With the stock tires or maybe even 32's, the stock gears would be OK.   But in going with 33's the stock gears were not going to cut it.    I had seen a sale that 4Wheelparts was running on Genuine Gears, but when I started looking around I found that there were many horror stories about them.   I also found that some of the local shops would not install them because of the problems getting them to set up properly.    I looked around and found that Precision Gear had a good reputation and their prices were almost the same as the Genuine Gear prices when they were on sale.
I ordered a set of gears and install kits from Precision.
For the front I used a Install kit. It has new pinion bearings but no carrier bearings.   I did this because I just did the ARB Air Locker in the front a few thousand miles back.   It came with a new bearing for one side, and since the truck has low mileage I don't feel I need new carrier bearings.
For the rear I did a Master Install kit.   It has all new bearings.
Here is the new front Ring and Pinion.  Precision Gear did not have the rear in stock, and they didn't expect it to be in for at least 2 weeks, so I got a rear set from Central 4 Wheel Drive.
On 2-11-2004 we headed over to Central 4 Wheel Drive on Auburn Blvd and had the gears installed by Mark in their shop.   He is a great guy and got us in and out in short order.   

The first step was to remove the axle shafts.

With the axle shafts out, you can unbolt and remove the third member.   

You can also see the stock leaf springs here... the custom Alcans also arrived today while we were in Sacramento!
Here the third member is without the carrier and pinion.
You can see me here holding the TRD locker actuator.   It reminds me of the ARB setup.   
You can see the actuating fork here on the sliding collar.   The ring and pinion are setup and the third member is about to go back into the truck.   They did not have to remove the locker motor, not even my locker skid plate!
So here is the speedo on the way over at 60mph, with the RPM just under 2k.   According to the GPS, the speedo is about 3mph slow.
Again on the way over at 80, with the RPM at 2500.
This is on the way home with the 4.88's and 31 inch tires.  The GPS says we are going 55mph, but the speedo says about 69, and the RPM's are at about 2200.    You can feel some more power with less pedal.   I was actually expecting more, but I think that with the 33's, it will make it about like stock.   

Here it is with the 4.88's and 33's.   The GPS says we are going 55.2 mph.

This combo seems a little more powerful than stock, but as you can see the RPM's are still good.   If I had it to do over again, I would go with this combination of gears and tires.

The gas mileage with this combo is an average of 16.325mpg over a span of 4 tanks of gas.   These tanks of gas included the Takeover 2004 trip.   This means it was some city, highway there and back and 3 days of off-roading.   A total of 730 miles during those 4 tanks of gas.   

Keep in mind that I also have a LOT of extra weight on the truck.

People were asking for more pictures of the speedo and rpm's at higher speeds so here they are!

This is with the GPS reading 70mph.

This one is with the GPS reading 77mph.

As you can see, the RPM's are not that bad for the gear / tire size combo.

For the front gears, I had the Rear End Shop (see below) do the install.  During the lift, when I removed the front diff I dropped it off and while I was working on other things they installed the new gears.  I then picked it back up and re-installed it into the new Tuff Country lift.

Now for the nitty gritty.  Here is a list of the places that I called and how much they wanted for gears and installation.   As you can see, there is a large difference between some of the prices!

Gear & Installation Prices:

Central 4 Wheel Drive: 1-800-676-2325
Precision Gear
(This is who I used for the rear for both the install and the rear ring and pinion.. The price was a mistake! Should have been $300, but they honored the price they quoted.)
Ring and Pinions: $195 rear, $189 Front,
Install Kits: Rear Master install kit $191, Front Install kit $127.
Installation of the Rear gears, including labor to R&R 3rd member: $200.

Precision Gear.com: 1-800-660-0524
Precision Gear
(This is where I got the front gears and both install kits)
Ring and Pinions: $174.95 rear, $169.95 front,
Install Kits: Rear Master install kit $125.95, Front Install kit $89.95.

The Gear Factory, Rohnert Park, California: (walk in)
Unknown brand gears
$600 per axle for parts, $400 per axle labor.

Papola Off-Road, Santa Rosa, California: 1-877-578-1115
Installation only, bringing in to them the third member and front diff:
First call, $440. Second call a few days later $400.

Foothill Off-Road, Auburn, California: 1-530-889-2021
Installation only, bringing in to them the third member and front diff:
Rear end $150, Front end $210.

The Rear End Shop, Santa Rosa, California: 1-707-526-0200
(This is who I used for the front.)
Installation only, bringing in to them the third member and front diff:
$210 per differential.

Extreme Gear Off-Road 1-877-258-5832
Installation only, bringing in to them the third member and front diff:
$175 per differential.

Rearend Specialties, Santa Clara, CA 1-408-988-3619
Installation only, bringing in to them the third member and front diff:
$140 per differential.

 
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3-7-2004