Well I regeared at a very reputable shop a year and a half ago.
I went 4.88 with the parts that they supplied. It cost 1300.00. Expensive, but I felt I was "doing it right"

So I go to have my regular shop put an Aussie locker in. They take it a part and turns out that there is scaring from the pinion on the carrier. Turns out the Pinion was loose and all the backlash needed to be set. So off it went back to the Gear shop.

Has anyone else experienced this? How long should a proper setup last. I wasn't expecting to have to set backlash on a lunchbox install. Glad I didn't get into it myself.

 

they should last as long as the stock gears, i bet they didn't get one of the pinion bearing races all the way seated, it happened to my friend once, his third was "professionally" set up too

 

I have a set of 4.88s in mine with a locker and they have lasted over 10 years now.

 

Setting up gears is like welding, it takes practice, and lots of it. It's not rocket science, but there are no shortcuts and the job needs to be done by someone who is experienced.

As far as longevity is concerned, well that largely depends on you and your right foot. A light foot with no towing and regular maintenence (oil changes, taking care of leaky seals) can give you 200K + out of your diffs. Conversly, a heavy foot, lots of burn outs, lots of towing, and poor maintenence can lead you to 50K or less. I've even seen a guy set up his own gears (had NO clue what he was doing) and didn't make it more than 1/4 mile before it grenaded on him.

I've seen axle housings (new ones) that weren't machined correctly and were causing the sub-components to fail prematurely. Just something to keep in mind. Hopefully the reputable gear shop will fess up to their poor install and make things right with you.

-Wrench

 

Cool thanks for the input. Hopefully this setup lasts a little while.