Need Help: 4.88 Mopar Re-Gear Issue

[Hootbro]

I was told that the tech doing my gear swap has been a master mechanic for over 20 years with Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and is their go to guy for gear swaps. Part of the reason I went with the Dealer is because they told me they do this all the time and this tech in particular does most of them...

Yet they are caught off guard that a bearing install kit was not included with the gear set?

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[trailless]

Yet they are caught off guard that a bearing install kit was not included with the gear set?

That would worry me. If they do it all the time, shouldn't they have come across this problem before?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yet they are caught off guard that a bearing install kit was not included with the gear set?

A lot of 'em were caught not realizing that bolts didn't come with the changed steering gear.
Or did MOPAR recently change things?
I'd expect a gear set to be a gear set, and the rest to have to be bought independently - on the other hand some of us have done gear changes in other vehicles and it was a kit - gears, shims and bearings.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Dana sells just r&p sets, they also sell r&p kits that include pinion bearings and shims, then of course the separate complete master kits.

Since they are Mopar, they can probably get away with selling you just the gears, crush sleeves, and pinion seals while still being covered under warranty?

Every gear job that rolls out of my shop gets a master kit....I dont care if the vehicle has 5 miles on it.....Mopar isn't going to warranty the bearings after I'm in there and I can't warranty Mopar's bearings either.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Dana sells just r&p sets, they also sell r&p kits that include pinion bearings and shims, then of course the separate complete master kits.

Since they are Mopar, they can probably get away with selling you just the gears, crush sleeves, and pinion seals while still being covered under warranty?

Every gear job that rolls out of my shop gets a master kit....I dont care if the vehicle has 5 miles on it.....Mopar isn't going to warranty the bearings after I'm in there and I can't warranty Mopar's bearings either.

With the master kit - you have the MOPAR warranty on the parts in the kit. Isn't that something like 2 years?

 

[CrazyCooter]

With the master kit - you have the MOPAR warranty on the parts in the kit. Isn't that something like 2 years?

Idk, I don't buy gear parts from the dealer......way too much Mopar tax!

 

[calipoontappa]

That would worry me. If they do it all the time, shouldn't they have come across this problem before?

And if they do it “all the time” 2 days is an insane amount of time for a regear. Most shops in I called in SoCal have you in at 8a out by noon but to be fair the ONLY thing they do is gears nothing else, so maybe I’m expecting too much from the dealer.

 

[CrazyCooter]

And if they do it “all the time” 2 days is an insane amount of time for a regear. Most shops in I called in SoCal have you in at 8a out by noon but to be fair the ONLY thing they do is gears nothing else, so maybe I’m expecting too much from the dealer.

The shop you are going to probably puts 3 techs on it for a total of 12 hours of combined labor?

I work alone and it takes 2 days, but schedule 3 days since I happen to handle all of the duties within the shop.

 

[FloridaMan]

Yet they are caught off guard that a bearing install kit was not included with the gear set?

Makes you wonder...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Makes you wonder...

Hootbro does have a point........... but then who the heck knows. Maybe they placed the order and the parts dept messed up, and when you talk to service writers you never get quotes from the mechanic, only what they remember being said. And most service writers aren't all that technical so don't always even understand what's being said (some are, I've known some who were former mechanics who retired or got injured or have bad hearts and can't lean over the fender - a friend of mine had to close his shop because of heart issues and yet he COULD be sitting at a desk working - but he sold and retired.

