Need ya'lls opinion! Concerining Ring and pinion

[Cade93TA]

I took My 93 TA to the dealer to have my dash replaced after some thief pried my radio out with a crowbar. (insurance is covering that)
But while I was a the dealer, I asked then to check out the whining in the rear-end. They called me back after they drove it and they said they were 90% sure that I needed my ring gear and pinion replaced. They said I was looking at for sure $1,000. I told them to hold off on that while I asked my dad what he thought.
Now I have been wanting to replace my gears myself. (I got a new torque wrench for Christmas I have been itching to use!)

My question is this, Is that too expensive?
and Can my dad and I do this install? I like working on my car and have done many repairs my self ( I have had this car for 4 years and its never been in the dealership before.

Thank for you help
Cade

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Gears aren't for the feint of heart. If you're not experienced you should not do them yourself.

In my experience $1000 is steep for a gear install. For less than $800 I bought a set of Strange 2 series 3.42 gears and Ratech rear end rebuild kit and had it all installed by an experienced tech. Install was $300. I bought a gear package from www.Thunderracing.com.

Someone else help me out on this part. Assuming you have an auto I think you have 3.08's in the back. 93's were geared a different. Later models had 2.73 stock and 3.23 performance ratio. 3.23 and higher have a 3-series carrier. So you should have 2 series. The only real disadvantage is that it limits your choice of available gears. You need to get gears made to fit a 2 series or purchase a 3-series ($100 take off part from SLP).

Do some research to find a good installer...IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! Get some recommendations from your area. If not installed correctly they will wine. Most wine to some extent. GM Motive have the rep for being the quietest and Richmond the loudest. Strange is in the middle and are the only brand I've found to offer 2 series gears in 3.23, 3.42, & 4.10.

Now if you're not ready to spend some money I'd go to a good gear installer and have them take a look at your rear first. It may just need some adjustment.

[Cade93TA]

I do have an A4

Thanks for mentioning that, I forgot the A4's wear geared differently.
If I do buy my own gears what is the recommended size. I must have 3.08 can I go up to 3.42 without hurting my hi-way driving and gas milage to much?

[Performin Norman]

Around KC, you can buy the gear set for the going price and have it installed for about $100 to $150.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Re: I do have an A4

Originally posted by Cade93TA
Thanks for mentioning that, I forgot the A4's wear geared differently.
If I do buy my own gears what is the recommended size. I must have 3.08 can I go up to 3.42 without hurting my hi-way driving and gas milage to much?

For comparison's sake I went from 2.73 to 3.42. I now get 20mpg city / 24-26 highway. At 75 MPH I'm at 2500 RPM. Not bad at all considering I could get up to 28 before. City mpg wasn't hurt much if at all.

If you went with 3.73's it wouldn't be as big a jump as I took. It depends on what you want to do. Mine's a daily driver and rarely sees the track.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Correction

Correction....

I think I'm misinformed about your rear end ratio. It was the 6 speeds that changed from 93-94. Check the codes in your glovebox. GUx where x is a number that will correlate to your rear gear ratio.

Need a little help here from anyone in the know.

This is from the F-body FAQ:
Q: Why was the rearend ratio on the 6-speeds changed from 1993 to 1994?

A: The only reason GM went to the 3.42 rear differential for all the 1994 and later 6-speed models (versus 3.23 in 1993) was to accommodate CAGS. A lower rear gear ratio would bog the engine down too much for a 1st to 4th shift. Note the transmission gears between 1st and 4th were also made much closer mostly due to a taller 1st gear for CAGS. If you combine both the transmission and rear gear ratios, the '93 6-speeds equipped with a 3.23 actually have a higher overall ratio from 1st to 3rd.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Here are the codes taken from http://camarossworld.com/Production%20Numbers/RPO.asp

GU2 Axle, Rear 2.73 Ratio
GU4 Axle, Rear 3.08 Ratio
GU5 Axle, Rear 3.23 Ratio
GU6 Axle, Rear 3.42 Ratio

Check this and you'll know for sure.

[AmericanZ28]

I had a friend who had a 93

and his car had the 3.23's. Once again, check in the glove box for either a GU2 code, or GU5 code. I too have a 3.42 rear end on my car, but my gas mileage isnt no where near as good as it was with the 2.73 rear end. I get 16 MPG on the street at best. On the highway, I get about 21 or so. I paid $200 for the install by a mechanic at the dealer i work at (side job). Given the 2 series carrier I had before, I had to go with richmond. It whines, but its all masked by the exhaust anyways. Richmond was giving away a video with their ring and pinion sets with step by step installation, but im not sure how effective it was.