What is a resonable price for regearing a hp44 and a ff60 ,both 8 lug, if I have all of the parts? Just Labor. Any help is appreciated.

Depends on location and status of axles. Are they fully assembled installed in rig or torn down minus removing the stock diff and gears both loaded in a back of a truck. Its ALOT easier to work with a axle when its removed sitting on jackstands with the ability to turn and rotate the axle housing as needed to work on.

Local quote here in southern Cali, 400-500 per axle fully loaded installed in rig. I also got a bare bones 200 per axle that is removed and torn down to the differential.

Another option is to invest about 600 in tools and learn to do it your self. Alot of great threads and tech articles on pirate to do your own gear install.

Another option is to invest about 600 in tools .

Damn, where the hell are you buyin tools? All my stuff was about 200. You dont HAVE to have a press or pullers to set up a diff. A good dial, some patience and a little ingunity go a long way.

Sorry, I guess I could give a little more info. The axles could be taken out or left under the Jeep, and they could be broken down or left complete. Just wondering what would be cheeper for those that have taken their axles somewhere. (to a experienced gearman)

I have a some-what "equiped" shop to work in. I can borrow/buy the tools needed. I 've just never done it before. I want advice wether or not to take it somewhere or try to do it myself.

I paid $250 per diff on my TJ.

I paid $250 per diff on my TJ.

Is $250 for labor, per axle, a reasonable price?

I think $250 is more than fair. I would figure 5-6 hours for the front, 4-5 hours for the rear. That would be if the axles are in the vehicle, fully assembled. Multiply that times the hourly shop rate in your area.

Yeah keep in mind I'm about 15 minutes from the water on the East coast. Not as many 4x4 shops that deal with front drive axles on a regular basis. So when you find a good shop over here, they want you to pay an arm and a leg for their work.

One shop I just got off the phone with quoted me a $600 total price tag with the axles out from under the Jeep.

Is $250 for labor, per axle, a reasonable price?

In my neck of the woods (Northern Colo) most definatly. Ive set up 13 gear sets in my life....5 of my own and the other 8 coming threw 4 friends. Some of them have told me they've been quoted all the way up to $1600. :eek: Lowest at $600 from 4 Wheel Parts. Still....:eek: I do them for $100 or $75 and some beer.


I have a some-what "equiped" shop to work in. I can borrow/buy the tools needed. I 've just never done it before. I want advice wether or not to take it somewhere or try to do it myself.

Anyone you know that could help you? Id say if you have access to what you need then go for it. But if in the back of your mind you'll forever think "are my gears gonna bind" than get help or just pay for a shop setup.

You might try calling someone like Randy's Ring & Pinion and ask them if there are any shops in your area they recommend to do a gear install. They should be able to refer you to a shop that they sell lots of gears to. If your going to pay to have it done, at least make sure it is a shop/mechanic that has experience doing gear installs. Otherwise try doing it yourself.

I really want to try and do it myself and save some money. I have a press, bearing splitter, dial indicator with mag. base.....

Any other special tools that I would need to do it myself?

Thanks for all the advice BTW.

inch-pound torque meter for reading pinion bearing preload

I've found that the biggest job was pulling the old bearings off the carrier without destroying them. I wanted those because I then ground down the ID of the carrier bearings, ground down the OD of the inner pinion race bearing and ID of outer pinion bearing. Viola!! I have set up bearings for nothing. Just alot of elbow grease.

I have set up only three sets(HP60, LP44, LP60) and mine are good to go. I am confident in my skills. Just read up, study, and find a good mentor to help you out.

Funny thing is I will have about four other guys staring over my shoulder watching! Maybe between all of us we might figure it out.:D

I found that when I made small single adjustments at a time, I was able to get it perfect. My first set took me 18 adjustments to get it. Second set took me only 8, My last one took me only 5. Get your BL first. Once BL is in spec, then check for pattern. Then adjust for pattern as much as you can until BL is out of spec. Then you need to re-adjust for BL and back to pattern. Thats the technique i used.

Also, when I adjusted pinion depth, I wouldn't touch the carrier. Vice/Versa, If I adjusted Carrier, I wouldn't touch pinion. But that was dependent on how close I was. Another technique: When checking for BL, I Took a minumam of 3 measurements equally spaced(2 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 10 o'clock) to verify BL is within .0005 of each measurement. This ensures all is good and perfect. If you seeing a .0015 or more difference, somethings wrong.

Pattern: I would coat 4 ring gear teeth directly opposite of each other so I would have two patterns to compare to ensure consistancy in the set up. These are some of MY techniques I use. Others have thier own. but in the end, all comes out tits if you do it right. Its all about patience and accuracy.

Edit: here is a thread I started when I didn't know anything:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636431

First , download a couple of catalogs and tech bulletins from Dana/Spicer online , they are free to download and full of more info then anyone could ever need .In book form (before the interweb thingy)my stack of free dana/spicer books is about 12 inches tall when stacked ,the same stuff is on web.

