Which Brand Gears?

The Rookie · 01-07-2006, 06:48 AM

I have an m6. I hear a lot about which size, but what brand is the best with the least amount of whine and which is the strongest, best built? I hear Richmond whines quite a bit. What about Motive? What other Name brands are out there?

This isn't my daily driver, but don't want to hear the whining when I drive it.

**alamantia** · 01-07-2006, 08:17 AM

GM gears are the softest and quietest, I beleive GM buys them direct from AAM otherwise Motive are fine. And dont buy all that propaganda about breaking them in with jackstands and running the car etc. break them in the same way you did when you bought the car with 0 miles on it, beat the hell out of it.

**SSJoe15** · 01-07-2006, 02:38 PM

I have a 2000 ss with M6 and i want to install 4:10. i have seen many people use motive gears. good, bad, other

**mrr23** · 01-07-2006, 03:23 PM

motive are fine. the 4.10 gears whined in my car. i now have 3.73 AAM gears in both cars. really quite.

**tici** · 01-07-2006, 05:06 PM

I just installed a Yukon gear set (3.42 ratio for a series 2 carrier).
I reused the same pinion shim and I had to adjust the backlash a little bit.
Pretty easy to install and to adjust and no noisy at all.
During coast I hear just a little something between 50 and 30 mph, but it could be the snow tires I have now.

EDIT: it's not the snow tires. It's the rear end!

**t/as&dds** · 01-08-2006, 12:38 PM

So is it necessary to get an installation kit to install a set of 4.10s in a 3 series 3.42 M6 car? I have heard that it's a good idea since you're already in there but I haven't been able to find anything regarding the 'paddles'.

Thanx

**tici** · 01-08-2006, 01:01 PM

You need at least pinion and carrier shims, marking compound and something to seal the cover (a gasket or RTV).
The bearings may be OK, but you'll know it only once the rear end is open.
I personally replaced all the bearings and seals.

**keliente** · 01-08-2006, 03:20 PM

I would go with the Motives.

Anyone picked up the new Summit Racing yet? Motive now offers a bullet proof guarantee on their gears. For a ring and pinion as small as a 10 bolts, you can't go wrong with it.

I put motives in my car and they are nice and quiet. I installed richmonds into my boyfriends formula, they make a little bit of noise...they are supposed to be stronger. But I'd rather have a quiet, motive gear with a bullet proof guarantee.

When you pick a gearset, call the manufacturer and ask about a paddle kit. Before you call make sure that you have a torsen carrier, because an auburn carrier uses an axle pin and you wouldn't have to change that. I'm not sure exactly which gears you need to use a paddle kit with, my motive 4.10s were fine without it.

Basically the paddle takes the place of the axle pin in a torsen. When you add a wider gear you can no longer get the paddle back in because the ring gear is too thick. The paddle 'kit' is simply a regular paddle split in half, so that you can insert one, move it over, and insert the other one so it fits fine.

Do bearings based on mileage. If you have a low-mileage car and it makes no noise, its safe to say you can reuse your stock bearings. If you're getting up there in mileage, then spending $80 on an install kit would definitely be worth your while.

**mrr23** · 01-08-2006, 04:04 PM

i didn't use a paddle kit with my 4.10 gears. just ground some off the paddle to get it to clear.

**keliente** · 01-08-2006, 05:23 PM

You could do that too but not everyone has access to tools like that. I would've done that also if I needed too, because $160 for a couple pieces of metal is a little outrageous

**rotwiler** · 01-27-2006, 09:11 AM

I had Yukon 3.42's put in to replace the 2.73's and they whine some, but have held up to lots of abuse at the track. After I broke them in, I went with Royal Purple and they are a little quieter now. I didn't get a lot of whining until I drag raced it and did some hard launches.

**Mr. CarelessAndImprudent** · 01-27-2006, 10:09 AM

I just gota set of Richmonds, but I don't know if they're noisy yet.

I'm kinda hoping so, because louder is better in my book!

**tici** · 01-27-2006, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by rotwiler

I had Yukon 3.42's put in to replace the 2.73's and they whine some, but have held up to lots of abuse at the track. After I broke them in, I went with Royal Purple and they are a little quieter now. I didn't get a lot of whining until I drag raced it and did some hard launches.

Was it a series 2 carrier + a thick ring? This is what I've done (also Yukon).
It also whine a little.
Is Royal Purple synthetic 75W140? I filled something similar and it helps a little, but only until the rear end gets warm. After that the oil becomes more fluid and the whine shows up...
Is your rear end whining during drive or coast?