Hello all, just got off the phone with the friendly guy at the ford dealership... I wanted to go to 3.73 gears...my 2014 V6 came with 3.31 and i thought this would be a relatively easy cheap upgrade...the plan was to get the gear/tuner combo from AM, because I already put in the Airaid CAI. Now here is the crazy part...I knew dealerships quoted high, but there was something to be said with having them doing the work and being under warranty. Gears - $209 ($160 on AM), pinion, bearing, and oil $137...and LABOR was $920!!! Thats a freaking joke right? right? He even thought I should upgrade the housing for the gears at a 200 dollar price tag for basically a high grade aluminum housing...Doubt thats worth it on a new car...

Overall I was flabbergasted by the pricing and was wondering what you all were paying and what was actually necessary when changing gears on a car with under 3xxx miles... If anyone around here is near or around the Saint Louis area and knows of good, reputable, certified shops to do the work that would be greatly appreciated...I'm ready for lots of feedback and personal experiences with dealers, or private shops...Thanks in advance. (and sorry for the long post)

 

That's at least 9 hrs labor for a gear change. That's pretty dang steep. But get ready to pay around $500 or so labor for the job. Average is between $300-500. It's not just a matter of unbolting and throwing them in. Setting up a rear end should be done by experienced professionals.

 

the 920 seems about 300 to 400 high of course they are union and certified by ford workers

 

He said these new mustangs have a lot more stuff in the way such as sway bars and other yada yada...He was trying to explain to me all the work they would have to do almost trying to make me feel sorry for them...I'm like just quote me your prices already...I have no problem spending 300-500 on labor, but 920 seemed like the craziest thing I've heard in a while!

 

I talked to my salesman that sold me the car who has been at the dealership a long time and he gave me the number of the tech that does their gear work in their shop. I got with him and he did it for me for $400 cash on the side

Took him about 5 hours. He did a great job and I knew he was well qualified.

I supplied gears, install kit, gear oil, and friction modifier.

 

That's a ridiculous case of stealership right there...

Nick C.

 

Dealerships and techs are not union. But they should be with $100/hr labor rate and techs making $25 of it.

 

my bad

 

That's what you tell someone when you don't want to do the work. The guy knew it doesn't take 9 hours.

 

That's crazy.. I wish there was some way to regulate these people and there prices.. they're always just trying to take advantage. And even when you know what work is involved, they still try simply because if they do it doesn't void any warranty. Thieves. I need to get installed a spoiler since my car didn't have one, and im getting charged $175. they don't have to paint it or anything, just make the holes and then install. idk if $175 is high or low, but seems high to me..

 

My local dealer did mine for $600 labor.

 

350-450 for labor, tops.

 

I had a dealer quote $1100 - $1200 labor..did the same yada yada crap with me...a local shop looked the job up and quoted 5 hours of labor ($400).

 

I paid 277 dollars for my 3:73 gears and one piece aluminum driveshaft install. 3.6 hours and done. 9 hours, heck no. Not if the person is good and knows what he is doing. Dude charged me 75 dollars hour labor. That price was for install only and not purchase of gears and install kit.

 

Yes that is too high.

 

$900!.....That's super ridiculous, even for a dealership. I paid $500 for my Ford dealer to install 3.55 gears. I would try a different dealership then look for reputable local shops. I supplied the gears and install kit. They supplied everything else.

 

Sway bar takes all of about 3 minutes to clear out of the way of the rear differential cover. I removed the cover in my garage while it was on jack stands to replace it (cover) with a Ford Racing one, so that rear gear oil changes would be easier (cover has a drain/fill hole). I'll agree that the gear swap is not nessesarily for the novice mechanic, but if yours is telling you the sway bar is a problem to clear, he's giving you a bit of junk.

 

I went in not too long ago to find out how much the install would be. Tech guy had no clue what was going on since the 13 or 14 mustang wasn't in the computer yet or something.. So eventually a manager calls me the next day and says the only way he'll feel "safe" ( for lack of a better word, forget which one he used ) doing this was taking the rear out out of a GT500 and putting in my 14 V6. He claims he's been with Ford Racing for 10 years yada yada and this is the only way I should go about changing my gears. Kept telling me 3.73 would kill the resale value, so it'd be smart to just replace the whole thing, and keep my 3.31's incase the new owner down the road wanted em. Quoted me at 1825 for everything. I laughed hard.

 

I had mine done by steeda for $500 parts and labor.

 

Sounds like he's inexperienced and doesn't trust his own skills. I've had my local mechanic do it twice for about 450 each time and they were perfectly done each time. No whine and no issues whatsoever. The first swap he said was a bit tricky and took him a little longer than he wanted but he wanted to do it right.