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I just got off the phone with Richmond Gear tech support and the news wasn't good. The tech guy said he remembers a special run of gears for the powerwagons but they do not stock that gear set anymore.

I also spoke to US Gear and they no longer carry the ring and pinion for the Chrysler diff.

Does anyone know where to get a 4.89 to 1 ring and pinion set besides vintagepowerwagon.com?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Section,

The last catalog I got from Bob Stahl had them listed in there, along with a page describing the benefits of using such. The catalog was dated March 2012 and the price was $420 for the ring and pinion set from Richmond. I'd say give him a call at 508-384-7698.

regards,
bob

bob,

that was great advice! I spoke with Bob Stahl toady at length and I'm going to have him rebuild my rear diff with the 4.89 gears. It looks like he is a great resource!

Thanks,
Bill

Was the $420 per diff?

Any idea on what the cost will be to install those gears ?

bill monahan wrote:Any idea on what the cost will be to install those gears ?

The only way to fly when installing new 4.89 gearing is to totally rebuild the whole unit during the process. As you see, the gear sets are not cheap as with any custom cut high quality gear set. The sets from US Gear went years ago; they were not of the best quality. You could quickly tell they had flaws as they were not easy to set up correctly. You don't want to put that kind of investment in a top quality gear set only to cut corners on a quick install. It would be sickening to have a bearing go down which could easily destroy that new gear set because one chose not to completely rebuild the unit with new bearings. An even bigger expense is the bearings to totally rebuild the unit. Top quality current production bearings go at a cost of over $700 per unit these days. Then there is the cost of the spider gear kit; a pinion seal kit that doesn't drip oil; and about 10 hours of hard at it labor time from start to finish. It is by far the highest cost single unit on the truck to rebuild if you do it the best it can be. When built and maintained properly, it is a do it once and forget it thing, but can just as easily come back to bit HARD if not done right. Don't be hung out by the myth many tell. That is "well the bearings looked ok, so I used them over again." The simple truth is you can't look at a bearing and tell really how good it is. We see precious few that are not scored or more common, rust pitted; these are obviously no good for reuse. What may appear ok may not be really ok. Only 1 way to be sure, build it right from the bare case up using parts from a reputable manufacturer. If you are not an experienced gear box mechanic; it is also wise to have it done by someone who is a reputable builder, with the correct special tooling it takes to do it right.

Ok, thanks. Way too pricey for my budget. Guess I'll have to be content chugging along at 40 MPH.