Cost of replacing ring and pinion.

[MountainTracker]

Hey all.
Have not been here for a while since i sold my Tracker but i just purchased a 1995 Jeep YJ 2.5L 4.10 gears with a 4" RE lift and 33 x 12.5 Goodyear. I asked a local gear place what it would cost to replace the ring and pinion sets with a set of 4.88's and i was floored when he gave me a quote for 2700.00 complete. That was including the gear set, bearings, oil and 17 hours labour.
Does this seem out to lunch or is it really 17 hours worth of labour to change these out?

TIA
Richard

[ansonbabs]

That sounds way out of line for labour where did you get that qoute from....... If you get the swap done I would be interested in the 4.10's that might take the sting out of the cost a little

[MountainTracker]

That sounds way out of line for labour where did you get that qoute from....... If you get the swap done I would be interested in the 4.10's that might take the sting out of the cost a little

LOL the quote was from the gear centre here in Lethbridge, Alberta. When i get the new gears (after i get the second mortgage apparently) i will post them up for sale. I just have to find some place that will install them for way cheaper.

[ansonbabs]

PM me your # I really want the gears....... I would Deff look for someone else it's not cheap but 2700.00 better be made of Titainium...... Second mortgage now that's funny better wear a cup too

[crazycanadian]

Are they supplying the parts?? or are you?? Is it your front diff or rear??? Or are you doing both?? 17 hour laubor to regear both doesn't sound to high... You might be able to sqeeze another shop down a couple hours but not much... Its an average 6 - 7 hours to re gear a rear diff and closer to 9 - 10 to do a front diff.. The front diff takes more work because you need to remove the wheel bearings and everything to get the axles out...

[fish4life]

17 hours to regear front AND rear doesn't seem high. What they charge for 17 hours, after you deduct the cost of parts, MIGHT be high, depending on what he's charging for the parts.

He might be marking the parts way up. Ring and pinions are not that expensive. When i did my gears to 4.56 for the TJ i bought Yukon gears out of the states for $130-150 or so per set.

[MountainTracker]

That was the price with the gears supplied. I know i can get the gears for about 525.00 shipped to my door. They wanted about 450.00 per axle for the parts and the rest was labour, shop supplies, and oil. I thought it was high but maybe i am wrong. i do most of my wrenching but gears is something i leave to someone who knows what they are doing.

Someone asked me why i was changing them from 4.10 to 4.88 and it's because it's a dog on the highway. Fifth gear is no longer useful on the highway and i do use it 2-3 times a week for a 70k round trip to work with a couple of big hills to get there, plus i want to be able to drive it and not tow it to the Crowsnest Pass in the summer to where we camp. Around town it runs fine with the 4.10's. The 4.88's would give me some of my torque back in the little 4 banger. I bought this Jeep this way and now am contemplating taking the 4" lift out and doing a 2" lift with 31's just to make it usable as a daily driver. For the price of the gears i could buy a new 2" lift, 31's, buy a new winch and still have change left over for some other goodies. Guess it is something i will have to think about.

Thanks for all the input.

[Wes Rempel]

You might be able to sqeeze another shop down a couple hours but not much... Its an average 6 - 7 hours to re gear a rear diff and closer to 9 - 10 to do a front diff.. The front diff takes more work because you need to remove the wheel bearings and everything to get the axles out...

Have you taken a YJ D30 front apart? It literally takes just minutes to gun the wheel nuts off, gently undo the two 13mm bolts that hold the caliper on and then ratchet off the 3 bolts that hold the unit bearing on. Tap the unit bearing flange from the back side and the assembly falls out. A decent mechanic should be able to take apart each side in 5-10 minutes or less.

[crazycanadian]

I know what it takes for me to do it and its not hard at all... but what a mechanic can do the job in and what gets charged is never the same.. if it was mechanics and shops would never make money and go out of business.. I looked up the actual laubor rates for doing the diffs and 17 hours is to high...

[crazylike]

all i know is it cost me 1600 just to do the bearings in the front diff thats the front bearing and both side bearings. it was a dana 60

[pumpkin]

According to mitchel labour guide its 5.9 hrs each diff to change ring and pinion. So it should be 11.8 hrs to do both diffs.

[JIMMIE]

According to mitchel labour guide its 5.9 hrs each diff to change ring and pinion. So it should be 11.8 hrs to do both diffs.

99% of fronts are always more labour than the rear so thats probably not correct 5.9 is probably correct for the rear but fronts are usually 7+

[Kinslayer]

99% of fronts are always more labour than the rear so thats probably not correct 5.9 is probably correct for the rear but fronts are usually 7+

Well in this case it's probably a D30 and D35, and I would wager that the C-Clip D35 would take longer than a D30..


The parts aren't just gears in this case either, it'll be gears, carriers, probably bearings and seals as well as fluid...still seems high.. I really can't see seven hours though.

[thedjjack]

That is a lot of money toward better axles.

[Alex_c]

If you have a D35, don't bother re-gearing it. Get an 8.8 for $150 and find a local guy to do it. There's a guy in the lower mainland that does gears (he supplies parts) for about $600 an axle. $2700 is simply too much money. Good luck!