I run a 72 Heavy Chevy Chevelle and broke my ring and pinion gears. Should I replace with "Strange" or "Richmond" Ring & Pinion Gears. I mainly drag race and it currently has 4.10:1 ratio.

http://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pUu6hk8Pbc275fKdAJr4BQ6bxKHUe9gc05MgdEox3twLOg6n kxaTl98McaLNAzEYYd5kUv7ThpPmH0aQC0dwT4cKyZZD32lEd

http://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pUu6hk8Pbc27JiTtTqYrfkKxhr6h6QkSCUjmR6CbyCcNnIYW VsGPFrVje4fpgCrTPqfz-R6Ru6a_U6tGT8R2omWCjypJVhYN4


Bryan

FWIW, about 5 years ago I spoke with a tech at Richmond to confirm what I had read somewhere about their 4.10 and numerically higher ratio gears making a whining noise even when installed correctly. I thought there might have been some validity to that claim since a buddy of mine had Richmond 4.11 gears in his Chevelle and they whined so much it sounded like you were inside of a truck.

He confirmed for me that yes, their 4.10 and numerically higher ratio gears do whine because of the way that the teeth are cut, which is somehow differently than the teeth of their other ratio gears ( numerically lower than 3.90). Some guys will tell you that they've used Richmond gears, and never heard any whine, while others will tell you that they did. But the Richmond tech confirmed it, so maybe it depends on the type of rear end that their gears are going into. I don't know if that would be of any concern to you if it's a trailered only drag car, but I just thought that I'd pass that along.

Ofcourse they may have changed their gears since then too. I dunno. Other than that, I believe that Strange sells Progear brand ring and pinion gears, and they're one of the gear manufactures who offer the race-only gears that are supposed to flex more in the teeth areas due to a different heat treat process and are advertised to hold up better for drag racing because of that. The down side is that with those gears, they do not recommend that you drive the car on the street for longer than 30 minutes at a time without stopping and allowing them to cool down.

I've used the richmond pro gears in my car and the same set for 12 years. They have worked really well. The only time I've had the Richmond gears really whine was after they were moved in the housing. They were relatively quiet when first installed. I know a street gear is quieter, but I made some backlash changes to the gears and then the whine got real loud. It hasn't affected the gears but you hear them when I coast through the pits.

Here's a vote for US Gear/Strange ring gear and pinion. I've ran multiple sets of these gears of the years and never had a failure. At one point I decided to try a 4.30 gear in my car. I used a Richmond ring gear and pinion set. I had very reputable local round track shop set up the gears. I got less than 10 passes before the gears failed. They also whined worse than a two year old. After that failure I decided to try and install the next set of gears myself. I went back with US Gear/Strange 4.11 gear set. ~200 passes and they are still working fine. Much quiter than the Richmond gears, too. I'm not saying Richmond gears are junk, only sharing my first hand experience. I've always used street gear sets as opposed to pro gears. FWIW....

Here's another vote for US Gear/Strange. We've made countless passes, using Strange "street" gears, launching anywhere from 4600 - 7400 rpm and shifting at up to 8200+ and never had a failure. We have rolled the edge of the teeth over somewhat, but again, never had a failure. BTW, we are running a 9".

I guess with any new ring and pinion installation proper break in would help ,especially a high numeric ratio with new bearings, can cause an excessive heat buildup in the rearend and cause softening of the gear teeth and bearingsif a breakin is not performed.Richmond suggests street vehicles be driven for approximately 10 miles then stop and let cool for 30 minuntes, this being done 2 to 3 times,on circle track cars make approximately 6 to 8 lapsat slow speed,then let cool for 30 minutes ,make 6 to 8 more laps at slow speed,then 2 to 3 laps at full speed,then let cool again for 30 minutes,if excessive rearend heating is still suspected repeat the final potrion of the breakin procedure.Maybe what ever gear you decide you can apply some of these breakin techniques to help extend gear life.

I've ran USGear/strange twice and Richmond once. I like how quiet the USGear sets are and didn't fancy the noise the Richmonds made. I vote for US/Strange.

Thanks for the feed-back guys. I do street drive the car so it's looking more and more like "Strange" is a better choice. Yes?



Bryan

I would spend the extra money ALL DAY LONG on GM gears. Their Hypoid gears are very strong and will never make a sound unless set up incorrectly. The others make noise if properly setup or not. I have built hundreds of these GM rears and If they are noisy then it tells you that adjustments are needed. The others are strong gears but to me the extra cost of the GM gears is way worth it. JMHO
Bill

I would spend the extra money ALL DAY LONG on GM gears. Their Hypoid gears are very strong and will never make a sound unless set up incorrectly. The others make noise if properly setup or not. I have built hundreds of these GM rears and If they are noisy then it tells you that adjustments are needed. The others are strong gears but to me the extra cost of the GM gears is way worth it. JMHO
BillYa know that's not a bad idea. When I had a Ford, some guys told me to stay with Ford gears, and both times that I did a ring & pinion gear swap on the car, I used Ford gears, and I never regreted it. They were easy to set-up (somehow, they used the same shim thickness as the original gears had) and they ran nice and quiet.

I broke two sets of Richmond "street" gears last year, playing with nitrous a bit too, I then installed a set of Richmond Pro gears last September, 178 passes this year alone, no more nitrous, got about 250 passes on them so far and they are still holding up. No whining, specs called for .008-.012 backlash and we set them up at .012. Still gettin it done. I'm not sure what is harder on the gears, flashing from 1400 rpms and gettin way up on the converter but I flash mine from 1400 unless I'm index racing, then I'll get up on it about 2500 rpms.

Bob~
What is your engine spec and what was your gear ratio?

.100 over 454, 4.25 crank=505 cubes. 10.6-1 comp (91-93 octane), racerite oval ports, RPM oval port intake, 1000hp on a 2" open spacer, 2" Hedman headers, UDHarolds cam .708/.708, 255/263@ .050,283/291 @ .020 on a 108lsa, 8" ATI MRT converter (thanks Ken) ,th400, 4.10 gears, 1310 U joints, 30x10.5x15 Hoosier radial slicks :D

Bob~
very nice setup. I remember your Malibu from the Showroom Pic section. Nice air!

Are you also running a trans brake?


Bryan

No transbrake, not even a line lock.

Bob~
What are you running for a differential?


Bryan