Are Richmond gears normally loud?

[Cranky]

Do you advice I run it and live with the whine since it's developed a pattern?

I have a tendency to try and fix things that are not right. I've even glass bead blasted them in trying to get a fresh surface when about to reset used gears. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Did a set for a guy several years ago and well, never heard anything from him so no news is good news? Did another set and didn't bead blast them and they were quiet for awhile but ended up getting loud months later. They were used gears that were supposed to have been quiet to start with but you never know when you can't hear them beforehand.

 

[Ron H]

Having been through a buzz-saw getting the rear rebuilt 3 times ('64 742/3:23 change to 3:55 '65 Coronet axle/housing on my '63 Fury) I'm told once a ring sets a pattern it's all over...no going back. In fact the 1st brand new R&P set from Yukon was trashed in under 10 miles. An attempt was made to lightly die grind the teeth after readjusting the rear and total failure. The mechanic at a highly recommended resto shop suggested trying this maybe as his own way of confirming what he already knew and charging me for the work. The 1st guy who tried to rebuild it "thought" he would have no problems having done dozens of GM and Ford rears finding out he couldn't handle Chrysler. I give ya credit trying to tackle this if you haven't done one before. If you review the shop manual it should give you an appreciation of what's involved special tools, etc.

 

[themechanic]

I bought a 489 case with 3.55 gears from Dr Diff. I had a whine around 40-50 mph, as I recall. I sent the case back and he did a slight adjustment. I put it back in and some of the whine was gone. However, I discovered my problem was mainly due to a bent housing, which, was not apparent, at first. But I noticed the axle was hard to seat on the passenger side. Per Dr Diff, I measured the width between the tires fore and aft and had about 5/8" difference. I sent the housing to Dr Diff, who has a jig for straightening them, and the axle slid in perfectly. No whine in the gears, either.

I have also heard that larger gears tend to make more noise.

 

[Cranky]

Having been through a buzz-saw getting the rear rebuilt 3 times ('64 742/3:23 change to 3:55 '65 Coronet axle/housing on my '63 Fury) I'm told once a ring sets a pattern it's all over...no going back. In fact the 1st brand new R&P set from Yukon was trashed in under 10 miles. An attempt was made to lightly die grind the teeth after readjusting the rear and total failure. The mechanic at a highly recommended resto shop suggested trying this maybe as his own way of confirming what he already knew and charging me for the work. The 1st guy who tried to rebuild it "thought" he would have no problems having done dozens of GM and Ford rears finding out he couldn't handle Chrysler. I give ya credit trying to tackle this if you haven't done one before. If you review the shop manual it should give you an appreciation of what's involved special tools, etc.

Can't understand just what he thought he would accomplish using a die grinder on them and don't know why someone who has experience with GM and Ford would have problems with a Mopar rear. Ring and pinion gears all have to have the same thing. I've never done any GM work (and don't wanna) but have done Ford and Mopars including Dana 60 and 9 1/4. They all have their differences but the setting of the pinion depth is the same....you have to get the depth right in relation to the ring gear center line then make sure the backlash is right.

I bought a 489 case with 3.55 gears from Dr Diff. I had a whine around 40-50 mph, as I recall. I sent the case back and he did a slight adjustment. I put it back in and some of the whine was gone. However, I discovered my problem was mainly due to a bent housing, which, was not apparent, at first. But I noticed the axle was hard to seat on the passenger side. Per Dr Diff, I measured the width between the tires fore and aft and had about 5/8" difference. I sent the housing to Dr Diff, who has a jig for straightening them, and the axle slid in perfectly. No whine in the gears, either.

I have also heard that larger gears tend to make more noise.

That thing must have been bent pretty bad. Usually a bent housing is hard on bearings. The side gears etc usually have enough slack in the splines and can take several degrees of misalignment. Did the chunk fit into the housing without having to beat it in? Larger gears or higher numerically higher ratios will generally let you know right quick if they are not right vs say a 2.94 etc but even a 4.88 needs to be on the money and probably more so than a 2.94. After all, what is it....about 65% increase in rpm....?

