Set of 4.56's
#1
07-19-2001 | 12:25 PM
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 177
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From: West Lafayette, IN, Purdue University
Set of 4.56's
For all of you out there who have upgraded their diffs, where did you get your gears from. I just priced out a set of US Gears at randy's ring and pinion. Also, I was thinking of putting a True Trac limited slip on the front. Lastly, what install kit did you guys go with. I was thinking i didn't need the new bearings but I want to hear what you guys think. I've tried to get in contact with a 4wheelparts store but have had no luck. Thanks for the info
#2
07-20-2001 | 12:03 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 364
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From: Houston, Tx.
Hi klaibs27,
I just swapped gears a week ago. I called several of the ring and pinion parts suppliers. Here is my take. There is a very reputable differential shop here locally called Pyle brothers. I bounced a lot of questions off of them. There are many good gear mfg'rs out there, but Pyle brothers did recommend U.S. Gears, in particular the US gear marketed gear line called Torq-line gears. That is the brand I went with and the quality was exceptional. Many other companies, as I understand, also use US gears to make their own brands under a separate label, including Randy's Ring and Pinion (i.e. Yukon Gears) and the Ford Motorsport gears. Other companies such as Precision and Motive use Italian manufacturese, I think - not sure though. Careful about the "US Gear name". When I talked to Randy's Ring and Pinion, they would sell me US gears, but under the Yukon brand name. All this means is that US gears made the gears according to the specifications (for material and machining quality) of the Yukon gear line offered by Randys Ring and Pinion. For example, I compared the stock ford gears to the US Gear Torq-Line gears and could see the improvement in machining quality of the Torq-line gears on all surfaces, including "non-critical" surfaces (note that "non-critical" is a subjective term). However, on critical surfaces, such as the gear faces and bearing mounting surfaces, the machining quality was roughly the same for both gears. These other companies, I believe, spec out lesser quality machining quality on the "non-critical" surfaces to obtain a less expensive product. Whether they pass on the savings or not is their choice. All I know is that the Torq-line gears were comperable priced to the other "quality" gears, and of course were less than the ford gears. Insofar as the material specifications are concerned with the gears you purchase, this is a question to definitely ask. The Torq-line gears use 8620 Q&T steel - very strong - I presume the other companies that use US gears as their mfg'r spec out the same steel and the same Q&T process - this I don't know. Cutting corners to make a less expensive product could possibly be made here by other companies. However, if you install the gears yourself and you are a first timer, the ford gears may drop in easier for you. I you have not already, check this out, ninth item down:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=45658
Anyway, I was told by several in the know to avoid the 4wheelparts stores as they carry the much cheaper quality Asian made gears, thats why their prices are low.
For bearings, I did replace the pinion bearings since they are the most difficult to change and wanted a fresh set there. I have low mileage and the other bearings and races looked to be in very good shape, so did not replace.
Hope this helps
GDG
I just swapped gears a week ago. I called several of the ring and pinion parts suppliers. Here is my take. There is a very reputable differential shop here locally called Pyle brothers. I bounced a lot of questions off of them. There are many good gear mfg'rs out there, but Pyle brothers did recommend U.S. Gears, in particular the US gear marketed gear line called Torq-line gears. That is the brand I went with and the quality was exceptional. Many other companies, as I understand, also use US gears to make their own brands under a separate label, including Randy's Ring and Pinion (i.e. Yukon Gears) and the Ford Motorsport gears. Other companies such as Precision and Motive use Italian manufacturese, I think - not sure though. Careful about the "US Gear name". When I talked to Randy's Ring and Pinion, they would sell me US gears, but under the Yukon brand name. All this means is that US gears made the gears according to the specifications (for material and machining quality) of the Yukon gear line offered by Randys Ring and Pinion. For example, I compared the stock ford gears to the US Gear Torq-Line gears and could see the improvement in machining quality of the Torq-line gears on all surfaces, including "non-critical" surfaces (note that "non-critical" is a subjective term). However, on critical surfaces, such as the gear faces and bearing mounting surfaces, the machining quality was roughly the same for both gears. These other companies, I believe, spec out lesser quality machining quality on the "non-critical" surfaces to obtain a less expensive product. Whether they pass on the savings or not is their choice. All I know is that the Torq-line gears were comperable priced to the other "quality" gears, and of course were less than the ford gears. Insofar as the material specifications are concerned with the gears you purchase, this is a question to definitely ask. The Torq-line gears use 8620 Q&T steel - very strong - I presume the other companies that use US gears as their mfg'r spec out the same steel and the same Q&T process - this I don't know. Cutting corners to make a less expensive product could possibly be made here by other companies. However, if you install the gears yourself and you are a first timer, the ford gears may drop in easier for you. I you have not already, check this out, ninth item down:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=45658
Anyway, I was told by several in the know to avoid the 4wheelparts stores as they carry the much cheaper quality Asian made gears, thats why their prices are low.
For bearings, I did replace the pinion bearings since they are the most difficult to change and wanted a fresh set there. I have low mileage and the other bearings and races looked to be in very good shape, so did not replace.
Hope this helps
GDG
Last edited by GoDogGo; 07-20-2001 at 12:10 AM.