Rear-end question

Does anyone know how much it costs to get 3.73's put in at a dealership?

It all depends on where you go and what your having done. I've heard of people having gears swapped for about $150, but that's just labor cause the person supplied the gears. I paid about just under $700 for mine. This included the ring and pinion, crush sleeve, all new axle bearings, rebuilt my burnt clutch pack, turned the axles to ensure straightness, new Speedo gear, and gear fluid. So it really depends on what your having done, and where.

My car is in the shop right now getting 3:73s redone with a fresh gear set. I made the mistake of going to the cheapest bidder and providing the gears. The place screwed up the install causing the gears to become damaged and then claimed the gears where defective to cover the whining and jerking issues and get out of covering the problem. I called a bunch of places this second time, the local ford dealer wanted $900 for just labour:eek: I ended up taking it to a performance shop and let them provide the gears. So, new gears all parts, new bearings and a new auburn limited slip unit with labour is going to cost me $950. All covered with a 12 month or 12k mile warrenty.


Basically it is usually not a good idea to skimp on money. Take it to a good place and DONT provide the gears.:D

I would never have something like that done at a dealer. Unless you know someone who works at one or there is a guy who works there that is a mustang junky. Dealers usually charge to much for any type of upgrade cause they don't want to do those sort of things. Your much better of finding someone you know who has had it done in your area and is happy and have it done there. As far as price... I did my own 4.10's but around here I know people who have had it done for $150 and some as high as $700. Both situation they have never had a problem. So just ask people in your area they will point you the right place to go.

dudes, you guys are scaring me. I just got those 3.27s and i was thinking about putting them on myself using the ol' Chilton. Is it possible for two semi compitent guys to figure out how to do it right? Is it riskey bussiness, like if we mess up a little could it really fowl things up? I don't mind paying extra to have it done professionally, but i kind of want to do it alone to get the experience.

I think you should do it but I never shyed away from doing it myself. Now I get paid to do it. My suggestions would be honestly look at how car savy you are. If you have never done too much besides bolt on stuff. This probably isn't a good first project. If you think your ok, i say make sure to read page by page and where it says take measurements do it!. Worse case if you fuck it up, you'll shred a nice new set of gears.

good advice, highflow, what's your take on the matter?

Originally posted by BigDanTheMan
good advice, highflow, what's your take on the matter?

Don't even bother doing the swap if your going to install 3.27's. That's just my opinion, not worth the hassle and money for a little gain.

Actually I'm going to have to agree with GTStang on this one. It might not be a good project if you have never done something like this before. Lots of things can go wrong without you knowing. Backlash must be perfect or you will get an awful whine. If gears are installed properly then there should be no whine at all. Also not to mention if your doing this in your driveway then its going to be a hell of a lot harder. You might need use a breaker bar about 5 feet long to get the pinion nut off and on, kinda of hard to do on jackstands. Then getting the ring gear torqued properly will be tricky as well.

Then again if you mechanically inclined and have access to a dial gauge and all the proper tools, knock yourself out. Just plan on having a free weekend to do the work.

Also one other thing to consider is having the clutch pack rebuilt. I know mine was shot and my car was peg legging before I had the rebuild. Just another reason to have a reputable shop do the work.

I also would not recomend doing it unless you have the help of a mechanic who has done the job before. And be pretty certain that your limited slip is fried, very common on cars with a few miles on the clock. Mine was fried, and is getting an auburn pro unit installed at this moment.

*SIGH* Rear-ends man, they end up being one of the most expensive things. What happens is first you decide to change gears. Then you realize my diff needs to be changed. So why go with the crappy stock unit? So now you upgrade to an Auburn or something else. Except then you realize I should get Moser 31or33 spline axles there much stronger than the 28's. Sadly it can go even farther than that, next it goes if I'm getting new axles I should make them 5-lug which you been wanting to do and you need the front 5-lugs to match. Hell now you need the disc brakes too. For good measure might as well get a nice aluminium cover/girdle to top the rear-end off and can't forget C-clip eliminators.

LOL, I don't know if there is a moral to this story...

Originally posted by GTStang
LOL, I don't know if there is a moral to this story...

HAHAHAHA :D

The moral is to go all out and break the bank the first time!