redtoy92

WARNING VERY LONG POST!!!

Okay first off I am not meaning to bash anybody or to make people mad! This post is only being made for two reasons: 1. To make people more aware of problems with changing gears in the Tacoma, 2. To help them decide where to get those gears based on customer service (not price).

As most of you know I have 03 Tacoma with 33's and a few extra pounds and want to go to 35's in the future. I started to call around my local area and found a shop (Alter Ego in Layton) that gave me a great price on install labor so I wanted to take advantage of this and get the gears now. I am leaving to Afghan. In a week so I needed to get it done ASAP (to make sure to break in before I depart).

I had read and heard many times that precision makes great gears for our Tacoma’s that were easy to install. But when we called them they said it would take 5-7 days to get them in! This was not an option so Peter at alter ego asked me how I feel about Yukon gears. I had heard some very good things about them.

He went ahead and called Randy’s Ring and pinion in WA! They had the gears we needed and told us it would take two days to get them to UT! We only ordered the gears. I felt the 120$ for an install kit was a waste of money when I only had 5000 miles on the truck. Keep in mind at this time Randy’s said nothing about needing any other parts for the install and sold us the two sets of gears. As Randy’s had promised they made it in two business days! Very good service on their part.

The gears made it and we went to work! (I was also doing the swap with the shop to learn how to do a gear change) We started with the front diff. Let me tell you it is a BIT#H to get the front diff out because it was such a tight fit between the two cross member drops of the fabtech lift. An hour later we had it out!!! The rear was not that hard and only took 20 min. to take the third out.

This is when problem one happened! As we pressed the bearings on the new pinion the carrier race just broke!!!!! As some of you might now almost no parts stores carry any Tacoma parts! SO we had to go to a dealership that was 40 miles away to get a new one. This is how day one ended (we spent 3 hours trying to find that part)

Next day we started to put the new pinions and gears in the diffs when problem number two happened!! In the rear diff the stock pinion nut was 2mm larger then the new pinion size??? I thought about this and figured out that the new gears for the rear end of a TRD Tacoma are the same ones they use for the 86-95 Toyota pickup! So I called the dealership who had a pinion nut for that year of a truck and it worked!

Now we installed the members back in! (The front took 2 hours to get back in!!!!!! what a pain in the ass! i didn't want to take off the front crossmember for many reasons) we hook up the drivelines and the cv's, etc in the front. All the tires are on and all that we think is left is to bleed the brakes...WRONG!!!!

I had the truck still off the ground and spun the rear tires by hand (truck in N) and could hear a clicking noise coming from the yoke/pinion area. The rear driveline was not turning?? Then we lowered it and tried to drive it out of the lot and the rear driveline would turn but no the tires!??? Same clicking sound.

I set back and thought about this for a long hard while. Then I thought of the pinion nut problem and it clicked! The pinion shaft was also 2 mm smaller and had 27 spline to my 2mm larger yoke with 30 spline!??

This is when a call to Randy’s happened. First to see if they knew of this problem and to find out if they just didn't tell us or maybe sent the wrong rear gears! I was told that this was the way it was supposed to be and they just didn't tell us this at the time of the order. They said they should have told us and they were sorry. But that we can get that yoke from them for more $$!!????? But I had no time to even take that choice and we found a company who made us a custom yoke at their shop for 50$.

We called Randy’s back and let them know that they are the gear heads and we had no idea that we would run into this problem and we should have been told of this fact before they sold us the gears. I wanted them to cover the 50$. They told me there is nothing they could do about this and we just had to deal with it. This made me very upset and I let them know I would be posting this info and I had a way of reaching thousands of future customers. I did not mean this as a threat but as a fact. After that they said they would cover half of the 50$ because they wanted to keep me and that shop as customers!

At this time I was so pissed I could not see straight! I cannot even guess why a business that admits it was wrong and will not cover 100% of their fault (ONLY 50$$ mind you) to keep a customer and a shop happy to keep them as a customer and for the word of mouth! Now they have lost hundreds of dollars from us instead of the stupid 50$!!

At this time we think it is all done and take it for a drive and get back and find gear oil all over the rear end! We find the leak in the pinion seal of the rear and call TONY Divino in Riverdale Utah. They have one in stock but they close the parts section in 10 min.. We were 15 min away and Peter at alter ego tells him it is an emergency and we need it tonight is there anyway to keep open for 5 extra min. They tell him no sorry can't do it. I then get on the phone and talk to parts guy and tell him I purchased this truck new from his dealership a year ago and that it is just crazy they can't find a way to get me that part when 5 min is the difference.

Then like magic he says well give me a credit card number and I can ring it up and leave it at the front desk for you. WOW I guess the idea just took a little while to think of. But he did get it done and it was there just as I was told and I want to thank Tony Divino for making it happen even thought it took me to push them a little before it did!

