Pro 5.0 Gears

[RangerJoe]

While trolling through Craigslist for a set of 4.10 gears, I found a guy with a NIB set. They are Pro 5.0 name brand. Now I know their reputation for shifters, but how about their gears? I currently have FRPP 3.73's, and really want another set of FRPP. I've always heard that they are the quitest and easiest to set up. Considering this will be my first full gear install, I want it to be easy as possible.

Thanks for any info or opinions yall can give on the Pro 5.0!

Joe

 

[mikestang63]

Just go with the FRPP's and be done with it.

 

[Jared Hess]

Any way you look at it your gona need to shim it might be a little might be a lot no 2 are exactly the same and frpp or pro 5.0 are gona have their differences in fitment. I know the frpp would be a good part but not sure about the pro 5.0 you would think it would be but either way being easier to fit one rather than the other I don't think anyone could say.

 

[RangerJoe]

I posted this right before picking up my daughter, so I had no time to really look over the net for opinions before calling the guy back. I just did a quick google search and found lots of complaints about gear whine from these. I passed on them. I'll wait on a FRPP set to come along.

Thanks guys.

Joe

 

[srtthis]

how much you trying to spend on a set? i got a set with about 700 miles on them for sale

 

[gearheadboy]

First of all gears do not make noise, the set up does. WORD. Now some guy out there is gonna say well straight cut gears do. But you know what I mean. Any ring and pinion you buy new and set up correctly will not make noise. Second, Pro 5.0 gears are Motive gears. Guess what? Some FRPP gears are Motive gears. Not all but some. Thirdly, Motive gears/Pro 5.0 gears are back cut on the mounting side decreasing rotational mass by like 2 lbs! I'd buy them if they were new and think nothing of it. P.S. my FRPP 3:73's make noise and I didn't install them. The backlash is correct but obviously someone didn't measure the pinion depth. I'll fix it someday.

 

[RangerJoe]

You are absolutely right about about all gears making noise if not set up correctly. Everything that i have researched says that some brands are easier to set up than others. Frpp being the easiest, motive being some of the hardest. I don't know if what you say i true about motive making some of frpp gears, but i do know that the frpp gears i looked at advertised being made by ford, and even named the plant they were made in. I'm not questioning the strength or quality of the pro 5.0 or the motive gears, just the ease of installation with success for a novice gear installer. I think alot of what i have read suggest that going from oem ford, or frpp, to another set of ford gears requires very little, if any change in shimming. Like i said, this will be my first full gear install, so it will be a learning experience. Joe

 

[RangerJoe]

how much you trying to spend on a set? i got a set with about 700 miles on them for sale

Well, these were $100 nib. No real price window i guess, just looking for a good deal. Shipping might be expensive on a heavy gear set. What you got in mind? Joe

 

[ratio411]

I agree with everyone!
Ford and Richmond brand gears seem to be the easiest to set up, usually taking the exact same shim pack thickness Ford put in on day one.
However, any of the common gears on the market are fine when set up properly.
And yes, many brands are just other brands that have been essentially reboxed.

 

[f8tlfiveo]

How is one gear set more difficult to set up than another? Is it just the number of shims that makes it harder? Personally I don't mess with swapping gears. That is something I contract to someone else..

 

[ratio411]

How is one gear set more difficult to set up than another? Is it just the number of shims that makes it harder? Personally I don't mess with swapping gears. That is something I contract to someone else..

Because on any gear you do, the procedure is to start the install with the same shim pack (new shims in same thickness) as was installed from the factory, and then go from there. An "easy" gear to me would be one that uses that baseline shim pack without need for further experimentation. Pretty simple explanation.

If the stock shim pack checks out, the hard work is done before it even starts.
It's a pretty labor intensive/time consuming task to zero in on the correct shim thicknesses if the stock shims are not doing the trick. If you can avoid all the assembly/disassembly needed to adjust shim thickness and make the necessary checks, it helps, especially if the rear is still in the car.

