at http://www.gearsareus.com there are three diffenent types of gears. OEM, Motive, and Motive performance.

OEM=$199
Motive =$135
Motive Performance=$170

What are the difference between these. goin by price is the OEM better than the others.

 

Standard Motive & OEM gears are softer in comparison with other aftermarket gears. You pay more for harder gears, but they last longer. The teeth wear much faster on softer gears. If you drive a lot of miles and/or race, go with harder gears.

 

then why is the oem gears more expensive than the motive high performance

 

Simple. It is not a high seller for replacement parts. GM dealers usually have to order them. Other mechanics tend to order from GM dealers, who may give them a wholesale price, but is still a higher priced item. Generally, people who replace gears are either seeking fuel economy or want higher performance. Most dealers do very little rear service if any. Performance shops specialize and handle higher volumes of parts, which are more likely to sell aftermarket than OEM. (Why step sideways when you can step up?)

 

Softer gears are for drag racing. They absorb more energy (ie deform) during the launch, but wear faster. Harder gears are for street driving. They last longer but won't take the impact loading of drag racing. Just like the difference between a soft compound tire and a hard compound tire.

Miles

 

Street & strip or hardcore... Motive is really soft. Not fond of them. Art knows which is best for which applications. We use a lot of US Gear and Richmond. Also Strange, although I do not see a significant advantage for the extra dollars.

 

well which should be the gear for me. the hard ones right. so then motive performance or richmond right? what about the gears that SLP sell.

 

Sounds reasonable. It depends if it's a street and strip or a race only car. Art is the expert on these things - I'm not. I have noticed that Motive does not hold up for the people I know who choose it, and I do know it wears fast. I understand the theory better by applying it to hardware - diamond blades are hard but brittle, usually wanting to break from the heat. Gotta let the equipment do the work instead of you. Applies to both automotive and hardware. I wish I could get Art to sit and answer everyone's questions, but he's too busy fixing other people's cars for a living...

 

its a daily driver. but i get into it once in a while. so im ordering the SLP posi so should i buy the gears from them. will they be strong. and do they wine.