Can i just go buy the gears and install them? I've read that the 3.23 and up carriers will work with the 3.73's. Does that mean that with my current 2.73 rear end that i can't install 3.73's? Or am i ok to install them? Thanks

 

You have a 2 series carrier. You would need to get a ring and pinion set that will work with a 2 series carrier. Richmond makes a 3.73 gear set that will work with your carrier.

 

The gears for the 2 series carrier are usually notated as thick. In other words, when you see the list of gears for our ten bolts listed it will have one that says 3.73 then one that says 3.73 thick, you need the "thick" for the 2 series carrier.

 

Or, a spacer.

Which makes a whole lot more sense then the "special" gears; because that wya, immediately after you swap the gears and you discover that you really wish you had a posi, you can use EITHER a 2-series or a 3-series posi unit. Whereas, the "special" "thick" gears force you to use a 2-series, forever.

Cost it not too much different between the 2 options; probably less than 5% of the total bill for a set of gears, other parts such as bearings and whatnot, and labor.

I would ABSOLUTELY NOT use the Richmond drag-racing gears (the ones people usually mean when they say "Richmonds"), if the car will EVER be used on the street. Stick with the better-quality stock-metallurgy products. The DR Richmonds are made of softer metal, and have a different tooth design, to optimize them for drag racing; both of which cause VERY POOR lifetime and overall satisfaction on the street. Use AAM (Motive), Dana/Spicer, Yukon, US Gear/Strange, Precision, Superior, or even the Richmond stock-replacement.

 

Would these work with an intsallation kit? (spacers nuts and bolts etc) http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

Would theses work? Thanks

 

Yes; but only with a spacer. They will not simply bolt onto what you've got.

THe price is too low on those for me to be comfortable with. They might be perfectly OK, but one of the unchangeable laws of commerce is, you get AT MOST what you pay for. Meaning, you pay the least, you get .... AT MOST .... what you pay for. I'd check to see who made them, and where; there's been lots of trouble with cheap offshore gear sets, from India or wherever. They work OK when they work, but they frequently don't. Very inconsistent. In other words, high risk. You're only saving $50 off of the price of a KNOWN GOOD brand, such as any of the ones I mentioned; but you're putting about a $600 job at risk. In other words, if there's any less than a 91.6667% chance of success (600/50, or 11/12), you come out losing money in the long run. Now maybe your luck is better than mine, but betting on those odds isn't something I'll ever do.

I'd recommend sticking to one of the name brands (not that that's any kind of absolute guarante, hopefully it just improves the odds), and not trying to shave pennies off of a job of that expense.