I made my own set of checking bearings so I could speed up the process a bit. Swapping shims on the pinion is the most labor, so cutting that down helps.

 

[f8tlfiveo]

Because on any gear you do, the procedure is to start the install with the same shim pack (new shims in same thickness) as was installed from the factory, and then go from there. An "easy" gear to me would be one that uses that baseline shim pack without need for further experimentation. Pretty simple explanation.

If the stock shim pack checks out, the hard work is done before it even starts.
It's a pretty labor intensive/time consuming task to zero in on the correct shim thicknesses if the stock shims are not doing the trick. If you can avoid all the assembly/disassembly needed to adjust shim thickness and make the necessary checks, it helps, especially if the rear is still in the car.

I made my own set of checking bearings so I could speed up the process a bit. Swapping shims on the pinion is the most labor, so cutting that down helps.

Ok.. That makes sense... This is why I do not deal with gears

 

[ratio411]

Ok.. That makes sense... This is why I do not deal with gears

If you have any wrench sense at all working on the rest of your car, and have the tools, I highly recommend trying one for yourself.
I always thought it was some sort of 'black art' myself, and since I only dealt with 8"/9" rears early on, my idea of a gear change was buying a chunk with my chosen gear already set up by someone else, and swapping the chunk into my housing.

Later I got into Dana 60s and 8.8"s, and this option was no longer available. So the first gear change I farmed out to a 'reputable' shop who had a guy that set up rears for dirt track racers, and he was said to be good. He effed my Dana 60 up soooooo bad! He broke the new locker I bought for it, and left some of the shims totally out of the rear... not wrong, but totally out. So I decided to do my own after that nightmare.

It really isn't bad once you see what is going on. The hardest part for me personally is reading the gear pattern in the marking paint. I am a perfectionist, so the pattern is NEVER good enough for me when I look at it. I just come to the realization that I will never be satisfied with how it looks, so I check it over and over and over and.... Eventually I get to the point where can let it go, even though I have yet to see a perfect pattern before I close one up. So far, knock on wood, all but the very first one I ever did (Dana 60) have turned out great. This is just a personal problem for me. Alot of folks don't have a problem reading the pattern, it's my personal baggage that gives me trouble with it.

I want one of these, by Ratech. They claim it makes setup on an 8.8" even easier.

 

[f8tlfiveo]

It's not that I couldn't do the job, I have the tools to do it. I think that I might attempt it if the rear end was out of the car.. Doing gears under the car with no lift does not sound fun to me.

 

[srtthis]

Doing gears under the car with no lift does not sound fun to me.

its not... mines out, i can do the job and im STILL taking it to some one to be done. he's cutting the ends off to do 9" ends so i figured id just let him do all of it

 

[RangerJoe]

[quote="I made my own set of checking bearings so I could speed up the process a bit. Swapping shims on the pinion is the most labor, so cutting that down helps.[/quote]

Explain to me what you have done here. I thought the shims go between the housing and the bearing race. Remember, I'm learning

Joe

 

[srtthis]

the shim goes between the bearing that the bottom of the pinion gear. you take an old bearing and a die grinder to open up the bore on the bearing to make it a slip fit. this allows the bearing to come off easy to set pinion depth with out pressing the bearing a few hundred times

 

[RangerJoe]

Gotcha. I thought he was referring to the carrier bearings.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[gearheadboy]

I use a set of new pinion bearings that I have ground so they will slip on without pressing them. Timken. I always use the same brand bearings because they vary in size slightly. I also use a pinion depth gauge to measure them the correct way and have never had a problem with any brand of gear. I have also use the factory jig style tools to measure pinion depth, they work if you have them.

 

[ratio411]

I did my first 8.8" out of the car, and it helped a great deal.
Crawling under the vehicle and trying to do this stuff is hard, so first time would be best with the rear out and allow you to get the feel for what is going on with the rear end, without crap falling in your eyes.

LoL...
I can do my Dana 60s without jacking the vehicle up!
The joys of 1 ton suspension and full floating axles!
I take the hubcaps off, and I can pull the axles.