I just had new gears and a locker thrown in the '02 by 4 Wheel Parts in November 2007. I went with Precision 4.56s and an ARB Air Locker. I followed all the proper break in procedures, drove for 20 miles, let the diff cool down. then drove real easy for the next 200 miles. drained the fluid at 500 miles. again at 1000 miles, and then again at 5000 miles.

last week the diff started making noises, and within two days the noise was so bad i had it towed down to tampa (175$ in towing, even with 100 free miles) and 4WP says my pinion gear is broken and it caused damage to the ring gear.

my question is, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! now 4WP wants 560$ to install the new parts, even though i have a warranty, they say the warranty doesnt cover the labor or master install kit.

i havent even been offroad since the diffs were worked on, i havent ragged on the truck or anything. i am just wondering WHAT THE @#@! HAPPENED. and if i should try and get out of paying for what i assume was a crap install.

 

Hard to say without seeing the damage. Could have been when the noise started, your pinion flange loosened up and that let the pinion gear work loose and wobble on the ring gear. That can cause the pinion gear teeth to break. I had the pinion flange loosen up on my '85 a few times, I would periodically retorque the pinion flange nut to take up the slack. It finally bottomed out and was fine after that. I now run solid pinion bearing spacers (instead of the more common crush sleeve) to help keep the pinion flange and bearings nice and tight.

 

okay, well ill get pics of the damage if they kept my gears this time (doubt it) but regardless, would this be an installation error?

 

Here is one way to break it:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...arnage-147403/

 

thats EXACTLY what mine sounded like, though i havent been wheeling AT ALL since the gears were installed

 

Sounds like the install was done wrong. Threaten legal action though a well phrased letter perhaps?

 

x2 on both the solid spacers and the install being faulty

I don't think legal action is called for (it's gonna cost you a helluva lot more to do that than what they're asking you to pay) but they damn well should cover the labor.

Oh, and since they have already proved their competence, I wouldn't let them reinstall it unless it WAS free. If you have to pay, take it somewhere that knows what they're doing ...

You don't need a master install kit - just a minor install kit this time. It's unlikely you roasted the bearings in only 7 months

 

It depends, the added friction from pinion deflections can really heat that sucker up and fry bearings.

x2 on not letting the same shop try and screw up another set. 5.29's are a hard gear to install because a lot of shops dont understand that you need to run extremely low backlash, and often a comp pattern that is slightly deeper than normal. This is the only way to really be sure the pinion wont deflect because with gears that low in a toyota 3rd the pinion is so unbelievably small it has a habit of deflecting under torque. Ive seen diffs in town where the pinion has completely ripped all of its teeth off and just spun bald against the ring

Also if they only want 560 for the new parts+installation i would be willing to bet they are using a really crappy R&P brand, like Genuine. I would just buy some Yukon's yourself and bring them to a shop to have installed, or read up a ton and do the install yourself, its not really that bad as long as you study up quite a bit about patterns, pay attention, and have access to a press.

 

He has Precision Gears, and the R&P are under warranty - the 560 is for the labor and install kit ONLY.

The VAST majority of Yukon gears are made by Richmond, which are also what Genuine Gear is now. Cracks me up how many people think Yukon is great and Genuine are crap when the actual gears in the box ARE THE SAME.