 

[FloridaMan]

So... Finally picked up my JT yesterday from the Dealer. Turns out that while Mopar sells the ring and pinion they do not sell the bearings after market for the 4:88 re-gear. Dana actually manufactures the bearings but one of the axels was on back order. Dealer ended up using revolution bearings that they sourced from a local Jeeper outfit. While I have the Mopar warranty on the ring and pinion the best I could do on the bearings was get the dealership to personally warranty the work/materials for two years. If I have any issue I have to take it back to that specific dealership...
Knowing what I know now I would have just found a local outfit that specializes in re-gearing and went with the Dana 44. I went the Dealership/Mopar route for the warranty but that ended up blowing up in my face and taking nearly three weeks to resolve. They did provide me a rental the whole time.
The tech that did my re-gear seemed very competent and knew what he was doing, it was the parts manager that was confused and assumed that the Mopar ring and pinion kit he ordered would come with everything we needed. When it didn't he wasn't sure how to proceed and things escalated to a regional manager to finally get some traction. In fact, I had decided to put the 4:10s back on and just move on but they finally found the bearings we needed the same day.
Another frustrating element is that the dealership wont flash in the re-gear so I have to purchase a Tazer to flash it in. Again, something an outfit that does this all the time would have included.
As far as the re-gear goes I can certainly tell a difference. Much more pep and was holding 8th on the HWY. However, I'll provide another update after I flash it in and drive it a while.
If you are looking to re-gear my two cents is to go after market with a shop that does this all the time. I went with the Dealer and ended up with a Frankenstein warranty package, probably spent ~ $800 more than I needed too, and instead of taking 1-2 days it took nearly three weeks. Not to mention the hours wasted on the phone with the dealership trying to get updates and find some resolution. In the Dealerships defense I think they were trying to serve me well, they just didn't know what to do or how to resolve it once they couldn't find the parts so its just stalled out.
This is my first Jeep so I think I was reticent to take it to a local shop and thought I was safer with the dealership. Lesson learned....

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Seriously? My dealer will reset whatever it takes. They'd rather sell me the tool to do it, well, their accessories guy said it would be better to buy the stuff and do it myself, but they also will do that sort of thing for me if I'd ask. (I have the stuff to do most of that now)

I am thinking that Dana doesn't make the bearings. It would be weird to not have Timken or another world-leader that specializes in bearings do it for them. That's an expensive, specialized process.
I'd be interested in seeing the bearings and numbers on them............. so far, there hasn't been a bearing I can't get.

I sort of wondered if it wasn't the parts department that messed things up. The parts people are very territorial in some places and won't let a mechanic even look things up. It gets crazy in some shops.
I used to walk up front and look up my own stuff - but then our parts people were great, and helpful.

 

[FloridaMan]

Seriously? My dealer will reset whatever it takes. They'd rather sell me the tool to do it, well, their accessories guy said it would be better to buy the stuff and do it myself, but they also will do that sort of thing for me if I'd ask. (I have the stuff to do most of that now)

I am thinking that Dana doesn't make the bearings. It would be weird to not have Timken or another world-leader that specializes in bearings do it for them. That's an expensive, specialized process.
I'd be interested in seeing the bearings and numbers on them............. so far, there hasn't been a bearing I can't get.

I sort of wondered if it wasn't the parts department that messed things up. The parts people are very territorial in some places and won't let a mechanic even look things up. It gets crazy in some shops.
I used to walk up front and look up my own stuff - but then our parts people were great, and helpful.

I was told by the tech that they aren't allowed to flash anything and that I should flash it myself or find someone else to do it. Said it was a warranty issue...
Regarding Dana making the bearings, I don't know, that's what I was told by the parts manager but who knows. He said that Dana makes the ring & pinion and bearings and just re-brands them for Mopar...
This isn't my first rodeo with this parts manager. He ordered the wrong font bumper, fortunately I caught it before they put it on, and ran into issues adding the LED light kit (whole other story). Nice enough guy but bottom line, he obviously doesn't do enough Jeep mods to know what he doesn't know. I think the mechanic knew what he was doing the whole time and was trying to explain to the parts manager what he needed to do it properly (entire kit, shims) but fell on deaf ears.
I'm just glad to finally have my truck back...

 

[Hootbro]

That dealership needs to stop taking in that kind of work if they cannot do the whole enchilada.

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