saying they couldn't get them to stop roaring and they had one person take it apart three times and then another also do it three times. So I figured it was just because they were Richmond gears that have a reputation for being loud. Two months down the road sure enough the fluid is filled crazy full of metal and my ring gear and spider gears are trashed. Had a much better guy that I recently discovered that specializes in old muscle check it out and he told me to take it back to them and have them fix it because he said the failure is setup related and they used 0 backlash. Took it back to the shop that did the gears and they're telling me it was either bad gears or my center section itself. What do you guys think?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Richmond gears are a MISTAKE for any car that gets driven on the street AT ALL. (the drag race ones, that is) Never shoulda done that. They're EXCELLENT for a STRIP ONLY (emphasis on ONLY) car; DEATH on the street.

Yes improper setup can cause ring & pinions to get destroyed. Has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the spider gears in any manner way shape form or fashion.

Since the ring gear doesn't touch or otherwise have anything to do with the spider gears, the 2 problems are totally unrelated, except possibly to the extent that the metal chips from one of them failing damaged the other, or that the same behavior (i.e. long smoky one-wheel-peel burnouts and such) damaged both.

If your carrier was/is stock, whether an open or a stock Auburn POS posi, throw it in the trash and consider yourself fortunate that it unburdened you of itself. Then get SOME OTHER brand of gears from a reputable US mfr such as Superior, Precision, US Gear, Dana, Motive, etc., preferably in a more suitable ratio for a motor that doesn't support 4.10s, such as 3.42; a better carrier; and take a GOOD look at your axles because if there's metal chips in the fluid, those are probably trashed too. And/or, could have been the source of the metal chips that destroyed everything else.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

I've had 2 sets of Richmond gears, both made some noise but nothing crazy and both help up fine.

The shop messed up, good chance they had no idea what they were doing nor did they have the proper tools to setup the gears. Problem is its going to nearly impossible to get anything out of them since they will deny everything and point the blame elsewhere

I'm sure big gear head will toss in his word, and he's a pro at this.

big gear head

It's very common for shops that don't under stand how gears are suppose to be set up to just take out one set of gears and stick the others in without setting the pinion depth, bearing preload and backlash. I've seen it many times and I've fixed a bunch of them. You need to be very picky about who does your gears. Ask questions and if you don't get the correct answers then go somewhere else.

I've installed many Richmond gears with no problems at all, and I've installed a hand full that made noise no matter how well they were set up.

Right now I think that US Strange is the best quality. Quick Performance will sell you a complete kit with US Strange gears, Yukon Dura Grip and a USA Standard installation kit for about $550. You can't beat that deal and these are quality parts. Take them to someone who actually knows how to set the pinion depth, bearing preload and backlash, and knows how to read the contact pattern, and you will have a very happy rear end.

Prodigious

I have a guy now who seems to have a full working knowledge of how to set up a differential and he actually said to let him know if I ended up needing to go somewhere else for the gears, which it seems I am going to considering the fact that the shop that put them in is now telling me that they don't know what's wrong and they believe it was the housing itself and I should buy another rear. I personally believe that is absolutely ridiculous.

I do have the stock posi unit but I do plan to go with 4.10s again because I plan an HSR swap with 28" tires in the future for my 355. But the spider gears were most likely torn up by the metal flakes. Also the gears were Richmond excel gears if that is any different. Although they roared so loud when cruising that I would have to let completely off the throttle to hear a passenger or my phone if somebody were to call. Somebody drove behind me once and they said it sounded like a harrier was taking off in front of them.

So basically the general consensus is that the shop set them up wrong and now I have new gears, new spider gears, and possibly new axles on my shopping list. And the shop that messed up is denying the hell out of it saying it was either the gears or the housing. So after all the new stuff gets installed, if my rear end is quiet and operating as it should, I'm taking the first shop to small claims court.

Also if I have any money left which I doubt, then I'll spend money on upgrading my stock posi. But it's functioning fine at the moment.

big gear head

If you have a 2 series right now then you will have to get the thick gears to work with it. If you want to upgrade later you won't be able to because the after market differentials are 3 series and won't work with the thick gears.

You are going to need a good installation kit. Your bearings are going to be toast from the metal in the oil. There are only 3 kits that are worth using, Tom's Differentials, Yukon and USA Standard, in that order.

Prodigious

I have thick gears in it now, those are the ones that caused all of this mess. And of course they are. I had a brand new installation kit put in as well. That's probably why the shop that put the gears in is telling me I should look for a new rear end.

big gear head

Yea, I know you have the thick gears now. You are going to have to get another set of thick gears if you use this same 2 series differential, which now has bad gears in it. Now is the time to upgrade the differential before you waste money on another set of gears that you won't be able to use later if you don't upgrade now.

Prodigious

If I need new gears, a new carrier, new installation kit, and new axles then I really might as well just buy a new rear end to justify that cost. That's probably why the shop that put them in told me that they think it failed because something was wrong with my rear end rather than admitting to it being their poor installation that killed all of my parts that were in an otherwise healthy rear. They did not say a word about my bearings or my axles. That really makes me beyond infuriated. I'm gonna take it back to my guy who knows what he's doing and have him do a very thorough check of all of the damage. Including my bearings and axles. And if they're bad I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do about it. Besides take the other shop to court of course since they won't own up to their incompetence. Because either way I don't have money for a rear worth buying. And I really don't want to throw another ten bolt under there if I'm going to go through the trouble of swapping out my rear.

Sucks because I just had LCARBs welded into that rear too.

Prodigious

If I need new gears, a new carrier, new installation kit, and new axles then I really might as well just buy a new rear end to justify that cost. That's probably why the shop that put them in told me that they think it failed because something was wrong with my rear end rather than admitting to it being their poor installation that killed all of my parts that were in an otherwise healthy rear. They did not say a word about my bearings or my axles. That really makes me beyond infuriated. I'm gonna take it back to my guy who knows what he's doing and have him do a very thorough check of all of the damage. Including my bearings and axles. And if they're bad I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do about it. Besides take the other shop to court of course since they won't own up to their incompetence. Because either way I don't have money for a rear worth buying. And I really don't want to throw another ten bolt under there if I'm going to go through the trouble of swapping out my rear.

Sucks because I just had LCARBs welded into that rear too.

Prodigious

Well, I decided to splurge and buy an eaton trutrac posi, motive 3.42 gears, the Yukon installation kit, and motive axles. I reused my ta cover. Rear end was fully setup by a DIFFERENT shop and is DEAD silent. I am taking the first shop to court to try and get some of my money back because the new mechanic gave me all my old parts and told me that they were in fact all essentially destroyed by a bad install.

big gear head

Great news.

Prodigious

In hindsight I wish I would've just bought all the tools I needed to do the job and done some extensive research so I could tackle it myself. I do pretty much all the other work on my car myself, but the differential was over my head.