New 4.88s - J&P SUCKS!!

So, i had to go get Adam's truck this past weekend since his friend was moving. Didnt think i could tow w/ the 3.55s that were in the rear axle so i ordered 4.88s about a week and a half ago from 4WPW, thank you to Scott's friend Jason for giving me a killer deal. Got Precision Gears and master install kit. Install kit came out of San Antonio and got here the next day, but gears had to come out of California and didnt come in 'til last wednesday. Once the gears came in i decided to take my truck up to work, and with the help of a guy from down the street set them up. NOTHING even pretended to cooperate and starting ~9pm we didnt finish until 7am. took the truck for a test drive and the rear end sounded fine, but there was a lot of noise coming from the transmission. After driving arond town about 15 miles i ended up at J&P at 730am....they dont open 'til 8. i sat and talked to the guys for about an hour and a half, asking if they could fix it by the next day, and they never offered a guarantee. So i just sat there...they did eventually start on it because one guy didnt have to do a project he thought he did. So after getting it torn apart, and put back together, seeing the amount of backlash that was in it they told me that i need a new, different carrier, that no one told me was necessary. I called Jason @ 4WPW back and he didnt even know that there was a carrier split. So, he hooked me up w/ the mgr of the San Antonio store who was AWESOME in getting me what i needed...shipped to J&P next day air from Ohio: FREE and ~30% off the carrier. once J&P got the carrier they let me know that it needed to be machined to accept the exciter ring so my speed sensor would work, so Lisa went to pick it up and brought it to Vilas, took about 45mins to machine it but i got it done, and the exciter ring installed. I sent the carrier back to J&P and they finished the install, then tried to charge me $50 for them getting new carrier bearings, which i had just gotten in my install kit. those charges were removed, and overall the owner was a sh!thead and i was not pleased when i was informed that they used a 3lb mallet to install my carrier and pinion bearings. evidently thats how they do them all. also, when i told the guy i had gotten the gears set to .008" backlash he asked me how i knew that, and i told him i had used a dial gauge...he replied, "gauge? what the f*ck for? we dont use no f*ckin' gauges". hmmm....this was coming from the guy who had driven turner andoe's jeep home the night before...and i know this b.c. i was there before anyone else and saw him come hauling ass into the parking lot, then into the shop where he immediately started working on it. they did at least compliment on the idiocy of putting an 8.8" in a Jeep :rolleyes:. overall not happy w/ J&P, will never take them any business ever again, as i will advise to everyone else in this club. i know how to setup gears now, and am pretty confident i can do it at least as good as J&P, so it was at least a learning experience. Pics of MY install will be up on my photo album sometime in the future. Had to edit to do more *****ing....new gears towed the empty trailer to Dallas just fine. did my best to break them in before heavy hauling. had about 50 miles on them before i hooked up the trailer, and 250 before i loaded the truck. both times cooled completely beforehand. Gear oil in the rear had pretty much liquified on the drive back b.c. they used too thin of gear oil. it was also leaking out of the bottom of the diff cover because J&P doesnt believe in gaskets. in conclusion, J&P SUCK MY BALLS! that is all.

this is in fact the first negative experience anyone in this club has had with J&P. I don't think them driving home customer's vehicles is a very cool deal, and about the 8.8, to each his own. I have had nothing but good experience with them. They did a good job on Lissa's, but I didn't show up with a half finished job and ask them to fix my mistake. I just gave them the gears and the install kit. I am not talking **** Austin, I just know I wouldn't want to go in after someone elses work and fix it. Of course they are rednecks, they live and work in College Station...(wait a minute...)

i wasnt talking sh!t about the 8.8"...just stating that the guy who owns the place was because he didnt know any better. i didnt show up w/ a half finished job really, they took everything apart and started from scratch just like they would've done if i had taken it to them in the 1st place.

and this is IN FACT not the 1st negative experience that anyone in the club has had w/ them....this was the SECOND negative experience I'VE had w/ them. the 1st was the transmission they overcharged me to rebuild then it broke 12,000 miles later. i took it in to have the 3rd gear synchro replaced, and they decided that it needed a 5th and reverse assembly too (no previous problems w/ either of these), which they charged me just under $300 for. after that for the 1st 3,000 miles i had the transmission it would pop out of overdrive unless i held the shifter in place. couldnt take it back and have them do anything about it b.c. it was my daily driver at the time and it was a summer i was living away from here. by the time i had gotten back here i already had the ZF in.

you forgot to mention that i painted your diff cover bling bling gold

The dial gauge part concurs with what I've heard about them...
Another friend of mine said he had them set up gears in his scout, and asked them how they did it, and it was "slap em in there and see how it looks." However, this is not necessarily bad, as I understand their prices are the best around and I have never heard of anybody breaking gears J&P had set up.

The guy at 4wp's is Jeremy. He is in my wedding so everyone can meet the guy they call all the time...

Also, there are two methods for setting gears - the dial gauge and then use the compound to check your work

or

just start with the compound (paint) and adjust it till you get the pattern right. It is much easier this way as long as you know what each shim does to the pattern

I never had a problem with J&P, But I only took my empty front 44 up there and had them set up the gears....$140 out the door i think. We also took one of brian ritchey's friend's jeeps up there to have the rearend set up in it, and they did a good job. Of course that was 2-3 years ago, so things could've changed.

Yeah, but what about pinion depth? That has to be set before you start messing w/ backlash. I don't think a dial indicator is a bad idea. You can also measure runout also. The best way to measure pinion depth is w/ an indicator that sits in the bearing caps.

Gear guys can interpret the markings on the ring and pinion and adjust things as needed according to what was stock. When I got my gears set by a buddy here, he told me not to remove anything. He had the 8.8 set up in like 30 mins, and when I picked that up I dropped off the D30 and went to the ATM for money...I got back in about 10-15 mins and it was finished.

thanks to tate this is what my rear diff looks like after the night @ Vilas....which is why i went ahead and painted his frame the rest of the way for him.

http://www.texasoffroad.net/albums/l...0805.sized.jpg

nice diff cover. u r gay.