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Gear swap

R

RIPPEDK5

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Looking for the average gear swap pricing.

Found gears for a 14BFF with 10.5" ring gear from $300-$550, just for the gears

But only like $250 for a front IFS 8.5" diff.

I wod either swap 3.42 gears into the 14 bolt or 4.10 gears into the IFS front.

Which is more cost effective?

And can the front IFS take a 4.10 gear without case swap..

Gduck currently has 3.42 gears.. Swapping 14bolt in place of current rear 10 bolt
 
Seems straight forward to me. Add up the cost of the gears, master install kits and labor and compare the two.:doah:

Threads like this are rarely helpful because labor costs vary so much. For reference I was quoted a range of $500 to almost $2k when I was gearing my axles depending on the shop and whether I dropped them off already cleaned and apart vs dropping off a whole truck and handing them the keys. You just need to see what your local shops charge.
 
It does seem straight forward doesnt it. But for an axle thats been around for more then 30 years, the price for the gears is easily $100-$200+ that of the , 9.5" and almost double that of a Ford 9" .. why? Its double that of a new style 8.5" front ifs axle. Not much different then any other axle then being an inch or two bigger, even a dana 60 is cheaper..

The other question was if the front diff would take the 4.10 gear without modification?
 
I had Summit price match these for me and I got free shipping, they're in my trail rig now. You might have to do some digging to find the ratio you want, but they're a lot cheaper than what you're talking about.
http://autoplicity.com/products/2547107-g2_axle_gear_22023538x_gm_14b_10_5in_5_38_thick.aspx

I have a used set of 3.73s I'd send you for cheap...that should be a common gearset for the 8.5. A 14 bolt is very easy to regear yourself if you're thinking of doing that to save money. Quite a bit simpler than the IFS case.
 
Regearing the 14 bolt should be the cheaper route, why because its so easy anyone that knows righty tighty, lefty loosey can do it.

The carrier break for the 8.5 diff is like 2.70 and down, so in the real world not really any real break. So yes you can use the same carrier.
 
I have never regeared anything in my life, so im might need a paint by numbers, step by step re-gearing for extra dummies,

what would i need to do the gear swap as far as tools and parts (besides the gears--that one i get lol)

Dial indicator? I dont have a press..

checked that site and couldnt find a ring and pinion set for the 14 bolt.
 
Unless your putting bigger tires i would keep the 3.42s. With those stock tires it would be screamin with 4.10s i think. It would fun though :whistle:
 
I do want to keep the 3.42 gears. And I found some gears on a few sites for prices I can live with . How do I know these sites are legit and the gears are quality? Some sites say the same thing "OEM quality made of 86** steel" ? No names like Motive gear or G2 or anything..
 
owenst7 said:
I had Summit price match these for me and I got free shipping, they're in my trail rig now. You might have to do some digging to find the ratio you want, but they're a lot cheaper than what you're talking about.
http://autoplicity.com/products/2547107-g2_axle_gear_22023538x_gm_14b_10_5in_5_38_thick.aspx

I have a used set of 3.73s I'd send you for cheap...that should be a common gearset for the 8.5. A 14 bolt is very easy to regear yourself if you're thinking of doing that to save money. Quite a bit simpler than the IFS case.
Click to expand...

Sweet site! Quite a bit cheeper than Summit but good as a price match site...... :waytogo:
 
That is a good whole heap of information I can use and I thank you for sharing. I will have to find a shop with a press or somewhere i can use one. I plan to reuses as much of the original bearings and such as I can, seals excluded

luckily for now, i am not putting a locker or a spool in so I dont have to split the halves.
 
Even with doing this swap and setting up the rear end. I am still concerned about what to do with the front being 6 lug.

I plan to go to the parts store and see if an 8 lug hub is the same as a 6 lug hub as far as fitment into the knuckle and if the splines of the cv axle fit aswell...

this is so i can have the same wheels up front as the rear
 
I have heard that there is a Dodge unit bearing that will swap in place that is 8 lug. Haven't seen it, but I know the 6 lug GM units have a different bolt pattern than the 8 lug, and the knuckles aren't easily swappable either.

A 14 bolt can be rebuilt without a press. Use an oven and the freezer to expand/shrink things and you can cut the carrier races off with a dremel and steady hand. Pinion bearings will literally drop in to place if you warm the bearing and freeze the pinion. Hell, I have a press and I still do it that way.
 
Does anyone know of this bearing from dodge? what years and model?

or have more information on a swap that will work......
 
so ive been looking,

and found that maybe an 03-05 3 bolt 8 lug hub bearing from a dodge might fit...

if its the same would I just hard wire in the ABS connector to the old hub bearings connector?
 
gm ifs 6 to 8 lug is way to much work . need a lot of parts and cut / weld brackets for the bigger diff and lots of other stuff.

buy 6 lug hubs for the 14ff .

and or find some hubs that might swap over and still need work to make them function correctly.
 
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