BriansNSane

So I'm wanting to change my rear gear in my 04 mustang gt. I already have the gear after much debate I went with an FRPP 4.10. I'm very mechanically Inclined and Ive done my research as much as possible but one question still remains and it is a deciding factor as to whether I attempt this myself or have a shop do it.It is the depth tool. I've heard that If I use the FRPP it goes right in with no adjustments. Ive also heard that you still have to adjust the depth no matter what.Tool is expensive and I don't know anyone who would let me borrow one.Everyone on here has always shot me straight and I value your opinions more than most. Thank You

96meangreengt

I had my gears put in, track lock rebuilt, and all seals and bearings replaced at a local shop for $250 for the install. best money I ever spent. I love being able to say I did this or that to my car by myself but with the gears im glad I paid someone who knew what they where doing.

ddmsgtr1

I've seen many conversations on the forums about this, and very few people have done this themselves, most of them mechanics. I've seen people who have built 600hp+ engines who said they would not touch the rear end. Gears are something worth paying to have done.

devongarver

I made the same thread before I ended up taking mine to a shop to get done. General consensus is this, if you have to ask, you shouldn't even be considering doing them yourself. Just take it to a shop, and then if it grenades in 3 months you have someone to be held accountable....

It's pretty easy to do if you have the tools and know what you are doing, but if you have never done it before, and do not already own the tools, you are looking at a bad experience. You will spend as much money on tools and time as it would cost to have someone else do it.

WannaBeGearHead

I was going to do this but realized i didn't have enough experience to try it. I say if you have a lot of experience with turning a wrench go for it. I read up on it and it doesn't seem to difficult.

I bought all the "specialty" tools at harbor freight and cost me like $40. You need a dial caliper and a magnetic dial indicator plus your other tools. Getting the pinion gear bearing on and off maybe difficult.

I've talked to a couple of my mechanic friends and they said they got in there and installed gears themselves and really didn't have a problem. They recommended to me to take your time, measure things multiple times and don't rush yourself.

If I had more wrench turning experience I would not hesistate to do it myself. I know cliffy on the board has installed his own gears.

devongarver

This is a poor example, Cliff did this type of work on million dollar industrial machines...he is not a shade tree mechanic...lol

BriansNSane

yea after much debate I have decided to take to a friend of mine that runs a reputable mechanic shop.I told him I wanted to be in there with him though so he's charging me 100 bucks less for my help but warned me I'm gonna be doing the grunt work! haha Should be a good learning experience. I'm looking forward to it. It's going down Tomorrow night so I'll post back results and such on Wednesday. Thanx for the help and advice!

devongarver

This is actually awesome for you, wish I had the same opportunity! Always good to be able to learn from someone who knows wtf they are doing, instead of doing it by yourself and effing something up in the process. Let us know how it goes!

smitty2919

I would consider doing gears myself. I have access to a lift and all tools. I could grab a magnetic dial indicator from work etc. I have looked at countless writeups and youtube videos of douing gears just to see what components are generally involved.

But like Devon said, if something happend a month or so down the road and it starts to whine....you can go back at them.

BriansNSane

Sorry for the late response, It went very well and I am very pleased with the results.I was under the impression that stock,I had 3.55 gears but to my amazement they were 3.27's so you can imagine the difference it made =) It was a great learning experience as really the only way to learn is to have someone show you and walk you through it. I still probably wouldn't attempt this myself if given another chance but I know alot more about how my rear end works now. I can tell you this though an FRPP gear is much easier to install into our rear end's than other gears.(Piece of advice he gave me,said if i brought hm any other gear it would have taken alot longer. I am also glad i decided to do this sooner than later as the driver side carrier bearing ate into the race at some point and left a nasty scar where 3 of them collided against it.Needless to say Auto Zone,Napa,and Advance did not stock carrier bearings. I finally found them at O'Reilly's wich the guy told me it would be special order and I would have to wait a week,I am glad I brought my buddy with me because come to find out the one from a 93 is the same and they had those stock and were cheaper.Welp in the end all I can say is this.If your prepared for some heartache and taking your rear end apart a few times for the same install you can probably do this yourself with some good advice,If you want it done right the first time and have a few hundred bucks Just pay the man haha