Hi,

I am having the gears upgraded in my 2006 5.4L 4 X 4 Supercab. Instead of buying my own gears and taking them in to be installed, I figured I would let the local shop put in what gears they want since they are giving a warranty.

They told me the 4.56's they would get for me were from Richmond Gear. First of all...does Richmond make 4.56 reverse cut gears for the 8.8 front end? I know they make 4.56 gears for the 9.75 rear but in some quick searches I did not see the reverse cut 4.56's for the 8.8 front end. If any one can confirm they they exist I would appreciate it. If they don't exist I will have to call the shop to ask what them heck they are doing.

Next question is...are Richmond gears alright? I've heard of a lot of people on here use Yukons but I figured it was best to let the shop doing the work use what they want. After the install, how much break in is required? The shop said most of that would be taken care of when I got the truck back and that is was OK to take it on a 300 mile highway trip after the install? Does this seem right? I told them that getting the gears installed before a long highway trip was a concern of mine because I did not want to wreck new gears. They said it would be fine and what was necessary would be taken care of before I got the truck back.

Sorry for the long post but any advice on my questions would be appreciated. Gears are a pretty big investment and I want to make sure things are done right.

Pat

 

never seen anyone post here with Richmond gears

well , anywho, i just got Yukon 4.88's installed today

instructions say to take it easy for 100 miles, no heavy acceleration or towing, drive 15-20 miles then let things cool down and change the oil/fluids after 500 miles.

i would wait till you get back from your trip to install them

 

When I install gears in a semi it goes right to work. If you test w paint and have good contact then who cares. There is no break in At factory

 

Eh... Dunno if you ever heard of Burkart in Yorkville... but they will sell you Richmonds for like ~$1100...

They are ok gears, but I got a set of 4.10s from www.nationaldrivetrain.com for $155 plus shipping. I've have them for about 2 years now and no problem.

If you have an automatic tranny, I suggest getting an Edge or Troyer tuner to get the speedo recaliberated for the shift points to be better and for the odo to keep the correct tally on the mileage.

 

Thanks for the replies guys...all are very good points. ManualF150...I already have a custom tuned XCal3 by VMP so all I will have to do is set the new gear ratio myself and I should be all set. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

Thanks for the response. How are you liking the 4.88s with your 38's? How much better than stock does it feel? My tires are a little under 34" and I'm getting 4.56's so I think I should see a huge improvement over stock. My stock tires were 275/65/18 and the truck had 3.55 gears.