Used gears?

88 Fox GT

Active Member
Nov 18, 2002
1,674
0
36
Iowa
Would you ever buy a good looking set of used rear end gears? I want to get a set of 3:55s for my GT. The are selling for like $20-$30 on eBay. I'm 17 and on a low budget and want more gear, tell me what to do. :)
 
Are you installing them yourself? If so, that is the only way I would consider it. Even then, I lump used gears (unless you are buying an entire rear end - like out of a manual TC, which has 3.55's) into things like used clutches and used underwear - I would try not to use them.

Plenty of people have used, used gears. I just would be hesitant to take a chance.

Good luck with the decision.
 
HISSIN50 said:
Are you installing them yourself? If so, that is the only way I would consider it. Even then, I lump used gears (unless you are buying an entire rear end - like out of a manual TC, which has 3.55's) into things like used clutches and used underwear - I would try not to use them.

Plenty of people have used, used gears. I just would be hesitant to take a chance.

Good luck with the decision.
Yes, I plan on rebuilding the trac lok and install the gears myself. Whenever I may decide to do all of this, I will do it all in one shot. Just considering saving nearly $100 buying a good looking used set.
 
If the teeth on the gears are not scored, they are good as new. That is some seriously hard hard metal that gears are made from. Make sure the auction has a good close-up of them. Buy used FMS gears since you dont need to reshim FMS gears as they have the exact same pinion depth as factory on all of their gears. No other brand can say that. With FMS gears, hammer em in reusing the crush sleeve(dozens of guides on the net but they will all be a bit paranoid about shimming) then slowly work the pinion nut in (the used one too) until you feel a tiny bit of drag on the pinion flange when trying to wiggle it. You're money at this point. If it howls a bit on decel, give it half a turn on the pinion nut and try again. Took me one adjustment to install gears like this my first time.
 
When I was younger I was in the same situation financially, used parts, like gears, seemed like the way to go. It's a 50/50 bet that something will go wrong. If you install them yourself it's more like 80/20. I try not to buy used "moving" parts at all. When it comes to gears I would only buy new unless they came out of a car that was owned by a family member....like your grandma. If you don't have the money to gamble then I would strongly recommend not buying a used ring and pinion.
 
i just bought my set of used 3.73s from ebay. all the teeth were fine and all. i then had the shop to put them on and they said they couldnt get them set up very well due to the shaft on the pinion gear. It was worn and what ever they press onto it wouldnt stay on. So i had them order me new 4.10s
 
They look ok, and for $20 its a steal. I would think the shipping would cost more than the gears at that point.

Remember that it's the install thats the big PITA, not the parts acquisition in this case.