anyone have 35's on 3.55 gearing

Vanimal said:
but you want me to do it for way cheaper than an auto mechanic's hourly rates even though i need 100's of thousands of dollars in equipment and years of training to do it, right?
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When I lived in the Virgin Islands, I was a marine mechanic for 8 years. The shop I worked from had the dealership for Mercruiser products and OMC products. The shop had every special tool recommended by both manufactures totalling into the thousands of dollars. When a boat come into the shop for repairs, be it inboard, out board or stern drives, that person was charged the standard hourly rate. We never charged for tools. If we do not have the correct tools to do the job, we do not accept the job. If you have a shop that performs repairs, it is expected that that shop have all necessary tools and equipment to do the job. Correct me if I am wrong but I get the feeling I will have to pay for tools as well as labor. If that is so, do I get to take the tools with me when I am leaving?

Down in Miami, Fl the normal price for labor to do gears is between $250 and $300 all day long and that is per axle. A competent mechanic with all the tools needed to do the job and takes 8 hours to do 1 axle for an XJ leave me with a lot of questions which only that individual could answer.
 
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techno1154 said:
When I lived in the Virgin Islands, I was a marine mechanic for 8 years. The shop I worked from had the dealership for Mercruiser products and OMC products. The shop had every special tool recommended by both manufactures totalling into the thousands of dollars. When a boat come into the shop for repairs, be it inboard, out board or stern drives, that person was charged the standard hourly rate. We never charged for tools. If we do not have the correct tools to do the job, we do not accept the job. If you have a shop that performs repairs, it is expected that that shop have all necessary tools and equipment to do the job. Correct me if I am wrong but I get the feeling I will have to pay for tools as well as labor. If that is so, do I get to take the tools with me when I am leaving?

Down in Miami, Fl the normal price for labor to do gears is between $250 and $300 all day long and that is per axle. A competent mechanic with all the tools needed to do the job and takes 8 hours to do 1 axle for an XJ leave me with a lot of questions which only that individual could answer.
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yes, you do have to pay for cutting tools, that's worked into the price as it is a consumable. If you have an MRI or CAT scan, do you expect it to only cost you $20 because it doesnt take very long to do? Good luck with that....
The equipment used, as well as tooling, energy, maintenance, and labor plays a role in the hourly rate, regardless of the work done.
 
techno1154 said:
Down in Miami, Fl the normal price for labor to do gears is between $250 and $300 all day long and that is per axle. A competent mechanic with all the tools needed to do the job and takes 8 hours to do 1 axle for an XJ leave me with a lot of questions which only that individual could answer.
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took me and a friend 5 hrs to do my frt axle and 4 hrs on the rear, thats with them being pre clened bare housing, have you ever set up gears? its not a simple thing if ya wanna be perfect
 
the only reason mine was so cheap was because Rwkhaus charges a very reasonable rate in labor for gearing with the housing out of the vehicle and the shafts pulled. 1 year later so far so good. he's geared many NAXJA axles so i trust his work. i can totally understand the labor being higher with the axle still in the jeep though.
 
ROBZ95Xj said:
took me and a friend 5 hrs to do my frt axle and 4 hrs on the rear, thats with them being pre clened bare housing, have you ever set up gears? its not a simple thing if ya wanna be perfect
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No, I have never done differentials. I do agree that it could be time consuming if one do not have the experience and or proper tools to do it. That is why I take mine to someone who do. However, I have done (Marine) outboard motor lower units as well as stern drives (they are in 2 Z configuration) with gears on top and on the bottom some of which have both the forward and reverse gears in the lower unit. An automobile differential is similar but with a slightly different approach and configuration.

Vanimal, the comparison you use is bad for this topic. A sick person go to a general practioner and pays them for their time. They are then refered to a specialist with special tools/equipment and also pays that specialist for their time. That is two different office visits.
You are correct though in one respect. The office with the most tools/equipment usually command a higher pay scale. That pay scale should already have the equipment usage built into it. You would not walk into a 'Fix-A Flat' place to have your gears setup Would you? I would not. Why? I doubt that place would have the equipment and expertise to do a good job. I took my D44 to a place that had what is needed to do a good job.

