D18

Hi Guys, I tore down my D18, changing to twin stick. The intermediate gear has one chipped tooth and the output shaft gear shows some wear. I made the decision to replace all the gears and bearings. I have two gear options in mind. #1: stock replacements. #2 Teraflex low 18. My questions to you are, Where to acquire the best stock gears? & What is the general consensus, on the quality of the Teraflex gears & components? Thanks

 

I went for the Terra low kit for my Dana 20 that I just got through rebuilding. I have not not run them yet, and the gears looked good. I have not seen or read any negative reviews on them so far! I feel good about them as I am only going to run my Chevy II 153 inline four infront of them and think they should be as good as the stock gears. I would go for the Terra low kit, again just my $.08 worth ( inflation has raised the cost of my $.02 worth).

 

Tough call, that chipped tooth may not do you too much harm. On a daily driver, and can't believe too many cj5's are DD, that might be a problem. I bought the Tera low kit for my Wrangler 5 years ago. Not much hardcore wheeling since then, but, it works great. Price has gone up 400 bucks since then, ouch. But, it's half the t-case, not just gears.

 

I put the Terra Lows in the 3B right after they came out-maybe 10 to 12 years back. No problems at all except that I am back to a noisy intermediate gear (had tapered roller setup for the factory gears). I will say I was certainly a bit skeptical about the longevity after seeing the "made in Taiwan" but the set is apparently pretty good as there is a lot of power on them in my application. Wouldn't hesitate to buy another set and I may yet put a set in the CJ5.

 

I have wondered why the Tera low gears don't just come with the tapered bearing conversion. From what Duffer says, in the long term they need it.

 

yep!

 

Made in Taiwan is pretty good stuff generally, the made in China is the problem and thats where most of the Omix ada parts are made. The best parts to return it to stock would be junkyard parts that are in good shape unless you can find some NOS gears. I would not have problems with gears made in Taiwan, I have run a alot of Taiwan built machine tools and most all of them have been of good quality unless you go back more tha 30 years.

 

Thanks All for your insight on this. The gears ran quietly, but knowing one is compromised will bug me. The best price I can find for Tera gears is $703 & free shipping, Oconee Off Road. Anyone know of a better price? Pro’s & Con’s of this vendor? Thanks again... Paul