Well, that’s good to know that I can play around with my gears, a little. How much can I push the gears? So far, I’ve basically kept it under about 3000 rpm, and about 60 mph, and I've been trying my best not to floor it. I can’t wait until I get my oil changed , when I hit the gas, the truck feels like it just wants to take off.

 

You want to completely baby them for about the first 250-300 miles, 5-15 miles at a time, no hard accelerating, keep 'em down around 2500 rpm and under, then let 'em cool for at least 20-30 mins. NO TOWING!!! From then till 500 miles, you can extend the run time up to 30 mins and mix in a little accleration, nothing severe, but an occasional bump up to 3600-3800 rpm is fine. Listen for any whining coming from the gears. Despite what you may have heard, there should be NO WHINE, your stock gears didn't whine, did they?
At 500 miles, it's time to pull the cover and inspect everything. Some very fine metal "powder" may be stuck to the magnet, this is ok and considered normal, but anything looking like shavings or actual pieces of metal is a big NO-NO.
If all looks good, put the lube in, RTV the cover, tighten her up and drive it like you just stole the summbiotch!!!

 

Ok, thanks. Yeah, so far I’ve pretty much babied it. I’ve haven’t driven too far at one time, haven’t driven or accelerated too fast, and haven’t revved the engine too high. My stock gears didn’t whine at all, and so far, the new gears haven’t either. As far as I can tell, everything is good with my gears. I haven’t heard any noises, felt any weird vibrations, of felt the truck drive any differently (in a bad way).

 

am I the only Dakota in here with 4.56's? AWESOME! i got a question for you 'gear gurus', if i bought mine used with 10K miles on them, do i till need to go through the break in period bullsh!t?

 

I would, since they are a pretty much "custom" install, with the backlash and everything having to be set, they may be contacting slightly differently. I'd still break 'em in to be safe...

 

What's the average price for the gears and install? Since i have a 4wd i'd need fron and rear at the same time right?

 

I would say around $1200-$1500. From what I’ve read on here, I’ve seen around $800-$900 on the low end, to around $2000-$2500 on the high end. I paid $2500 for mine, but that was for the gears and a Truetrac, plus unfortunately, there aren’t really too many options around my way for gear installs. And as for getting the gears done, technically, you can do just the rear, but it would be better to get both done, unless you want to save some money and don’t care about 4WD.

 

Ring and Pinions, front and rear, plus master install kit and installation, you should really pay no more than about $1200 tops. I had all the above done, plus purchased an Auburn Gear LSD and had it installed all at the same time for about $1425 with tax about three years ago.

 

count me in ....best mod so far

 

Mine aren't even fully broken in yet...