bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
I've been repairing cars both professionally and as a hobby since 1982 but have never had to purchase a new set of gears for anything that I have ever owned or worked on. A customer of mine wants the ring and pinion in his Challenger swapped from 3.23 to 3.91, so I've begun the process of shopping for a new set of gears and installation kit.
Almost thirty years ago I had friends that changed gears, but back then choices were limited to pretty much OEM, Richmond, and Zoom, that you got from the local car dealer or speed shop. Fast forward to now and there are quite a few more manufacturers and a bunch of specialized drivetrain sellers. I'd be interested in hearing any recommendations or horror stories anybody might have about the various manufacturers or dealers.
Here's what I've come up with so far:
Yukon Gear & Axle........High quality, made in USA, most expensive of all brands
USA Standard Gear.......Yukon parts that don't quite meet spec are boxed as USA Standard Gear and sold at a lower price.
Motive Gear..........Lower cost, some sets made in Italy and others likely China
Richmond Gear.......Mid pack pricing, possibly offshore made or cast offshore/machined in USA
Elite.....................Low priced brand sold on eBay, likely sourced offshore
Zoom...................Race gears, mostly low ratios, noisiest of all gears
US Gear................Mid range pricing, made in USA, tied to Strange Engineering
Doctor Diff brand......Low price gears, no info on who actually makes them
Some of the sellers that I found:
Yukon Gear and Axle
Randys Woldwide, formerly Randy's Ring & Pinion
DTS, or Drive Train Specialists
Doctor Diff
Summit, Jegs, eBay
Right now I'm leaning towards the US Gear brand from DTS. US Gear seems to be the proudest of their US manufacturing and DTS seems to have reasonable prices, though their website leaves a lot to be desired. Also, being in Michigan, shipping won't take too long.
Any input, additions, recommendations, or corrections are appreciated.
Thanks, Jeff
Almost thirty years ago I had friends that changed gears, but back then choices were limited to pretty much OEM, Richmond, and Zoom, that you got from the local car dealer or speed shop. Fast forward to now and there are quite a few more manufacturers and a bunch of specialized drivetrain sellers. I'd be interested in hearing any recommendations or horror stories anybody might have about the various manufacturers or dealers.
Here's what I've come up with so far:
Yukon Gear & Axle........High quality, made in USA, most expensive of all brands
USA Standard Gear.......Yukon parts that don't quite meet spec are boxed as USA Standard Gear and sold at a lower price.
Motive Gear..........Lower cost, some sets made in Italy and others likely China
Richmond Gear.......Mid pack pricing, possibly offshore made or cast offshore/machined in USA
Elite.....................Low priced brand sold on eBay, likely sourced offshore
Zoom...................Race gears, mostly low ratios, noisiest of all gears
US Gear................Mid range pricing, made in USA, tied to Strange Engineering
Doctor Diff brand......Low price gears, no info on who actually makes them
Some of the sellers that I found:
Yukon Gear and Axle
Randys Woldwide, formerly Randy's Ring & Pinion
DTS, or Drive Train Specialists
Doctor Diff
Summit, Jegs, eBay
Right now I'm leaning towards the US Gear brand from DTS. US Gear seems to be the proudest of their US manufacturing and DTS seems to have reasonable prices, though their website leaves a lot to be desired. Also, being in Michigan, shipping won't take too long.
Any input, additions, recommendations, or corrections are appreciated.
Thanks, Jeff
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