rear end gear brands?

**estowe06** · 10-12-2015, 09:40 AM

Hey guys. New to the forum. Just purchased an 02 trans am ws6 last week.. I'm looking to put 3.73 gears in and want to know if anybody has recommendations on what brand to get. I've been told Richmond or Yukon are the best quality for the money. Anyone running either of these?

**Whamhammer** · 10-12-2015, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by estowe06

Hey guys. New to the forum. Just purchased an 02 trans am ws6 last week.. I'm looking to put 3.73 gears in and want to know if anybody has recommendations on what brand to get. I've been told Richmond or Yukon are the best quality for the money. Anyone running either of these?

I think most people would caution you to skip putting gears in a 7.5 and go with a stronger axle setup (ie 9 inch, 12 bolt, Strange S60).

I will say that my only experience in gears was with a set of Richmond 3.23's to replace the 2.73's in my old third gen. They lasted about three years before some of the teeth got chewed up, but I'm not sure the guy that I had install them was the best guy out there. I heard that Richmonds were soft, but not that soft.

**Naaman** · 10-12-2015, 11:56 PM

Even though I agree with Scott, I'd venture that driving habits have a lot to do with the life expectancy of your rear end. How do you plan to use the car?

**estowe06** · 10-13-2015, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Naaman

Even though I agree with Scott, I'd venture that driving habits have a lot to do with the life expectancy of your rear end. How do you plan to use the car?

Thanks for the reply guys. The car will be a street/strip car. Horsepower goal is roughly 500. I plan on eventually swapping the stock Axle when I start putting some power down. Pinion bearing went bad, so while I have it apart I planned on replacing the LSD with a detroit Tru Trac and installing Richmond 3.73 gears. I'm going to piece It together slowly over the next couple years.

**Whamhammer** · 10-13-2015, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by estowe06

Thanks for the reply guys. The car will be a street/strip car. Horsepower goal is roughly 500. I plan on eventually swapping the stock Axle when I start putting some power down. Pinion bearing went bad, so while I have it apart I planned on replacing the LSD with a detroit Tru Trac and installing Richmond 3.73 gears. I'm going to piece It together slowly over the next couple years.

If it were me, I'd just replace what bearings and seals that you need and save the $500+ that you'd spend on gears and diff' towards a beefed up housing/setup, especially if you plan on doing it anyways. Its sort of like buying am LS6 intake for a 98-00 car, when you know youre just going to buy a Fast 102 in a fee years. But thats my .02.

**Naaman** · 10-14-2015, 02:00 AM

I've owned mine since 2010. If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure what I'd do differently, but finances permitting, the rear end is what I would probably do first or second (along with SFCs).

In any case, if I had the means for a rear end, it'd be done immediately.

Furthermore, I've spent some money on the 10-bolt a couple of times (bearings, seals, etc). I've decided I'm done spending money on it and will hopefully be able to upgrade before it requires any more work (fingers crossed).

***SMWS6TA*** · 10-14-2015, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by Whamhammer

If it were me, I'd just replace what bearings and seals that you need and save the $500+ that you'd spend on gears and diff' towards a beefed up housing/setup, especially if you plan on doing it anyways. Its sort of like buying am LS6 intake for a 98-00 car, when you know youre just going to buy a Fast 102 in a fee years. But thats my .02.

The difference between getting a LS6 intake and upgrading alter on to a FAST102 and upgrading a 7.5 rear is on the LS6 intake he'll get his money back and nothing on the 7.5. I know you were just trying to tell him to save his money for a better rear. Just saying it is not a waste of money to get a LS6 intake. I got one and made $50 more then I paid when I sold it for......a FAST 102. But that intake was needed for my 403ci build.

But back to the OP's issues. I've seen some cars that had the power you say and last with their 10 bolt, and then I've seen 10 bolts

with a stock M6 car with DR's.

I'm not a fan of Richmond (now own by Motive) gears. For my 8.8 I used Yukon gears. Very popular for rock crawlers and are some seriously strong gear sets.

**raynor139** · 10-14-2015, 07:37 AM

My 7.5 went out with just bolt ons. Never took it to the strip, always did rolling starts when playing around with it and I've never had drag radials on mine. As soon as I pulled mine and saw the teeth were chewed up I parked it and bought a s60. Seen too many people tear up aftermarket gears in the 7.5. Some get lucky but its just not worth the risk. I would fix the bearing if you can't afford one right now and save up for a new rear or just go ahead and buy one depending on your finances. Using these rears was a move to save gm money and we are paying for it once you throw any parts at the car or in some cases just own a 6 speed.

**0rion** · 10-14-2015, 07:45 AM

No one here is trying to rain on your parade....they're just trying to give you solid advice about these cars. The 7.5 rear should've never been put in these cars. To keep it short and sweet....it's a piece of shit. To put gears in that thing would be almost the same as just taking that money and throwing it in the trash. Do like these guys have said and move on to another mod and save that money for a 12 bolt or 9" which are both much better suited for the car. You'll hear guys say " I ran blah blah years putting down blah blah horsepower and no problems with the rear" and for every one of those guys there are 10 that broke a rear with bolt ons.