After setting up about 100 axles , a friend just gave me a axle guide book ,written by Randy from Randy's ring and pinions , from Randy's .The book has some glaring flaws in tech , but it would be a terrific guide to learn from ,just be advised , it is flawed here and there.That just means you may have to ask someone if something just doesn't make sense.

When I started out poor ,I set up 40 or so axles with a grinder to cut off old bearings and tubes to drive on new bearings and I consulted experts allot , and a dial indicator and inch pound bar style torque wrench.It took patience and study ,but I never set up a dud and I make an extra $1000 or so a year now that the O.L. doesn't know about :laughing:Jeep money , so it was worth the patience (I've been at it on the side for nearly 20 years , so it did add up)

I have access to lifts , so I prefer to just have someone drop off a running veh and I give it back running , bench building really is a pain when you've done both.

I charge about $250 for a rear and a little more for a front ,depending on what style ,but its not my main gig and I don't really do it for an income , I have a blast and then I buy Jeep parts , so everyone wins.

My friend that has a 4x4 shop would charge a base of probably $350 for an easy axle and up from there.And again , allot of times he will call me to do it for him so he can do somethin else , as I enjoy it more then him.

i know a couple of the local shop owners and they charge me about $150 per axle if out of the vehicle and torn down. It takes them about a week, i think they pay one of their guys under the table and pocket the rest. I dont ask questions i just wanted my axle regeared and i didnt have the time to do it.

I have a some-what "equiped" shop to work in. I can borrow/buy the tools needed. I 've just never done it before. I want advice wether or not to take it somewhere or try to do it myself.

as long as you dont need the car to get you to work on monday spend a weekend messing with it and you will get the hang of it. Its not really that complicated its just alot of steps that need to be done and done right. If you read online there is tons of axle rebuilding tech, sorry i dont have any of the links saved from when i was doing my first regear

In the Southeast, anywhere from $150 to $300 per axle is the norm, just depending on what shop you take it to. A bigger shop or a dealer with more overhead is going to be closer to the $300 mark or more.

Like said, if it's broke down, you can usually get it a little cheaper. Some race car shops that do a lot of 9" rear ends (Drop out 3rd member) will do it for $100, as long as it's a drop out 3rd.

Tools to do this aren't cheap for the average DIYer..... Can do it without a press, but you take a greater risk of damaging a bearing.
Some diffs use shims inside of the bearings, which means to make adustments, you have to pull them off... You can get around this by using set up bearings, but you have to buy another set of bearings $$$.


If you're confident you're only going to do this once or twice in the long term future, pay somebody.

I have....
$250 in a case spreader
$50 in a 40 inch breaker bar (great for crush sleeves)
$350 in a Randy's Carrier bearing puller
$65 in an inch pound torque wrench
$110 in a shop press.
$100 in a pair of calipers
and these prices were a few years ago..

Other things include a couple of BFH's, lots of brass/aluminum drifts for knocking out bearing races, a clamshell bearing puller, homemade bearing installation/removal jigs, feeler gauges, a bigger torque wrench for the ring gear bolts/pinion nut/carrier cap bolts, you will need a can of brake cleaner per axle, a big pipe wrench to hold the yoke, a vise to hold the diff while you torque the ring gear bolts, etc, etc.. An air compressor/ impact wrench also makes your life much easier.

You can get by without a lot of this stuff, but you have to get creative. I've done it both ways.

I just did it on my dana 44, for the first time, there is a lot of info out there on spicer's, take your time double check eveything.:D I was quoted here in california, $300 per axle.:eek:

Thanks Guys!


I have a funny story for yall. I was sent to a local shop in town by the guys at NAPA. They said he was a stand up guy and was good. I stopped in and talked to the owner. Conversation went like this:

Me- I got a Hp 44 and a FF60 I need regeared that are installed in my Jeep. I have all of the parts. I need a qoute on just labor.

Him- Are the axles under the Jeep now or do I have to put them in the Jeep. You know that takes alot of work.

Me- No. The axles are under the Jeep and the Jeep is drivable. All I need is the gears to be changed from 3.54 to 5.38. I have all of the parts, gears, carriers and two new master install kits.

Him- OH! OK, Well that just dropped your bill down a good bit, ha ha! well one axle will take 8 hours to set up, my shop rate is $50 per hour. So $400 per axle, so a total of $800. No! Wait those are not front loading axles they will be at least $500 an axle.

Me- Soooo, You are telling me just labor is going to be $1000.

Him- Yep, I have setup hundreds of axles at the Ford place. I know I can do the work.

Me- Price sounds a little high to me.

Him- Well shit I can't do it for free!

Me- *walking out the door* Thanks Have a nice day.



Maybe I'm crazy but does that seem a little high?

From the sound of the conversation, they don't know what they're doing, they were going to outsource it to another shop, pay the other shops rate, and pad their pockets nicely.

$150 to $300, shop around. I don't know how close you are but Clemson 4WD Center may be able to help you out.