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Just got quoted $3700 for 4.88 regear. Getting my chain yanked?

calipoontappa

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I had my 5:13s put in by a shop here that only does regears nothing else. I paid 1350 for everything, they took 4 hours total to do the work. I was going to go w Rebel but they had a two week wait. I found most shops in SoCal that I called were doing the work for around 1500-2000. The price you were quoted seems insane.
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CrazyCooter

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The $3600 estimate is pretty on par for a shop that specializes in this type of work depending on location in the country. I'm billing about the same for a complete gear swap with a couple of exceptions.

Mitchell labor time is something like 13 hours to replace F/R ring and pinions which I think is high, so I discount that . Axle bearing/seals I get another hour as a discounted combined additional labor operation.

(1) I don't see rear axle seals which requires replacing the axle bearing and seal as a set.
(2) No front Tube seals
(3) Every job that leaves my shop gets Amsoil Severe gear fluid

Every job I do gets a 12mo/12k mile warranty......The State requires a warranty, so that requires every bearing and seal be replaced or I'm on the hook for repairing whatever seal/bearing comes in the axle? Pass

Can you find it cheaper? Absolutely! You Tube is full of videos of experts hacking shit together.....In fact most of the videos I see of gear jobs done by even the "Industry Experts" who manufacture and/or distribute these products have video documented bad practices that would NEVER happen in my shop! That confirms that they don't know any better if they are willing to put it out there for the world to see.

Can I do it faster and bill less? Yep, I started my business over 25 years ago trying to be the cheapest and fastest....Almost killed me and I had a few warranty comebacks.....no money or honor in comebacks?. Now people are now paying me for my 33+ years of industry experience, taking my time, and blueprinting the job. You won't find any 18yo minimum wage spazzy monkeys in my shop scratching your wheels and hacking shit together. Quality costs money unfortunately.......... If you want cheap, there is a guy on the other side of town who is half the price, will have your truck for months, and doesn't even provide a legit state required repair order/invoice? Doubt you will have any luck getting warranty from him either

I'd say IF East Coast Gear is in your area, they are one of the authorities in the industry and should get it done for you. Choose wisely........This isn't trying to get the best deal on XXXXX model Samsung TV that is the same build no matter where you buy it........The build quality depends on the man or woman actually doing the job.

If you wanna get it cheap, I think Rebel is the lowest price I have seen EVER! High volume/low margin business model that makes zero sense to me with the liability involved.......Right on the edge of losing everything all the time!
 

Badunit

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The parts alone were $1,300 in the OP's quote. They are quoting the retail prices for the parts. Maybe everyone does but, given that they sell them individually at those prices on their web site, they are making good money on the parts, too.

A year ago I had mine re-geared for $2,750 at a Jeep shop in Northern VA. Labor was 8 hours for $1,350. The rest was parts: Dana gears and install kits and enough oil to fill both differentials twice (the 500 mile service and inspection was part of the total cost). 3 month warranty on regearing.
 

MaximusTX

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The local shop here Exodus 4x4 charges $2250 which seems pretty on par for the rest of the 4x4 shops and has a video that goes over regear pricing and what to look for.

Exodus 4x4 Jeep Regear Info

 
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PuddleJumper

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The $3600 estimate is pretty on par for a shop that specializes in this type of work depending on location in the country. I'm billing about the same for a complete gear swap with a couple of exceptions.

Mitchell labor time is something like 13 hours to replace F/R ring and pinions which I think is high, so I discount that . Axle bearing/seals I get another hour as a discounted combined additional labor operation.

(1) I don't see rear axle seals which requires replacing the axle bearing and seal as a set.
(2) No front Tube seals
(3) Every job that leaves my shop gets Amsoil Severe gear fluid

Every job I do gets a 12mo/12k mile warranty......The State requires a warranty, so that requires every bearing and seal be replaced or I'm on the hook for repairing whatever seal/bearing comes in the axle? Pass

Can you find it cheaper? Absolutely! You Tube is full of videos of experts hacking shit together.....In fact most of the videos I see of gear jobs done by even the "Industry Experts" who manufacture and/or distribute these products have video documented bad practices that would NEVER happen in my shop! That confirms that they don't know any better if they are willing to put it out there for the world to see.