Well we install it and so fair so good! Gears are getting broken in and I can feel the diff even though I am not gunning it yet!! Couple hundred more miles and I can give you all the complete difference I feel! Good luck and I hope anyone else doing their gears don't have to deal with the problems I did. Red

Flamedx4

Wow! I've had days like that... Weeks even...

I got very lucky. I shopped all over the area, went with the cheapest - by a BIG margin, Sky's Offroad, whose only recommendation was from a guy at work that I don't even know very well, and didn't need the rig so I was in no hurry. I dropped off the thirds and got them back in a week, priced as quoted, no surprizes. Meanwhile I sent my shifters to Marlin Crawler. When I put it all back together the only problem I had was finding the correct gasket for the rear third (there are 2 sizes of third members) and once that was done all was good. Took 2 more weeks by the way to get my shifters - so much for "2 day turnaround," plus another few days to replace a wrong part. Good thing it's not my only rig. 1000 miles later not a glitch.

Mad Chemist

Huh, problems with Randy's, what a surprise! Ask Keisur about his experience with Randy's. It sounds like it is a pretty common occurence with those guys....

redtoy92

keisur!! i want to hear your story! if i would have i am sure i would have not went with randys! IF this is a common occurence we need to do something about it asap!!! I wanted to forward this post to randys but i can't find an email for them. red

Flamedx4

Just to play devil's advocate for a minute:
When you called and ordered the gears did you actually say anything like "Hey Randy's, we haven't done a Taco before, is there anything else we might need?" I know our parts guys are busy, you call and order something, they sell it to you and ship it to you. You call back and say you need other stuff, they sell it to you and ship it to you. See? Now if you call my Tech Guys and ask for advice, they'll tell you what you need to do and what parts and tools you're gonna need. Then they hook you up with the parts guys, you tell em what you want and they sell it to you and ship it to you....

Now Randy's might have been real bonedhedz here, but they might also have just assumed you knew what you wanted and sold it to you. When it turned out you didn't know what you needed, exactly how is that their problem? (Of course, they probably should have tried to sell you all the other stuff they could think of too - increasing their profits... I hate that almost as much personally.)

CynicX

wow, the efficeny in layton is 100 times better then anything around here....has anyone ever called you a whiney brat?....hahah i'm j/k calm down heheh

glad to hear everything worked out for you.....

Cebby

I had no problem with Randy's. They were fast and friendly. I think I was dealing with Tennessee, not Washington though...

Did you reference their internet specials? I got front and rear R & P and install kits for $409 shipped (this was 3-4 months ago) Taco stuff must be more expensive...

redtoy92

i did ask if all i would need is the gears and pinions to do the install! they did say they recommened the install kit. I declined on this. then after i ran into the problem with the yoke i figured maybe it came with the kit but after talking to them it does not and it is a part you buy separte from the install kit!

and i agree if they thought i was getting the what i wanted then let me have it and leave me alone. but they admitted they knew of the problem and should have told me about the yoke issuse but didn't think about it at the time. red

Flamedx4

That does suck. They should have offered to overnight it to you (free overnighting, but you pay for the part) in that case, in my opinion. Something like that.

Hyperlite

RANDY'S SUCKS BAD
They destroyed my transfer case by sending me the wrong diff w/ gears twice. It took 6 months of calling and 3 built diffs. They sent my gears and the ratios were off both time. They even argued with me and told my a 97 4runner has a t100 diff (2nd gen) and nop traction aid would work but ARB (not Truetrac). They gave me the run around and I finally cut my losses and told them I will fix it myself and I want all my $ back...........Damn I hate Randys. Oh yea during the six months the repeatily wouldn't ever let me speak to Randy
Word to the wise don't use Randy's
just seach under my name for further details.....

BruceTS

Sorry to hear about your problems, but it is always recommended to install new bearings and seals when doing a swap. Also I always compare the parts I take out to the new one's, mistakes do happen.

next question did you set and check the backlash?

Wild_Bill

FWIW - I have to give some props to Randy's, I had know idea exactly what I needed to order for my gear swaps, they were extremely helpful on the phone, got my gears and install kits very fast, used the "internet special" price, no problems at all. Then when I was having problems with sucking up gear oil in my air line, my installer went through Randy's (even though I didn't get my lockers through them) and they got in touch with ARB and sent me a part (check valve) at no cost.

statelax3

when installing new gears you should always get a install kit. breaking a bearing is easy and thats a chance you shouldnt take. as far as the yoke goes maybe you were in to much of a hurry. did you research what had to be done first? how come the shop doing the install didnt know about the yoke? have they never done a taco? i dont see how its randys fault for not selling you the part. the people there deal with so many diffrent axles they cant know it all, and they can only go by what their computer screen tells them. maybe a shop that had dont tacos before would have been a better choice? i have delt with randys many times and had no problems. but i know what to ask for and what parts to get. i would place the blame on the shop for not knowing whats up.