 

[Jeradaktyl]

Well I guess since I already have some miles on it ill just roll with it, I'll buy another set of gears in the meantime to have on hand in case something decides to give way, I kept my old carrier and plan on rebuilding it to since it doesn't hurt to have parts on hand, I've never done a diff. Before but actually enjoyed doing it other then the whine occurring it seems to be alright, quite the difference from the 3.23s

 

[Cranky]

Yeah, that's a decent difference. When I ordered a 2000 Durango for my wife, I got just about all the options including the trailer tow package with 3.90 limited slip diff. It's surprised a few people back then with it's off the line move. It gets 17 @ 60 mph and 13 @ 80 and only runs a 16.40 but that's not too shabby for a 4600 lb brick being pushed around by a 318 lol. In town, the wife knocks down 12 and wears the rear tires down much faster than the fronts. Danged lead foot....

 

[john-9]

I swapped my 3.23s out of my 742 case and replaced with Richmond 3.91s and installed a dr. Diff carrier, the coast side is quite as can be, the drive side howls a little bit and whines at 40mph, I touched the diff housing after a 25min drive and it's hot! I put about 70 miles on it all under 35mph, I'm thinking I should pull the the carrier again and figure out whats going on, any advice?

was this a complete rebuild with new bearings /seal or did you use the 3.23 bearings --- what did you set the pinion bearing preload at ,,generally used bearings 8-15 inch pounds ,,new bearings 20-25 inch pounds --- pinion bearing preload ( lack off it ) has a lot to do with gear noise as long as the gear pattern is correct --- also carrier bearing preload must be present .
rear axles do run hot but no one ever pays attention to their rear axle until they do a gear change --
as you do not have that many miles on it ,,you should be able to recheck the pattern and your bearing preload -- a proper break in also helps -- with new bearings and gear ,,usually I tell people to run the car on jack stands -- in gear at idle -- for 15-20 minutes then let the axle cool completely ,, take it out for a nice easy drive for 5 miles --stop and let it cool for 1/2 hour -- repeat -- new bearings and gears build a lot of heat initially and need a proper break in to live..

 

[Jeradaktyl]

Yes this was a complete overhaul, I set preload by running the nut down on the pinion with an impact until I had no more slop, after that was gone I took a needle type torque wrench and turned the nut until it read just shy of 2ft lbs, not a proper method by any means

 

[Cranky]

I know there's a few that do the initial run in on jack stands but in the 30 years I've been doing rear end work, I've never run in new gears on jack stands. And this is what Richmond recommends for their gears:

Street vehicles should be driven at normal street driving
speed for approximately 10 miles, then stop and let cool for
30 minutes. Do this 2 to 3 times. Towing vehicles need
approximately 200 to 300 miles of normal street driving
before being used for towing.

http://www.smileysracing.com/downloads/get.aspx?i=11637 on page 3

 

[AR67GTX]

These break in precautions kind of amuse me. Buy a new car and no one tells you to run it on jackstands or drive 10 miles, let it cool 30 minutes, drive 10 more miles, etc. I recall the old saying back in the 60s, want it to run fast - break in it fast. I had a friend back in 69 who bought a 390 Mach 1 and he was running the crap out of it the day he picked it up. It ended up being the hardest charging 390 Mustang we had ever seen - at least for the first year until the valve springs fatigued and it would no longer pull 5500 + rpm shifts. But, I do tend to give things time to break in slowly myself.

 

[Cranky]

Don't know what the factory does today but a buddy that worked on the lines back then said that the cars were run briefly to make sure it would run and the transmission shifted and made no weird noises. He said that some guys quickly ran them up pretty high like 100 mph and then the operator of the rollers would release the car and instant burnout. Most of those shenanigans happened on the night shift according to him. I bought a new trucks in 92 and in 99 and both had miles on them. but less than 10. Both got broke in on the way home since I lived 45 miles from the dealership. I don't know how the 2000 Durango was driven because it was delivered to my home but I picked up the 92 Dakota and drove it like I stole it on the way home and before it had 200 miles on it, it was making passes at the track. Both vehicles had 3.90 gears with limited slip diffs.

 

[moper]

No, Richmonds are not loud. Problems in asembly make gears loud. If possible I will always break them in on jackstands for 10-15 minutes, then let it sit and totally cool, Then 5-10 miles of light driving listening for noise, then let it sit and cool completely. Then it's go time. However, on my own car, I have broken them in on stands for 10 minutes at the track, let them cool for an hour or two, then gone racing...lol. But that's my car, not customer's.