Can I do it faster and bill less? Yep, I started my business over 25 years ago trying to be the cheapest and fastest....Almost killed me and I had a few warranty comebacks.....no money or honor in comebacks?. Now people are now paying me for my 33+ years of industry experience, taking my time, and blueprinting the job. You won't find any 18yo minimum wage spazzy monkeys in my shop scratching your wheels and hacking shit together. Quality costs money unfortunately.......... If you want cheap, there is a guy on the other side of town who is half the price, will have your truck for months, and doesn't even provide a legit state required repair order/invoice? Doubt you will have any luck getting warranty from him either

I'd say IF East Coast Gear is in your area, they are one of the authorities in the industry and should get it done for you. Choose wisely........This isn't trying to get the best deal on XXXXX model Samsung TV that is the same build no matter where you buy it........The build quality depends on the man or woman actually doing the job.

If you wanna get it cheap, I think Rebel is the lowest price I have seen EVER! High volume/low margin business model that makes zero sense to me with the liability involved.......Right on the edge of losing everything all the time!
thanks for dissection man. i understand it a bit better now.
 

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Greg_L

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The local shop here Exodus 4x4 charges $2250 which seems pretty on par for the rest of the 4x4 shops and has a video that goes over regear pricing and what to look for.

Exodus 4x4 Jeep Regear Info

I'm only a few hours from them, and even though I can do gears myself I'm considering them for my JT and wife's JL just for parts and labor warranties.
 

MarkO

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If you wanna get it cheap, I think Rebel is the lowest price I have seen EVER! High volume/low margin business model that makes zero sense to me with the liability involved.......Right on the edge of losing everything all the time!
Rebel farms it out (or at least used to) to a mobile gear swapping co. Super super low margin.
 

Panthers65

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East coast gear supply is one of the best in the industry, you're paying a premium for their experience and name. I wouldn't say it's not worth it, but if it takes 12 hrs to install Dana Spicer gears they are charging more hours than it will take. I did mine in less time on a set of quick jacks crawling my fat butt out from under my jeep over and over again....

Dana Spicer gears are all set to +/-0, meaning they are cut to run a correct pattern at the same pinion depth as factory. Not saying a good shop won't CHECK the pattern, but in theory the setup should be substantially easier than other manufacturers.

The Exodus4x4 quote that was posted is also absolutely a top of the line company, but notice they don't put any brands/details on the quote, just "Gear Package" no idea what you are getting. I would guarantee if you requested they buy spicer brand gears/rebuild kits that price would go up. Not saying I wouldn't trust exodus to put in what needs to be put in, but it's not a true Apples to Apples comparison.

Having a buddy that can help is definitely the best way. Like I said, Spicer gears are the easiest to set up and if you're doing it yourself/having a buddy do it, I'd gladly pay more for Spicer gears vs. other brands just for the ease of setup. Show your appreciation to your friend by spending an extra 200-300 on the gears vs a cheaper set that's going to require more time to set up.
 

Firingpin1977

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12hrs for labor seems a little high. i would think it's closer to 8 hours, 4hrs per axle, worst case. The rest is material costs. You would still be looking at $2700 for the work.
^This. I don’t do gears, but on lift quotes, I had an average that I put in my customers’ quotes and it was a soft quote, meaning if it took less, they were charged to that lesser amount, but if I went over that time, I ate that cost internally. This would happen on rust-belt vehicles a lot, but to me, it’s not fair to the customer to charge over when they can’t control the crap that was put on the roads to cause the corrosion issues/seized nuts and bolts etc.

But it’s definitely worth the ask on that. I worked with them before on diff core regears for my Toyota customers and they were always good to work with and reasonable to talk with, but I’ve been out of the game for a couple years after injury.
 

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MudderNuker

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My local shop gave me a ballpark quote of $1,600 (10 hours) with me bringing the parts. That was a couple of months ago. I am currently waiting of a set of longer sway bar links and rear airbags to drop it off at the shop to get the 2" leveling kit, rear 3/4 spacers, adjustable track bar, geo brackets, shock extenders and the above parts installed. I'm going to ask him how much extra to do the gears (4.88). The only issue with me supplying the gears would be warranty. They didn't say anything about it, but I believe it is standard practice.
 

Gajep71

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If it's a reputable shop with good customer service I don't think it's out of line. You might find someone to do it for slightly less but those are typically the same guys who can't afford to stand behind their work if things go wrong.
 
 





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