I'm looking into getting gears and Tlok installed in my 03 v6. Does anyone have experience purchasing or using USED parts? They are much cheaper, but sometimes that's for a reason. Or would it be in my best interest to go with new stuff all around?

 

used gears are OK as long as the teeth arent destroyed, I wouldnt buy a new trash lock let alone a used one, I went through a few in my old v6

 

For the price of 7.5" gears and t-lok, you should be able to find a used GT 8.8" rear-end assembly to swap into your car. The 8.8" comes with a LSD, and you may find one with gears already installed. The one we put under our '98 came with 3.90:1 gears installed. Check CL...

 

dont forget, unless its a wrecked low milage one or recently rebuilt, you could be getting someone elese problems, and depending on what your goal for power is, a stock 8.8 might not be strong enough (my buddy had one replaced in his stock mach 1, but it was beat)

if you can afford it, get your choice of gears (4.10 NA/Sprayed cars, 3.73 for FI) a detroit true trac limited slip, a TA rear girdle and a stud kit, and the 7.5 will be good for allmost anything you want to throw at it, will pretty much never have to worry about it again while you own the car, and still be ~90 pounds lighter then the 8.8. if your just going bolt ons and just want the LSD an 8.8 swap might not be a bad idea for you if you can get a good deal on one, just make sure you crack the cover and check the whole thing out

 

As stated, buy a used 8.8" rear, much better investment.

 

Alright, the mod bug is really starting to nag at me!! I've been doing searching, and there's not many 8.8's available around here for a decent price, and none of them have good information about them.

I'm pretty certain on upgrading my current 7.5 with 4.10 gears and a traction loc.

Theres a kit of 3.73 gears and T-loc going on eBay for about $200, which would be saving me almost $170 from the new price. I e-mailed the seller (which is a business, not private) and they said the set came out of a mustang with ~100k miles on it, but who knows when the mods went in?? (My mustang is at 144k miles!). The pictures look clean...

Unfortunately my searching hasn't uncovered anything about this, so just fishing for some more information! Thanks guys for all the input, ya'll are always helpful

 

Oh, and other than basic mods, the car will always be N/A. Looking at doing the gear set up, getting a custom tune, and work on getting everything cleaned up and rebuilt over time.