Shag

Hey guys. I recently picked up a 1990 Mustang LX 5.0 and would like to have 3.73 gears installed in it to pep it up a little. I'm located in central NC and have called 3 shops so far for estimates. I just got the first estimate back and they quoted me $350 for labor and $260 for parts. I think the labor rate is probably $75/hour. I've never done a gear swap before so I really don't know, but... 4 hours to do that? Does that sound about right? With tax I'm looking at about $650 and was thinking I'd be looking at something closer to $400. What do y'all think? Thanks!

Fox466

An experienced person doing the install should be able to knock it out within a couple of hours.

The parts will actually cost them around $200, with the rest being profit and labor for the $15 an hour tech to do the install...

<---played service manager on tv for a while...

cominus

I got it done $350 for everything (bearing kit + gears/posi + install). Shop around.

Z28KLR

I spent $300 on labor alone for my install and didn't feel ripped off. Parts were right around $300, which I supplied ($190 for FRPP gearset; about $100 for the master bearing kit, a.k.a. "install kit"; and a few quarts of M1 fluid). OP, it sounds to me like your quote is pretty spot on, and $75/hr labor isn't bad.

the_Pete

I just did this on Friday to my '05, and it took a few hours on a hoist. I also got a new LSD put in with bearing kit, but your quote seems about right if they charge $75 /hr. AS for parts, remember you will need a few quarts (3 for the '05 anyway) of good quality diff oil which will be close to $50 alone & I recommend a bearing kit while you're at it, which will run at about another $80-$100.

Shag

I appreciate all of the feedback, guys. I have no problem at all paying someone to do a good job. When I got the car I had a few people ask me how much I paid for it and several people then basically told me I got ripped off so I was a little sensitive about spending $ on it after the feedback I'd gotten about the price I paid for the car. I wound up having a local shop (fastlanemotorsports.com) do the gear work. $586 out-the-door is what I paid for parts and labor and that included the speedo gear to make the speedo accurate with the new rear gears and also included pinion bearings and fluids, etc. Going from 2.73 to 3.73 REALLY woke the car up like I figured it would. I'm happy with the end result. I talked to one of the guys at the shop about a performance engine rebuild while I was there. Lots of $ to be spent there but he told me they would do it RIGHT, making it a 331 with all forged internals, high volume oil pump, etc, etc, etc. Hmmm... Might have to give those guys some more business once I succeed in driving the rest of the life out of the engine. :-)

ryan1994mustang

yeah, that sounds about right. i used to live in NC and heard great things about fastlane motorsports. they seem to do a really good job with anything they work on.

mr2autoxr

I don't think it should be more than 2-3 hours for a shop to get those installed. I did my own in the parking lot of an autocross and was able to get it done in about 2.5 hrs with some instruction from more experienced guys at the race. Pretty easy job. Good luck.

Jelly257

i can do it in about 1 to 2 hours if i dont have to mess with the back lash or pinion bearing shim spacing that if it was a factory gear set before i got to it not something that someone playwith before hand

clear front sight

I paid $254 for FRPP 3.73 grears and install kit. Then tried to do it myself, with the help of a friend who runs a machine shop. All the work took about 6 hours, then another week to get the car back, after I took it to a driveline specialist and paid $400 for them to correct my mistake. Lesson learned, when it comes to pinion gears, take it to someone who does them all the time, if not your going to hear a loud whining sound!!!