KidVermicious
New member
I wouldn't worry about replacing the ring and pinion with top shelf stuff unless you're drag racing, rock bouncing, or otherwise constantly abusing the truck to a high degree. If you need a specific recommendation, you can't go wrong with Yukon.
If you DO have a busted ring gear (which you don't know yet), and you decide to repair the diff you've got, you can expect at least $500-$600 in parts between the ring and pinion and setup kit with bearings. Labor will be another chunk of change, unless you know A Guy. I have A Guy that charges me $150 a diff if I bring him the bare diff and the parts, and I consider myself very lucky to know him. If you take it to a shop you can expect labor charges of at least $300, probably higher, and that assumes that you bring them the diff and not the whole truck, and they may not want to use outside stuff you've already ordered, preferring to overcharge you for their stuff. If you're going to regear, double all the above estimates because you'll need to do the front diff too. Guys can spend near $3000 regearing if they aren't careful, and that doesn't even factor in a locker, if that's on the agenda (protip - a locker adds traction and reduces the amount of stress on your driveline while wheeling, and if you're wheeling hard enough to be busting your diff gears it might be time to think about one). Another option is to order brand new thirds from an outfit like ECGS - still spendy, but assuming you do the labor yourself not quite as bad. A more economically sound alternative would be to find a used diff in the correct gear ratio and install THAT yourself, or find front and rear in your new gear ratio.
I don't know that I'd want to push 285s with 3.73 gears. Even if your truck has the power to get away with it, you'll lose a lot of low end torque with that setup. Check out this site, Gear Ratio Calculator - plug in your stock numbers and see what your RPM is at any given speed, then plug in your new tire size and play with the gear ratios until you get back to that original RPM/MPH number. Then buy gears the next ratio higher to make up for losses due to the wider heavier tire.
But don't get ahead of yourself. You don't even know what's wrong yet, it could be a busted spider gear or cracked axle shaft. Throw on the nastiest set of grungies you've got (because gear oil stinks) and crawl under there and yank that third out. Come back with pics of the carnage.
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