Portland Area Gear Installation

We only carry Nitro gears. We have not had any issues with Nitro gears as far as I know, and we do 2-3 gear jobs a week typically.

 

Just got my re-gear done by Padden. I went with 4.88 Yukons, so far so good. Padden are super nice folk, would use them again for sure.

 

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Just found this thread now unfortunately. I did my gears back in Mar 2020. I was in the same position, looking for local shops and what they would charge. I found the typical quotes other people have stated; ~3-4k. Seems excessive for a pretty straightforward job so I ended up going the ECGS route of replacement diffs, doing the swap myself and sending my old ones back. Worked out real well; 4.88 Yukons and the harrop elocker up front. Absolutely no issues, ECGS does great work. I'm slightly over geared, for my preference anyway, with the 6 speed manual and 35s; the power is great but highway cruising rpms aren't ideal. Plan is to eventually go to 37s though.

Sounds like the shop in Portland and the other one in Bend are offering amazing prices and I likely would've looked into them if I had found this thread back then. No regrets though and doing your own work is always rewarding.

 

Yea now that I've got some miles in I think I would have been happier with 4.29.

It is what it is, if I do decide to go back down I'm throwin a real LSD in there too.

 

OK, 2017 Short bed double cab with skinny 31.5 tires and a 6 speed manual. I am considering converting it to a flat bed and putting a full time camper on it. Since it will be grossly overloaded do I go 4.88 or 5.29? I don't plan on adding armor or a winch. Maybe some bolt on sliders. Has the 2 Lo mod for reverse.

 

FYI Paden Drivetrain is shutting down in Portland Area.
I just got off the phone with the owner, and he said he's been there 32 years and selling off parts as well.

He has some 4.88 Nitro gears in stock but no 5.29's which is what I'm trying to go with, in case anyone wants 4.88's.. pretty sure he'll sell em on the cheap.


...now I need to find somewhere else to get Nitro 5.29's done.
Just got done on a windy trip, and with wide 33's, diamondback HD, voodoo bedrack, Swift 1400 RTT, and loaded with gear, this thing was a SLUG. You could tell it was struggling badly.

 

Just put a down payment with Gear Works in Bend. So far great guy to deal with.
Getting 5.29 Yukons.

$2404 for a master kit installed. That's a killer deal for a master kit with install and Yukons at that.

 

Is that dropping your truck off or bringing 3rd member/clam shell into them?

 

Yeah, dropping my truck off so they can install… no bringing a clamshell or anything

 

Alright let me clarify: they’re shutting down because Mike (the owner) is finally retiring. He owns the building and it’s just been him and a buddy running the shop for several years. The way you said it makes it seem like they couldn’t keep the lights on . Great for him but a bummer I’ll have to find another gear shop.

 

Wow, that is a great deal

 

Dang. I was hoping to get gears done at Paden next year. Let me know what other shops you guys end up going to.

 

Well… I’m going with Gear Works out of Bend.. he mentioned he’s moving up here to PDX area potentially.

I’ll update when the gears come in (he had to order them), and the install happens.

 

I hope they take Mike’s shop and charges what he did. Was looking forward to getting it done at Paden (he seemed really nice) actually this year.

 

Alright....finally an update on the Yukon 5.29's...

Tom (the owner) of Gear Works moved his shop to Prineville, basically right in the center of town.
They share a shop with another company there, so it was slightly tricky to find, since the address isn't updated on any maps yet.

Anyway, drove down there last week from Milwaukie, and go there at 8am so they could start working on it.
They told me most likely they could get it done in a day, and I was hoping so, so I didn't have to stay in Prineville overnight.

They called me at 4pm (when they close), and said it was ready so I went a got it.
Came out to $2293 for a master kit of Yukon 5.29s.. install, parts, everything...

Did the break on the way home which really sucked...
The video on YouTube from Yukon on the break in procedure isn't the absolute best on instructions but what I believe I got out of it was..

15-20 miles city speeds, then 30 min rest for cool down. Do that twice.
15-20 miles highway speeds, then 30 min rest for cool down. Do that three times.

As you can see, the break in was extra annoying but worth it in the long run.... I got home at 11pm.
Trying to do 15-20 miles leaving Prineville doing "city driving" doesn't really work since it's all highway when you leave the small town, so I just drove around town till I hit the mileage for the city, and wasn't able to make progress home during that time unfortunately, but I wanted to break it in properly.


How it drives:

Amazing. Truck actually doesn't feel like a turd. It shifts excellently, has more pick up off the line, and cruises nicer, especially going uphill.
I wouldn't ever bother with 4.88's unless you are bone stock tbh, and even then why spend your money on gears with a stock truck.
I don't have any gear noise either... Maybe a slight more of a humming over stock gears but only in the 55mph range... it's barely noticeable.

70mph is ~2200rpm with my set up.

My MPG driving back over Mt. Hood was 16mph... That was with my big ass Ironman Swift 1400 tent up top and everything.
I was getting around 12mph with the set up before... Damn tent is a freakin' parachute. Tires also don't help (really wide 33s e-load).

Anyway, I would recommend the shop to anyone, it was a little challenging getting scheduled at first but overall was good.

 

Also I got a quote from Mule Outfitters and they quoted me over $4000 for the same service and that was with Nitro gears.

 

Wow prices have gone up. I paid I think about 2800 for my 5.29s from mule and they changed the diff oil after the initial break in as well. This was about a year and a half ago though.

 

That's a really good deal, I think I was quoted around $3500 a year ago from Mule. Gear works was tempting but had to factor in the cost to drive down/back (break-in) and hotel, so that wasn't worth it coming from Renton, WA.

 

Look up getting an Avants membership. It’s 99/year but you get discounts from a lot of places. Mule was 10% of labor I think. Mine has paid for itself several times over already.