Aftermarket gear strength
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Aftermarket gear strength
Are aftermarket gears such as Richmond any stronger than the stock gears GM put in the rear ends?
#2
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 26,037
Received 1,666 Likes
on
1,264 Posts
Car: Yes
Engine: Usually
Transmission: Sometimes
Axle/Gears: Behind me somewhere
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
Not really.
The Richmond drag-race gears are made from metal that's "tougher"; not as hard, but more flexible, therefore more able to absorb shock loads without shattering. At the same time, MUCH less able to absorb normal street wear. Ya give up one thing to get the other.
But the gears aren't the weak point of a 10-bolt anyway. Wrong line of inquiry.
The Richmond drag-race gears are made from metal that's "tougher"; not as hard, but more flexible, therefore more able to absorb shock loads without shattering. At the same time, MUCH less able to absorb normal street wear. Ya give up one thing to get the other.
But the gears aren't the weak point of a 10-bolt anyway. Wrong line of inquiry.
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
Not really.
The Richmond drag-race gears are made from metal that's "tougher"; not as hard, but more flexible, therefore more able to absorb shock loads without shattering. At the same time, MUCH less able to absorb normal street wear. Ya give up one thing to get the other.
But the gears aren't the weak point of a 10-bolt anyway. Wrong line of inquiry.
The Richmond drag-race gears are made from metal that's "tougher"; not as hard, but more flexible, therefore more able to absorb shock loads without shattering. At the same time, MUCH less able to absorb normal street wear. Ya give up one thing to get the other.
But the gears aren't the weak point of a 10-bolt anyway. Wrong line of inquiry.
#4
Supreme Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 26,037
Received 1,666 Likes
on
1,264 Posts
Car: Yes
Engine: Usually
Transmission: Sometimes
Axle/Gears: Behind me somewhere
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
No big surprise; but that's not because of the gear.
It's because EVERYTHING in that rear is so small. Starts with the housing; it flexes enough to allow the gears to misalign. Just simply not enough metal to hold everything in place. (a "girdle" type cover makes a HUUUUJJJJE improvement by simply preventing the axle housings from trying to spread the case open during acceleration) Then there's the small diameter of everything; if you can imagine trying to torque head bolts with a ¼" ratchet, and think about how much force you'd be putting on the palm of your hand, that's EXACTLY what small diameter parts do to each other under load. Then there's the issue of worn carrier bearings, further allowing misalignment; just a few .001"s of that is DEATH to gears of any kind.
"Stronger" gears won't fix any of that.
It's because EVERYTHING in that rear is so small. Starts with the housing; it flexes enough to allow the gears to misalign. Just simply not enough metal to hold everything in place. (a "girdle" type cover makes a HUUUUJJJJE improvement by simply preventing the axle housings from trying to spread the case open during acceleration) Then there's the small diameter of everything; if you can imagine trying to torque head bolts with a ¼" ratchet, and think about how much force you'd be putting on the palm of your hand, that's EXACTLY what small diameter parts do to each other under load. Then there's the issue of worn carrier bearings, further allowing misalignment; just a few .001"s of that is DEATH to gears of any kind.
"Stronger" gears won't fix any of that.
#5
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
Sometimes gears break. My brother broke the pinion head completely off in a stock S10 truck. After market gears may be slightly stronger, but OEM gears are usually a lot quieter. Lately after market gears are getting worse about making noise. The quality seems to be going down.
#6
Supreme Member
iTrader: (4)
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
I thought the 2-cut vs. 5-cut information on p 31 was interesting:
http://web.archive.org/web/201011251...ioncatalog.pdf
#7
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
I think competition from import gears has caused the quality overall to suffer. Cutting cost has also cut quality in my opinion. AAM gears are high quality, and high priced.
Last edited by big gear head; 08-20-2015 at 07:12 AM.
Trending Topics
#8
Supreme Member
iTrader: (3)
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
Sometimes gears break. My brother broke the pinion head completely off in a stock S10 truck. After market gears may be slightly stronger, but OEM gears are usually a lot quieter. Lately after market gears are getting worse about making noise. The quality seems to be going down.
#9
Supreme Member
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: South Ms
Posts: 4,419
Received 721 Likes
on
490 Posts
Car: 89 Firebird
Engine: 355 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt.Posi-3.73s
Re: Aftermarket gear strength
Ive heard they are notorious for roaring noise. Lots of people I know say to try to use stock GM gears because they are smoother and really not a lot of difference in strength between the aftermarket stuff. Ive bought several sets of used GM gears and they have all been in excellent shape. Ive also seen some with chipped and busted teeth mainly out of manual transmission cars.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
UltRoadWarrior9
Transmissions and Drivetrain
3
09-02-2015 08:24 PM