Thick gears ? Standard gears ? Why use one or the other ?

[mudslinger99]

So what is the difference ?

If they make both for the 14 boltff why would one be a better choice over the other ?

I see people all the time say they got thick gears and then the next person says they got standard gears for the same 14 bolt ff.. So are the thick gears stonger or what ?

Lets hear the reasons you would choose one over the other ?

 

[74 chev]

thick gears are for if you have a 4.10 and numerically lower carrier and you want to run a numerically higher ratio than 4.10.

 

[Fubeca]

Like he said.

The higher the gear ratio (numerically low) the larger the size of the pinion gear. There are two different carriers with different offsets to accomodate the larger pinion gear without having very thick or very thin ring gears.

Thick gears allow us to use the gears without replacing the carrier. I think it is mostly a cost thing for the manufacturer. The thick gears aren't that much more expensive -- but when you are making thousands of them it adds up. Thick gears also make it a little tougher to service the spider gears. Sometimes you have to remove the ring gear to get the cross pin out (can be very difficult with some c-clip axles ).

 

[mudslinger99]

So lets se if I got this right..

It is not a personal choice it is more dependent of which carrier you have ?

If that is the case how do you tell which carrier you have ? So you can figure out if you need thick or standard gears..

 

[Fubeca]

If the truck came stock with 4.10 or numerically lower gears you will need thick gears to go numerically higher than 4.10. If it came with 4.56 or numerically higher you would need regular gears to go above 4.56.

 

[mudslinger99]

If the truck came stock with 4.10 or numerically lower gears you will need thick gears to go numerically higher than 4.10. If it came with 4.56 or numerically higher you would need regular gears to go above 4.56.

Well that would be alright if you knew what the truck came with stock But it really dosen't answer the question on how to tell what carrier you have now ?

Lets say you don't have a truck but just the axle and you want to know what gears you need to order thick or standard how would you tell what carrier you have ?

Also how do you know if you all ready have thick or standard gears without having both in front of you to decide which one is thicker ?

Think about how many axles swaps have been done on these older trucks so there is really no way to identify what gears come in the truck the axle came from the factory just by looking at it..

 

[Muddytazz]

What gears are in your rig now?

 

[mudslinger99]

I have 4.10's in it now but I'm not sure what it came with from the factory..

 

[Muddytazz]

if you want to go to 4.56, 4.88 or 5.13 you'll either need a new carrier for the standard gears or get the thick gears and keep your current carrier.


The actual stock gears have nothing to do with what you actually have currently. You just go by what gears you currently have.


Is that a little bit more understandable?

 

[mudslinger99]

Ok so your saying if you have 4.10 now then it is not possible to use 4.56 standard gears you would need thick gears correct ?

So what about the other questions ?

How do you know if you all ready have thick or standard gears without having both in front of you to decide which one is thicker ?

If you have 4.56 gears how would you know if they are thick gears or if the carrier had been changed to accept 4.56 standard gears ?

 

[blazerpro79]

so if you have 3.73s and you are buying 4.56s you need to get thick gears right?

 

[jekbrown]

yes... if you have something 4.10 and lower (numerically) you have the 4.10- carrier... they don't make gears for the 4.56+ carrier that work in the 4.10- carrier. If you have 4.56, 4.88, 5.13 gears you might have either carrier... but if my understanding is correct, its impossible to have 3.73s or 4.10s on a 4.56+ carrier...

j

 

[blazerpro79]

good bc i bought thick gears to put in mine. going from 3.73 to 4.56, but i have new plans and dont think the 4.56s will be man enough for 38s