Off roader,

I am not sure I follow what you just said.

Are you saying that the whole process is a hit & miss affair because the gear cutter doesnt know how much the gears will shrink after heating.

Surely gears cutting must be more precise that this, after all I believe Hardmann also make the side gears for ARB lockers.

Your right Ian. He does work with ARB although recently I heard they may have gone with a cheaper alternative in Asia which is why cheap ARB lockers are being sold in Asia.

As for the shrinkage it's consistent but they don't know exactly how big it needs to be during the design phase. Once they do a few samples the are able to figure it out so it can be produced consistently. At least that's what I understand. Maybe someone who is willing to look the process up or knows more about the process is here and can chime in. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Ray,

But given that these gears have already been designed for many years now shouldnt they already know what the shrinkage rate is?? Or maybe the problem occurs with every batch made & since the source material would be different from gears made years ago , they need to work out the shrinkage rate of the new source material??

Maybe Frank can elaborate if he's reading.

If I read it correctly, you mean we'd have to buy somewhere around 100 to,produce Newer bigger gears? But the gears (3.15) have already been copied & being made, just need to be heat treated, right? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

As far as I know the case cannot take bigger gears, I spoke to mark some years ago about that.

Sorry about the confusion guys. The shrinkage happens consistently each time you cut gears.

In the case of the xcase gears, he's already determined the correct size to make them so this production/manufacturing shrinkage is no longer an issue.

I was asking Frank why Mark doesnt make a set of 5.29:1 r&p for the SR's? He told me its due to this gear shrinkage & number he'd have to go through in R&D to figure out the exact cutting dimensions prior to heat treating to produce a good set. We'd have to pay for that if we wanted other kinds of gears like r&p's made up by Mark or any other gear cutter. It helps explain why so few companies are willing to make r&p gears. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

ah thanks for the clarification

I wudnt confuzed butt i wunt to skool and i is edjamacated. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

No, I had to read it twice but when I saw you were talking about ring and pinions I just assumed they were 5.29 for the SR Montero.

Search Tribolas on OL, he put a set of 9" 5.29's in the 9.5 with little modifications. AzCrew has confirmed the compatibility between the 2 axles. Just sayin'.

G'day Guys,
Mark Hardman here. Along with Frank (aka Bitsamissin) we designed the original Gen 1 Mitsy Low range gear set. I have since produced Gen 2, 3 & 4 sets all with great success and feed back.
For me this was a side line project to help those who wanted low range gearing for their rigs that no one else was interested in helping. Our main gig is Mining equipment and parts for the oil and gas industry along with a lot of medical, scientific and some helicopter gearboxes thrown in the mix.
In November 2011 I purchased Marks 4WD Adaptors based in Dingley, Melbourne, Australia. We now have an outlet for selling and distributing the products we manufacture.
We started producing more gear sets in 2011 but with the integration of the new company along with already having a decent work load it has taken some time.
The gears will be stocked by Marks 4WD Adaptors so there is no need for a group buy. We are currently producing sets for Gen 1, 2, 3 & 4.
All sets will be ready to ship by the end of April.
We also produce low range sets for Nissan patrol and Toyota Landcruiser 40, 60 & 80 series.
We also produce sequential racing transmissions under the Star Transaxles logo. www.startransaxles.com
www.marks4wd.com
You can email me - mark@hardmanbros.com.au
I hope this clears up any misinformation.
Regards,
Mark Hardman - Marks 4WD Adaptors