East Coast Gear Supply CEO Interview and Tour

Hey Dudes,

I've been wanting to re-gear the diffs on my 98 4runner for quite some time, but I was holding out for the right opportunity and it finally happened. It was a total shot in the dark but I hit up ECGS with a proposal to shoot my diff re-gears/rebuilds at their facility which would also include installing a front Eaton e-locker. I was stoked to find out Chase Perry, the CEO of the company, agreed to the deal. I considered doing the work myself, but through my research, differential work is sort of an art that you get better with lots of repetition. So, I thought the subject matter would be much better presented by them, since they are the experts that do this day in and day out.

In addition to the diff re-gear/rebuilds, we interviewed Chase Perry and he took us on a tour of his facility in Louisburg, North Carolina. Chase has a great story to tell and his facility is very impressive.

If you're in the market for a re-gear and/or lockers installed and you watch this video, you'll probably want to send ECGS your diffs because there's no way you could watch it and not walk away with a very favorable impression of Chase Perry and the ECGS company he built from the ground up.

Enjoy the Show! The differential rebuild videos will be following soon. Stay tuned!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZS4fys3iFDE

 

Heck yeah! Looking forward to this. Big fan

 

Watched a number of your vids, this is cool!

 

Looking forward to another one of your videos! I have been very impressed with everything I have watched & read about ECGS. So they are building a 7.5" IFS clamshell front diff with a locker/solid spacer/CV bushing mod for my '97 TACO now. As they recommend, will be using the non-synthetic LUCAS HD SAE 85W-140 dino gear oil in both diffs and probably the tcase. I sure hope that little stub shaft comes out of my old diff easily. I read ECGS's Tech Article on it.

 

I got my differentials back from ECGS and so far I got the rear back in. I'm going to install the front on Sunday hopefully and film some updates to our original front differential swap video that will make it easier for people to remove and replace theirs. I got an Eaton (Harrop) e-locker installed in my front diff. What locker did you go with?

That stub shaft is a pain in the ass to get out. When we filmed the video years ago, I couldn't fit slide hammer puller jaws in there to grab the gear. Getting pry bars on either side of the gear didn't work either. I ended up out of frustration opening the case and knocking it out from the inside out. A friend of mine said he used a technique that worked by wrapping some wire under the gear head, running the wire through a large socket and then clamping a vice grips onto the wire as a stopper for the socket. He then used the large socket as a slide hammer and was able to pull it out.

I just looked at their tech article for what they suggest to get the stub shaft out. The pry bar technique is questionable. We were prying with significant force and decided to back off when it wouldn't budge. The technique of using a long punch and knocking it out from the driver side might work better.

 

@HIghlande2 @Blkvoodoo @ahspurlock

 

Yea they do damn good work and fast at it too . They rebuilt my 3rd member for my T4R because it was fubard with new 456 gears and ARB locker with solid bushing which was already in it to begin with lol

 

Right on! Way cool you got to do this @Timmah! ECGS gets my vote every time anyone asks about anything differential.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise they would give you a tour. You're becoming a bit of a legend in the Toyota Mod world, whether you want to admit it or not

 

Bud,
The front diff is out & I must be living right. My early Taco was made 1/97 and this early IFS diff. did not even use a stub axle. The axle itself is longer so plugs right into the carrier without the need for the stub axle shaft. And ECGS just called to say they are shipping my new diff today! It was ordered around 8 am this morning then I started taking out the old diff. pictured. ECGS said this early type axle is compatible with the new diff they are shipping now. It is actually preferred. I think I used up all the good luck I was due for this project.

EDIT: That orange Toyota FIPG made by Three Bond is about the toughest sealant I have ever removed. And I have been working on race cars/4WDs/trucks/Jeeps/etc. for about 55 years now. Was planning on just using Ultra-Gray for reassembly of the front diff and the tcase. But I may rethink that. It will be interesting to see what ECGS uses.

 

Long punch through the other side is the best way I've done it. I did manage to get it by prying on it the first time I did one. But that's really a pain in the ass. Way easier to do it from the other side.

 

Thanks. I'll have to take a look to see how easy it is to get a punch in there. That probably is the easiest way.

 

ECGS built my front diff and had it to me in just 4 days. This diff was built with the ECGS CV bushing (visible in pic) and a Spartan lunchbox locker with a solid pinion spacer. I put the then-new early Powertrax No-Slip auto locker in the rear diff 20 years ago & it is still working great for crawling around in the deep mud/high water here in MS. More traction from this front locking diff. should definitely help. Needed an OEM seal for the front axle tube & some orange FIPG which just arrived. So will assemble and install the front diff sometime this week. Will be very interesting to see the upcoming diff. rebuilding videos.

 

I've been having a terrible experience purchasing gears and lockers from Nitro. I will definitely use ECGS in the future.

 

It's a little surprising that they don't swap out the drain and fill plugs with the hex head ones...

 

Did you use one prybar or two? I’ve had great luck using two prybars to lift the stub shaft evenly. It’s pretty easy that way, done it a few times. Granted that’s on second gen Tacoma’s but I can’t imagine it’s much different from earlier years.

edit: Nevermind, just reread their article and it says to use two bars, so I assume you used two bars.

 

No problem. I simply pulled the plugs out of my old diff in preparation for returning it as a core. The black Rust Reformer paint is drying on the old plugs now along with the FIPG on the installed front axle tube. And the core will be returned in the same box that ECGS shipped their diff. to me. I asked ECGS for and received a return tag which makes it very easy.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, it is probably a good policy that you must pull the original fill & drain plugs for your new diff from ECGS. I remember reading that some DIYers were shipping their diff. without draining all the gear oil which can quickly become a HAZMAT goat rope.

 

They don't offer cryogenic treatments for there gears do they?

 

We really tried that two prybar method and we were applying a lot of force with no movement. I'd like to grind down some slide hammer puller arms so I could fit them in on the sides of the gear. Then I could easily slide hammer it out.