Trail Gear gears?

[alkaline747trio]

Trail Gear has 5.29 Hi Reverse gears for about $75-100 cheaper than anyone else. Does this mean they aren't worth buying, or does it mean get these if you're on a budget and dont worry they aren't going to break.

[sine80]

Originally Posted by alkaline747trio

Trail Gear has 5.29 Hi Reverse gears for about $75-100 cheaper than anyone else. Does this mean they aren't worth buying, or does it mean get these if you're on a budget and dont worry they aren't going to break.

Buy them if you dont care about ethics, back stabbing, stealing designs from other companies, or supporting china. They are the only company testing their products though.

mike

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Originally Posted by sine80

Buy them if you dont care about ethics, back stabbing, stealing designs from other companies, or supporting china. They are the only company testing their products though.

mike

LOL, well put

[Tapage]

I'm seen pretty nice stuff from trail gear .. in last 6 months .. I will try something cheap to test it ..

[Isotel]

My buddies TG gears are holding up just fine..

We all shop at walmart, and are good Americans who supports all kinds of Horribly unethical companies, hell our country is run by unethical people, Why have a double standard when buying crap for our rigs?

[sine80]

Originally Posted by Isotel

My buddies TG gears are holding up just fine..

We all shop at walmart, and are good Americans who supports all kinds of Horribly unethical companies, hell our country is run by unethical people, Why have a double standard when buying crap for our rigs?

Double standard?

I don’t claim to be holier than thou—in fact I never have. I can claim to have purchased a set of shocks from trail gear prior to coming to realize what I know about the company today. Yes, yes, they were shipped quickly and free and prices were cheaper than others selling the same product. It boils down to personal preference and where each of us chooses to spend our hard earned cruiser dollars. Additionally, my intention of this post is not to beat a dead horse, the horse is decayed and is detritus now.

I can say for almost 100% certainty each of us has shopped at WalMart. Ok, maybe not everyone of us, but the majority have. Little if no attention to where the products there are manufactured and more than likely no one thinks twice about it. However, some of us do. I try to not shop at WalMart unless it’s a midnight emergency and I need something right away before a run or for work. In the last 6 months, I think I may have been there twice. Both times were for something I desperately needed and they seemed to be the only place open at the time. Will my quasi boycott change anything like stock price? No, more than likely not. But, again, it’s a personal choice.

I’ve read the threads, made a choice and I think I’m better off not running their stuff. I originally bought a set of 6 bolt arms and hysteer kit from Marlin over a year ago. Knuckles never came out. I have no intention on running the TG stuff. Personal choice.

I tend to support vendors who support not only the TLCA but also the cruiser community. Funny—I don’t seem to recall seeing TG supporting TLCA or the cruiser community at all.

[greenfox]

I have nothing to say that has not bin said all ready about t/g. I would not by gears because they are cheep do some research first on the type of gears you need. To hard to softness of the gears and how will the gears set up and wear over time. There is a lot more to gears then you think.

[alkaline747trio]

This is why I asked, sounds like they will work fine. But will probably wear out quicker or break easier, and are cheaper for a reason. I'll see what kind of package install deals I can get, but if I have to piece this together, as long as these arent going to grenade first time out, I might just buy them. I dont see them as being any worse off than walmart, and the whole copying thing...who knows, coulda been a race to be first and TG just lost.

[orangefj45]

i do NOT shop at wallmart. then again, i don't shop at TG either............

[Mace]

Originally Posted by alkaline747trio

I dont see them as being any worse off than walmart, and the whole copying thing...who knows, coulda been a race to be first and TG just lost.

Go read more, it was not a race between 2 vendors developing a product.

[woody]

guys, there IS a tech question here....or should I move the thread to Chat?

[orangefj45]

you're absolutley correct woody.

fwiw, i have never run any trail gear parts and never will. but when i see a vendor selling gears for $75-100 less than other vendors then i have to ask myself "how can they be so much cheaper"? the savings have to come from somewhere, be it production, labor or materials. neither of them i'd want to skimp on if my fun time on the trail might be cut short due to parts failure. so i tend to stick with tried and trued.

i've bought a ton of gears from reider racing and randy's ring and pinion. i like precision gear but would stay away from richmond.

i guess determining who really makes the gears and where should help you make your decision. for some of us, ethics play a big part as well when purchasing products.

[agent orange]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

when i see a vendor selling gears for $75-100 less than other vendors then i have to ask myself "how can they be so much cheaper"?

I just ordered some 4.88 sierra gears from cruiser outfitters which were a good 75 dollars cheaper than almost everyone else, and i was asking myself the same questions. The response i got from kurt was volume and lack of name brand associated costs. It very well could be that because trail gear seems to have a high volume/low cost sales style that that could be a big part of the reduced cost.

-Matt

[65swb45]

Originally Posted by agent orange

I just ordered some 4.88 sierra gears from cruiser outfitters which were a good 75 dollars cheaper than almost everyone else, and i was asking myself the same questions. The response i got from kurt was volume and lack of name brand associated costs. It very well could be that because trail gear seems to have a high volume/low cost sales style that that could be a big part of the reduced cost.

-Matt

Which begs the question of where BOTH of them buy their gears? If they're both Chinese, there may even be a connection. How deep do you really want to dig?

As for the tech: "...as long as these arent going to grenade first time out, I might just buy them." I just don't get this mentality. Really shortsighted. Not only is it a PITA to change out a 3rd on the trail, if you're out with a group, you're raining on everyone's parade. I thought the whole point of a gear change was to UPGRADE. So buying questionable parts from questionable vendors doesn't make sense in a 'tech' sense, as woody would have it.

Thanks for the link Mike. Hardly ever visit the hardcore section.

