Few questions.

Im on 37 inch tires, I hear 4.56 are perfect for 35's, and 4.88 gearing is for 39's. I dont want to lose anymore miles to gallon, so i'd go with 35's and 4.56 gearing, does this sound good?

I called around shops, here there asking anywhere from 2200 - 3000 $ for labor/parts all together, that sounds insane to me, but I have no clue into what it takes to do it. Is that anywhere near a fair price?

Whether it is a fair price or not, what would I be looking into spending if I got a buddie who'd do the labor for free and a 12 pack of beer? I heard 800$ all together if you do the labor yourself?

Is it best/smart to buy everything brand new? Is it really a big deal if I pick pieces out of random junk yards?

And last question, what is it that im buying to re-gear if I did it with a bud? All I know is there is a pinion and gear [im still learning the guts of a vehical], what comes in the "kits"? Do I have to do it rear and frontsince its a 4x4?

Clueless on what to do from beginning to end, still learning, any information would be great!

 

I'd personally buy it all brand new as I wouldn't want to get some half worn out part in there and have to pull it all apart a year later.

 

4.56 is good for a 35" tire , hell after thinking and rethinking and talking with silver and thinking again , im gonna go with a 4.56 with a LSD auburn . and yes you want new parts , a grand to do it yourself is not a bad price , with labor looking at 2200 with tax but 3 grand ?? wow thats a little to much..MHO...

 

You must do front and rear the same ratio, unless you realy hate your transfer case for some reason.

A good rule of thumb is about 1000 per axle with labor. It takes a few specialized tools and a good working understanding of how to set gears in to produce the proper wear pattern or you'll get things like gear whine and premature failure. Yukon has a really good instruction set that is available at Randy's Ring and Pinion I believe. read thru it and if it goes over your head, pay somebody else to do it.

you'll need 2 ring and pinions, and 2 master install kits. It might be a good time to install some sort of locker or LSD unit if the vehicle doesn't have one.

Hope that helps. As far as 4.88 vs 4.56 on 37's I think its more about how you use your truck than anything. I'm running 4.10's on 30.6" tires (supposedly way overgeared) and my mileage actually went up because of the relative speeds of my most traveled roads and where I hit the sweet spots for power vs fuel consumption.

 

Even if it does if it's the factory one you minus well replace it while you have it all apart. I just had a Auburn LSD put in mine to replace the crappy factory one. After doing some research it seems like most guys have this issue with the clips breaking off. I'd go with a Auburn LSD or Detroit Tru Trac or whatever if you want a LSD. If you want a locker you have a few options the probably most popular one being a Detroit locker.

For me being that I do probably 90% street driving a LSD was the only thing that makes since. I don't know if I've ever been in a situation that I needed a locker and I hope I don't get in one. I'd only put a locker in if it was a mostly offroad rig but thats just me. I don't want the rear making the tires squeel around turns and binding up and making the loud bangs they are famous for. I just don't think they are a super friendly thing to have on the street.

 

i was tolda round 1,300-1,500 for everything bought and put in. Gears should onyl cost liek 600-800 but since gearing is kind of a lost art form the labor is expensive.

 

Cost me $550 for my gears and master installs for both axles and another $650 for the install (they replaced axle seals as well while they were in there. I will have another $30 or so for the lube when I get my break-in done. I opted to pay someone else to do it since this was a one time deal (i'm pretty certain I'm sticking with 35's) and I didn't really have the tools or time to do it myself.

It's really not too difficult to do, but if you don't do it right, you are looking at some pretty serious consequences. How good are you at measuring tolerances? Are you weighing the cost of getting the guages you'll need to do this?