Hey guys, has anyone ever been able to set up Richmond gears so they don't whine at all? I'm considering a 3.73 gearing, but I don't really want a whole ton of noise. My uncle is convinced that he can set them up so that they won't whine, but I don't believe him. Has anyone done it?

 

Yes, I have -- and your uncle is right, if you install them properly they will not whine.

 

Hmmm so I've heard. Interesting, everyone I've ever seen said Richmond gears were noisy/loud.

 

Hard to explain without a picture but with the straighter teeth on the Richmond gears it's impossible to get them as quiet as stock gears. They are built with a straighter tooth for strength, this results in a bit more "whine". To get rid of the whine you can install them incorrectly but that'll result in a weaker rear. Trust me, the mechanical engineering department at Ohio State University has a gear lab and will tell you the same thing.
It's like the m-22 rock crusher trans... traight teeth = strength but whine. You just have to compromise.

 

thats what I thought too, and the shop doing the build told me they wouldn't guarantee against the noise -- what can I say, the rear end was prepped and rebuilt by a reputable shop about 2 years ago with the 3.73's an eaton posi and has over 10K miles on it, sounds no different than the day I bought it stock.

 

i set up quite a few that you couldn't hear any whine from, all were in open header race cars

 

HAHA, you had me going there for a second.