I read elsewhere that if there is a "M" code in the part number for the Ford 4:10 gears they are considered rejects. Supposedly they require special setup, but will still make noise. Then the guy said a "good set" comes from Twist Racing. Well, I had a Ford mechanic put in gears at his home, and guess what? The gears are "M" code and make a roaring noise. At least the roaring noise has improved in the month I've had them to where it is only a little noticable. It makes me wonder if he improved his margin by buying a cheap piece of junk part? Opinions?
if the part number has an "M" at the end, then its made by motive. motive is a less expensive gear. if it has "A" at the end, is a ford made gear. the "M" 4.10s have cause many stang owners headaches. the "A" gears are the good ones, and well worth the extra money to buy. the ford made gears are over $200, but thats still cheaper than buying a second set of gears to replace the motive made ones. SOME HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS with the "M" gears. but many have. more often than not, they say they should have got the "A" gears. not worth the risk, IMO. you very rarely see a problem with the "A" gears.
M I think, and will have to check the box later, that my gears stock number started with an M, not ending with an M. Is that still a "Motive" gear? It makes me lose faith in the guy that installed the gear.
all the gears start with something like "m-4209-" the ones you need to watch out for end with "410M" and not "410A". here are the good gears: http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=9031
I don't know... hate to say I've been lucky... but I've been running Motive gears in the last several mustangs I've owned and never had an issue with whine. Last two sets in two different stangs the install was by the same mechanic so maybe that is why and they were all 3.90's not 4.10's
The shop i took my car to installed tne M code gears and he couldn't get then quiet, so he installed another brand new set and they also whined. Finally he pulled those and the gears I have now are Yukon 4.11:1 and are nice and quiet. I was told the M code gears have some kind of problem by the shop that worked on my car. BTW the M gears I had were made in Italy.
Aren't the clutch packs in the S197 also different than previous models? I thought I've read/heard they were changed to work better with the power output of the GT500. I just believe the combo of Motive gears and the new rears just aren't that friendly, not that the gears are inferior quality. P.S. Glad you got fixed up Casey
I recently read on one of these forums that Ford gears are now all made by Motive. Don't know how true it is, but that's what I read.
Casey was also telling me(I believe his second set of gears were like this)they are now chromed as well. Not the usual dark grey/black look
Yeah, M is for Motive, A is for American. The general consensus is that the A's are better than the M's. While some will say they've never had problems with Motives, I've never heard one complaint about the American made FRPP gears. I chose not to risk it, and went with the A gears. Very happy.
I talked to a parts tech at FRPP today, he said that Ford Racing stopped making the 4.30 because no one was buying them anymore. Luckily they(Ford Racing) still make the 4.10s and a few other ratios.
So they are the ford gears and making a roaring sound... they shouldn't make noise from the get go if installed correctly. I think (don't know this for sure) this is a part of the problem with Motive gears. If the mechanic installs the ring and pinion like any other ford gear the tolorences will be off and whine will be present. Every set of Motive Performance gears I have purchased has a little white piece of paper with the proper backlash and tolorences printed right on it for the mechanic to use.
Mechanics dont even look at the instructions that come with our parts anymore. Most of them just install things the way the know how. In most cases that is a good thing unless you buy something special that has certain modifications they are not used to. I always include the instruction booklets with the parts I send to whomever is making a modification to my vehicle. This along with a piece of handwritten information on any special instructions they might be interested in. Go with the FRPP's, but if Ford doesnt make a 4.30 then? Go to someone who really give a s*** about cars.
M or A probably isn't as important as who installs them. I had a set of the A gears installed and they failed. Guy didn't do a good job and I blame myself for not doing my homework on who would do a good install. JMO~
