Thinking bout replacing my diff gears in my garage..Is this too difficult a job, or just a lot of patience? Thanks
Thinking about doing my gears myself. Advice?
- Thread starter MonkeyMike
- Start date
Not difficult, but it does take a lot of trial and error along with specialty tools that not a lot of people have. Tolerances are within thousandths of an inch, so if there is one mistake the gears will not last long.
Look into the Billavista gear bible, lots of information and you can get an understanding of what is involved and whether or not you feel comfortable doing it
Look into the Billavista gear bible, lots of information and you can get an understanding of what is involved and whether or not you feel comfortable doing it
There are many threads that discuss DIY re-gearing. Bottom line is that if you need to ask if the job is difficult it is likely that you don't have extensive experience and don't already have the necessary tools and would probably be better off paying a professional.
I did it - once - a long time ago with the tutelage of someone who did gears for a living, . Once was enough for me.
I did it - once - a long time ago with the tutelage of someone who did gears for a living, . Once was enough for me.
The job is difficult and technically challenging enough that I wouldn't recommend it to someone who hasn't done it. Not to mention it needs expensive specialized tools to do the job. Not even very experienced gear installers get it right the first time. Not getting it right means a toasted set of new gears. Pay to have them done by someone who does a lot of ring & pinion installations. Not even many ASE certified mechanics are up to that particular job. I fully participated during my recent regearing and would not take on another on my own.
2006TJ1
TJ Enthusiast
I just did a regear with a buddy who sets up gears in drag race cars and I can absolutely say, had I not had been working with someone that has the wealth of knowledge and experience he has, I would NOT have felt confident in anything we did. It's a daunting job.
Ask @AndyG how his experience doing his own gears on his TJ went 
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have someone to help guide you who has a lot of experience doing it.
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have someone to help guide you who has a lot of experience doing it.
Here is a write up I did on doing the front. I had to do some clever maneuvering to get the crush sleeve to start, but I talk about it in my write up.
I have experience in doing it, so I don't think you are going to read my write-up and it will be enough to do your own based on that but it will give you and idea of what you are in store for and some tools you will need.
I know @Boinked did his himself too, I know he is mechanically inclined, but I don't know how much differential experience he has.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/backyard-front-locker-and-gear-ratio-change.14271/
I have experience in doing it, so I don't think you are going to read my write-up and it will be enough to do your own based on that but it will give you and idea of what you are in store for and some tools you will need.
I know @Boinked did his himself too, I know he is mechanically inclined, but I don't know how much differential experience he has.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/backyard-front-locker-and-gear-ratio-change.14271/
Nathan Stanfield
TJ Enthusiast
I did my front end without any help. Probably spent 3 months finding all the manuals and documentation I could find on how to do it and then watching a bunch of YouTube videos. Got the dial dictator for $30 on Amazon and made a housing spreader.
It was easy, just VERY, tedious. I think I probably spent 4 days working on it until I was finally happy with it, but it’s been 6 months and about 4,000 miles and everything seems good.
I don’t trust any of the shops within 75 miles otherwise I probably would have paid someone to do it.
It was easy, just VERY, tedious. I think I probably spent 4 days working on it until I was finally happy with it, but it’s been 6 months and about 4,000 miles and everything seems good.
I don’t trust any of the shops within 75 miles otherwise I probably would have paid someone to do it.
Regear- absolutely.
Do it yourself? No.
It’s not a typical “this nut goes here “deal at all. Listen to the underlying vibe here.....it is a job you need to know EXACTLY what you are doing on. ...every aspect, and there are many. If you would be comfortable .....say....rebuilding your transmission, go for it.
I had some one help me with decent experience, and we were in a little over our head.
It’s not a good place to beat the system, and the Jeep Is immobile once you start.
Do get it done though, it’s fantastic.
Do it yourself? No.
It’s not a typical “this nut goes here “deal at all. Listen to the underlying vibe here.....it is a job you need to know EXACTLY what you are doing on. ...every aspect, and there are many. If you would be comfortable .....say....rebuilding your transmission, go for it.
I had some one help me with decent experience, and we were in a little over our head.
It’s not a good place to beat the system, and the Jeep Is immobile once you start.
Do get it done though, it’s fantastic.
Hey there buddy have I told you how good your SE looks recently?
:jump:
Actually, no. Looks good at 15 feet. She got beat up in Idaho and I felt bad. Tried to buff out the scratches and wax her up. Better but no mall queen like yours or @Chris
Regearing is all about precision. Close is not good enough. Im talking about .005 is the the difference between good and bad and can be even tighter than that. If you have not had experience with precision measurements. I would think twice. It took me almost a week to get mine perfect. And i mean dead on balls perfect.
But in my defense i was working full time and doing it in the back yard while rebuilding a engine for my father in law.
The engine was much easier.
Another option is to upgrade your axels completely. I was quoted over 1500 to just do the gears. No lockers. You might be able to find good used axles with the gears you want. If you are patient. Depending upon what axles you currently have.
But in my defense i was working full time and doing it in the back yard while rebuilding a engine for my father in law.
The engine was much easier.
Another option is to upgrade your axels completely. I was quoted over 1500 to just do the gears. No lockers. You might be able to find good used axles with the gears you want. If you are patient. Depending upon what axles you currently have.
A good friend did my front end to match the rear axle I swapped in. He is a mechanic by trade and has done hundreds of re-gears.
I watched the whole process carefully, to make sure that next time, I would never try this myself.
I watched the whole process carefully, to make sure that next time, I would never try this myself.
OP