Where can I get 4:88 gears for the rear end on my 2003 ford f250 v8 5.4? and how to install them?

 

A lot of differential shops carry gears for the Sterling 10.5 inch differential. Randys Ring & Pinion is one, but there are many.

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Randys sells Yukon Ring & Pinion gear sets. A 4.88 set will cost you $240.58 plus $259.96 for the install kit, and figure another $50 or so for incidentals (like lube, gasket in a tube and stuff).

Replacing the gears required some specialized tools and skills. If not done properly you will have some major issues. Youtube can be your friend in this case, as there are many videos explaining how to change a ring and pinion, although I did not see one specifically for the Sterling 10.5

 

My advice is to talk to some trusted mechanics and maybe some 4x4 shops. When I was looking into doing 4.56 gears in my truck I talked to my trusted 4x4 shop about getting gears and installing them myself. They recomended a local shop they forward all there gear changes to because a gear swap can go wrong if the proper pinion angle is not set correctly.

I talked with my dad about doing the gear swap ourselves, but he was not comfortable with it since he was not comfortable getting the pinion angle correct, and he's been a mechanic for 35 years. When I talked to the shop that did my gears, the owner who does all gear swaps said that in the 20 years he has done gear swaps, only one had come back with failure. The reason for failure was not incorrect pinion angle, but faulty gears which were yukon gears. Since then he only installs OEM replacement gear sets.

The moral of the story is, do alot of research before takling your gear change. I would also recomend using the best gears out there and avoid the ones that are just affordable. I paid 2k for the gear swap in both axles on my truck. The bill stated that the gears for the sterling was 590 and the spicer gears 350. the 2k also included all new bearings, synthetic gear oil ($20 a quart x 7 quarts *****!), gaskets, and nine hours of labor from a guy doing it for 20 years. I believe that I would take it to someone if I were you since for 550 to 650 you can do it yourself vs. spending about a thousand for an experienced professional to do it with top of the line parts and warranty.

On a side note, my friend bought a set of gears from the swap meet and he installed them on his Z-71. That rear end fragged within a month and he was certain he installed them correctly. He swears that it was the used gears fault, but I think it was improper installation.

 

doing gears you have to have the preload and backlash set properly, not pinion angle. you must shim the pinion gear front to back and the ring gear side to side. You also must check the backlash with gear paint to make sure the teeth are contacting properly. When i had my F350 done i was not ok with doing it so i paid a 4x4 shop to do it. It cost me $2,100 for factory 4.30 gears and all new seals and bearings, synthetic oil and labor. Now four years ago me and my cousin installed 4.10 gears into his 1002 Chevy 1500 Z71, he has over 50k on them since then and it hasn't blew up made noise or anything.....

 

Ha they all point the finger at the gears know the kind
You will need some tools but they are not as rare as every one thinks dial indicator is one of them set of 0 to 1 mics s and a few other things that are easy to get don't buy to cheap tho it won't be accrute

 

Thanks for the info everybody, it really helped. I got an buddy of mine that can do it, but I got to buy the gears and take it to him so he can do it. He said after everything said and done that it'll cost me around 2k, I expected that. Once again thanks for the info.

 

Check out Bronco Graveyard @ Early Bronco Restoration Full Size Bronco Restoration Classic Ford Bronco Parts For Sale or Randy's Ring and Pinion @ Home Page for parts.

 

For $2000 you should be able to get the front and rear differentials of a 4 wheel drive system changed at a local shop. What kind of gears is your buddy using?