I am not questioning anyone's labor rate. I am also not debating the amount of tools needed and the cost of those tools. My gripe is,....it sounds like the end bill will have one charge for labor and another charge for tool useage. OH! and the other guy who have been boasting for years as to how many diffs he set up in the past,....What does he do in a diff in 8 hours? Use his expensive tools to make bearings and axle shafts. Close tolerance mechineing do take plenty of time. Ask me how I know.
 
techno1154 said:
No, I have never done differentials. I do agree that it could be time consuming if one do not have the experience and or proper tools to do it. That is why I take mine to someone who do. However, I have done (Marine) outboard motor lower units as well as stern drives (they are in 2 Z configuration) with gears on top and on the bottom some of which have both the forward and reverse gears in the lower unit. An automobile differential is similar but with a slightly different approach and configuration.

Vanimal, the comparison you use is bad for this topic. A sick person go to a general practioner and pays them for their time. They are then refered to a specialist with special tools/equipment and also pays that specialist for their time. That is two different office visits.
You are correct though in one respect. The office with the most tools/equipment usually command a higher pay scale. That pay scale should already have the equipment usage built into it. You would not walk into a 'Fix-A Flat' place to have your gears setup Would you? I would not. Why? I doubt that place would have the equipment and expertise to do a good job. I took my D44 to a place that had what is needed to do a good job.

I am not questioning anyone's labor rate. I am also not debating the amount of tools needed and the cost of those tools. My gripe is,....it sounds like the end bill will have one charge for labor and another charge for tool useage. OH! and the other guy who have been boasting for years as to how many diffs he set up in the past,....What does he do in a diff in 8 hours? Use his expensive tools to make bearings and axle shafts. Close tolerance mechineing do take plenty of time. Ask me how I know.
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what is mechineing?
 
Questions like these have tons of different responses. More opinion than fact.
Couple years ago I was looking to buy new tires. Really wanted something bigger than the 235/75s I had, only wanted to go 30s, but got a really good deal on 31s. I drove it daily for a while with 3.55s , mileage took a hit, top end = fail. When I swapped in 4.10s was just as good if not better than stock.

In short, anything is possible. But, already being on 33's and stock gears, you should know that it is not going to be any better. Definitely build your stuff better/stronger/more able to handle the extra shenanigans.
 
Regardless of what's been said, it all boils down to the fact that gears are one of the most important components in your entire drivetrain. They take time and precision tools to be done right the first time and last as long as you own the vehicle. I'm comfortable tinkering and building my own stuff, but id rather leave the technical stuff up to.someone who is trained to do those sorts of things.

Hell I like watches and can change the batteries in one, but that doesn't mean I can open it up and say, hell, this looks easy, I think ill build me a Rolex today... there is a reason you pay big $$$ for nice reliable things.
 
Techno:

I take 8hrs because the quality/strength/longevity of your differential are the most important thing to me. That means taking my time to pay attention to the details, take it apart as many times as needed to move shims getting the pattern perfect, cleaning and inspecting all parts thoroughly, etc.

I discount for stripped axles.

I charge my hourly rate...whether I'm custom fabbing or doing diffs. The hourly rate reflects my investment in tools and experience. You're twisting words around to mean and sound like something else. Stop. I don't "charge extra" for my tools...but a mechanic hired to work at a shop who has 25 years experience and brings $30K in tools with him gets more $/hr than the one with 5 years experience and $10K in tools.

If someone wants to beat me up on the Internet for charging 8hrs/$400 for a complete diff rebuild in the rig...that's probably a someone I wouldn't want to do work for anyways. I'm a professional, and I provide professional work. If you don't like it, go to someone else...but running your mouth on the interwebby that it's an inflated price and unreasonable time (yet you don't in fact do it for a living) is wrong. Why am I defending what I do to someone who is proud of their rig flexed on some cinder block piles? :doh:

Yippee for you...you found someone to gear your diffs for super cheap. We're not all obligated to do it that cheap now. I've checked...not only is my fee on par with the other local off road and differential specialty shops, but I'm the only one who gave a warranty on my setup:rtm:
 
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$50 per hour is a really good shop rate.
 
I guess the northewst is a good place to live scott. I have my jeep over at holbrook and for 4.88/ master kits/ everything said and done its 650 labor. It would have only taken a day and a half but there was a mistake made by my gear guy that put us all back 2 days
 
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