I have decided to replace my gears. I have 3.55 (H9 Axel) in my 2001 4X4 flare side 5.4L. Most of you have recommended a switch to 4.56 so I can hang 35" tires on a 6" Fabtech lift. Now I need to know where to buy the gears and which brands you like. I have a mechanic friend that will help me do the install if I decide to do it myself. I already have new brake rotors and pads ready to be installed so why not do it all at once! I will be replacing all of the seals, etc. Tell me what I should buy in addition to the gears, seals, RTV, etc. so I can be sure to have everything I need. Thanks!

 

You need an install kit for both the front and rear (new bearings and a couple other small parts like that). Everybody on here loves Yukon gears. I have Motive just because that's what the shop I went to puts in all the vehicles they put gears in. I would really doubt there is a "bad" brand that has a reputation for breaking. I did a lot of research before I bought mine, and I didn't find anything about any certain brand being inferior

 

Thanks for the info. I will start looking for the install kits and gears on line. SMM

 

How do I know what set to buy? I want to go with 4.56 gears but there are additional variables I do not know how to figure out. This is all new to me! I never gave the gears much thought when I owned my Bronco in the 80s. I want my 2001 Flareside to be set up right. Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance! A great quote from my dear departed friend, Capt. Ronald J. Lambert. (Who still owes me the winning lottery numbers!) Words to live by!

 

Your front gears are "reverse cut" and your rear gears are not. your rear end might be 9.75 or it may be 8.8 (not sure about 8.8, somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Mine is 9.75. There will be a small metal tag on your rear diff held on by one of the bolts that holds the diff cover on. That tag will have "9 75" or "8 8" on it

 

i got my gears from wayne at diffsonly.com give him a call for a quote on price. im running yukons on my truck. as was mentioned by mossyoak, you should get master install kits front and rear.

if you have a 5.4 then you have a 9.75 rear. it is more D shaped compared to the circle shaped 8.8

how many miles are on your truck? i was going to replace the bearings on my truck but they looked just fine for only having 70K miles on them.

 

I was just about to post that I figured out my rear was the 9.75. That is what comes with the 5.4 L. I will replace the bearings when we pull things apart unless the owners records indicate that they have been replaced. My truck has about 174 K miles on it! That is part of the reason I am replacing stuff and upgrading in the process. Gears and install kits from 4WheelParts total out around $700. Ouch! 4WheelParts has some good deals every month so I will keep researching price. If I have them do the install I can get a 36 month warranty for 10% of parts price or $70. That may not be a bad deal if the warranty is any good and the install is reasonable. I am going to try to do it myself with the help of a mechanic buddy. I figured I would do the gears and the brakes at the same time since tear down and assembly will overlap. I will contact your dealer for a quote. Thanks!

 

ok, i would replace the bearings and seals too then. see if you can find some timken bearings. thats not a bad deal on the warrenty, but how much are they charging for install?

what kind of driving do you do? if all you ever do is city driving then 4.88's wouldnt be bad.

 

I will have to go back and check the chart on gearing to see what might be the best way to go. I have exchanged a couple e-mails with Wayne at diffsonly and he has been great. His yukons will cost as much as the gears at 4WP but I like his attitude on service. 4WP has a shop rate of $85 per hour. That is high for these parts. More in line with what dealers charge. I am still thinking about tackling the project myself with a friend that is a mechanic. I will take care of him for his time but it will cost a lot less. He will tell me what to do and lend a hand when needed. The 36 month warranty at 4WP sounds good but it will cost me 10% of the parts cost plus, as you noted, the labor to install. I haven't been quoted a price but I was told 4WP would need my truck for a day and a half! Sounds like 12 hours to me at $85 an hour or $1020.00! Big ouch! I think I will get my hands dirty!

 

yeah like i said earlier, shops charge an insane amount to do gears. labor costs more than the parts!

 

You can cut down on labor by taking the front diff and rear axle to the shop to let them put the gears in. That's what I did. I had them off the truck when I was putting my lift on anyway, so I saved 3-4 hours of labor cost by taking them to the shop and putting them back in myself.

 

That is a great idea. It never occurred to me that I could do that. I have been trying to find info or video on how to change the gears in the front end. I found a good video on you tube from "Motorz" that showed how to swap out the gears in the rear. Does anyone know where I can find video or photos on the www that show me how to replace the gears in the front end?

 

You guys think you have it bad at $85 an hour? The "preferred" shop here in Anchorage just quoted me $3100. No, that isnt a typo. Said parts were going to be $1900 of that. I told him where he could put that quote in a polite manner and hung up. What a load of CRAP!

 

Ouch! That is insane! I would order the gears from Wayne at diffsonly.com and install them yourself, if possible. If not order the gears from Wayne and then keep looking for a qualified AND reasonable mechanic. That bites! SMM

 

Yeah, I emailed back and forth with Wayne. He quoted me just over $900 for yukon 4.56 front and rear w/ master installs shipped to my door i Alaska. I am waiting for a couple of shops to get back with me tomorrow. If they want an insane amount as well then I will be ordering from Wayne and just having a shop here in town install at $95 an hour. They said they would go by the book for time and front and rear comes out to 13 hours. So that would be about $2150 total. Acceptable for Alaska I guess...

I sure cannot wait to leave here in February. Place is BEAUTIFUL, but boy is it EXPENSIVE!