[camcruiser13]

i have purchased items from about every vendor in this place, nothing bad to say about any of them and will continue to buy from whoever,

i say buy what you can afford. probably nothing wrong with them, high volume low prices. or so they say, lots of people run them and have no problems,

[orangefj45]

here's another thought and it's all about tech:

why would anybody want to run 5.29 gears, and on top of that in reverse pattern?!

any gearset for a toyota third is notoriously weak if you go 4.88 or lower. besides that, reverse cut gears are even lower since the pressure gets excerted (sp?!) on the coast side of the gear.
so running 5.29s in reverse cut does'nt sound like a great way to go.

if this were my rig, i would put a doubler in it and run 4.56s or 4.88s . set it up so the gearing works well on the highway and the doubler will give you more than enough low range.

that way you'll have the best of both worlds: strong gears, super low gearing, your choice of tons of different final drive ratios and freeway-ability.

but that's just me.

[agent orange]

Originally Posted by 65swb45

Which begs the question of where BOTH of them buy their gears? If they're both Chinese, there may even be a connection. How deep do you really want to dig?

I want to say that he told me they were made in italy, but i might be wrong. Im pretty positive the sierras are not chinese. Maybe kurt will chime in and inform us.

[bkg]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

here's another thought and it's all about tech:

why would anybody want to run 5.29 gears, and on top of that in reverse pattern?!

any gearset for a toyota third is notoriously weak if you go 4.88 or lower. besides that, reverse cut gears are even lower since the pressure gets excerted (sp?!) on the coast side of the gear.
so running 5.29s in reverse cut does'nt sound like a great way to go.

if this were my rig, i would put a doubler in it and run 4.56s or 4.88s . set it up so the gearing works well on the highway and the doubler will give you more than enough low range.

that way you'll have the best of both worlds: strong gears, super low gearing, your choice of tons of different final drive ratios and freeway-ability.

but that's just me.

That's incredibly poor and innacurate information. 5.29's are plenty strong if setup properly - I've run them in 3 vehicles residing behind crawlers w/o a problem.

You are also incorrect about Reverse Rotation gears - When installed in a HP pinion on the front, the pressure will be exerted on the drive side rather than weaker coast side of the gears. I've run HP's in two vehicles with never a problems - with properly setup gear sets.

[Isotel]

anyone else have some input on this? ive always read that R&P's get weaker the deeper the gearing due to the pinion getting smaller! most of the hard core Yota guys run 4.11's because of the strength issues with lower gear sets

Id LOVE some 5.29's for my rig, but have yet to do it due to cost, and the strength issues.. i dont want to drop $1000 on gears to break them on the trail, and end up back at 4.10's

BKG,
Looks like your Runner has a 3.Slow with 35's - you have to remember that in this Section of Mud Healthy V8's and 40" Tires are the norm.

[bustanutley]

Originally Posted by bkg

That's incredibly poor and innacurate information. 5.29's are plenty strong if setup properly - I've run them in 3 vehicles residing behind crawlers w/o a problem.

You are also incorrect about Reverse Rotation gears - When installed in a HP pinion on the front, the pressure will be exerted on the drive side rather than weaker coast side of the gears. I've run HP's in two vehicles with never a problems - with properly setup gear sets.

5.29's blow up pretty easy in the 80s front. Even with the benefit of the high pinion.

I have seen 4 fail this year so far

[orangefj45]

Originally Posted by bkg

That's incredibly poor and innacurate information. 5.29's are plenty strong if setup properly - I've run them in 3 vehicles residing behind crawlers w/o a problem.

this is the hardcore section, not the DD hang-out. so if you're gonna point fingers at me for spewing misinformation then please make sure that you do not take my statement out of context.

what is the tooth count on a set of 5.29s? 7, maybe 8 teeth on a pinion. so how much tooth contact does that offer? you do the math.....

[greenfox]

Originally Posted by Isotel

anyone else have some input on this? ive always read that R&P's get weaker the deeper the gearing due to the pinion getting smaller! most of the hard core Yota guys run 4.11's because of the strength issues with lower gear sets

Id LOVE some 5.29's for my rig, but have yet to do it due to cost, and the strength issues.. i dont want to drop $1000 on gears to break them on the trail, and end up back at 4.10's

BKG,
Looks like your Runner has a 3.Slow with 35's - you have to remember that in this Section of Mud Healthy V8's and 40" Tires are the norm.

Yes you are correct putting 5.29's in is making you pinion smaller there for weaker.

If I didn't drive my cruiser on the road I would run 3.70's for the extra strength


I wheeled with a mini that had hp 5.29 gears and a hybrid axles with 44 outers. Th first trip out he put the arb in a snapped the pinion, He did it two more times and he had enough so a D 60 went into its place.

[bkg]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

this is the hardcore section, not the DD hang-out. so if you're gonna point fingers at me for spewing misinformation then please make sure that you do not take my statement out of context.

what is the tooth count on a set of 5.29s? 7, maybe 8 teeth on a pinion. so how much tooth contact does that offer? you do the math.....

There is more to strength than pinion tooth count. Contact surface is just as important, like you mention, but setup (and brand) is important also. I've seen more 4.10's go than 5.29's. I've also seen more 4.88's go than 5.29's - both of which were in street and mildly wheeled rigs.

Sure - if you throw a healthy V8, heavy right foot, low gears and 40+ tires at a Toy axle, you're going to have problems, regardless of the ratio, but a blank statement that 5.29's are weak is inherently inaccurate.

[greenfox]

I think it comes down to driving style that's what I said in my first post.

[Kavik]

Try Machinewave...Great service and prices. Insist on Precision or other high qualty gear. No name/off brand is not the right answer for such a critical component.