Rearend Specialties

The guy who answers the phone is a dick. Mike seems like a good guy. Hopefully their work is as good as everyone says because their customer service is not as advertised.

Two different mechanics found oil on my breaks coming from a leaky seals. I got the service done roughly 15 months ago. After checking my repair file over the phone, they tell me that the warranty was out and that likely the service was done over 15 months ago because they login their info 2 months after the service is performed because they are always busy (BS). As soon as I mentioned if they would look at this, they put me on a call wait. I spent over a thousand bucks on the repair and I feel that I got scammed. Should have gone to my regular mechanic but I figured I would give this «Specialist» shop a try… JUST STAY AWAY

These guys are the bomb when it comes to rear ends and gears. Very knowledgeable and professional service… for rear end work, I would not go anywhere else but here. Thanks M and A

I highly recommend this place for differential gear swaps. Rearend Specialties pulled my 2.73s and installed FR 3.73s in my 2014 Mustang as well as installed new LOK carbon disc packs. The install went good with no issues reported and no gear whine on initial test drive. 300mi into the new gears i brought the car back to have a minor gear whine investigated, which i was told usually happens with my car on these gear swaps. The mechanic was very helpful and expressed concern for the issue and educated me on the causes and my options. The mechanic showed me the gears and I saw an amazing wear pattern and no issues, they even did a gear oil change for free. Customer service was excellent, these guys went above and beyond to ensure their work was top quality with my car. Price was also reasonable, about $ 400 in labor for the gear/​bearing kit install and diff rebuild.

Brought in a Nissan R200 CLSD to have the clutch pack shimmed to get the preload to spec. Easy drop off and quick turnaround but when I picked it up I was surprised to learn they didn’t actually measure the preload — they just eyeballed shims from the NISMO shim kit I brought in with the diff and called it good. I asked them again to measure it but they stated they don’t have the matching splines for an R200 — why they didn’t mention this when I called in asking to have it shimmed to a specific preload I can’t fathom.
I took the diff home, installed it, jacked the car up and spun one wheel by hand with the transmission in neutral — the other wheel spun the opposite direction. They built it with zero preload, effectively an open diff.
I thought about bringing it back but have learned when to cut my losses. Maybe these guys are great at domestic stuff but they seem overconfident and clueless on imports.

This place is awesome, I took my car there because it was making a funny noise & they checked it & test drove it for free, it turned out to be something very small & embarrassing but they were totally cool with it & understanding, if & when I actually have a serious problem I would most definitely come back here!

Highly recommend! Mike and crew were awesome.
I brought in my new Jeep Wrangler to upgrade to 4:56 gears and they completed the job in one day.
Adam (mechanic) listened to my application and gave a professional and honest recommendation. Now the Jeep drives like it should — with power!
Thanks again RS!

Took my car here to get some 373 install. Two hours and it’s done. Very helpful and smart employee. Will do business again.

My experience was good here. This is a retro-​view of work done 8+ years ago in 2003. I got eight years and about 140,000 miles of trouble-​free operation from their work until I sold the vehicle in 2012. Brought my Jeep Cherokee in to upgrade the rear differential from ordinary to Dana limited slip. I was charged a reasonable price. The differential worked well for years until I sold the vehicle, (and likely afterward).
Anecdote: A friend brought their three quarter ton Chevy cargo van in with a howling problem. The staff told my friend Suburbans and vans with his type of axle often had howling issues. They put in shims or something that fixed the problem for a reasonable price.
They declined to work on one vehicle I brought here. I’d rather that than have them work on something they’re uncomfortable fixing.

I came here for 2 main reasons. One, they are the closest rear end shop to my home (I bicycled back and forth) and they are highly recommended on various forums. I brought my Jeep XJ here to re-​gear to 4.88 from 4.10. They quoted me 1500 to do all of it, including parts for new gears and bearings. This pricing was in line with what other chops would charge, maybe cheaper. What I did like was the turn around time was only 48 hours. They discovered rust on my inner driver front axle shaft and got various quotes for me.
In the end — i have about 120 miles on it now, so I’m not done breaking in, but so far so good. I’d give them 4.5 stars.

I had 3.73 gears installed on my 2011 Mustang GT at RES. This is a family owned shop and this kind of work is all they do. The work is guaranteed provided one adheres to the strict break in procedure. My car was done in about 3 hours and the staff was extremely professional. My car pulls like a rocket ship now!!! I would highly recommend this place. i went back to them to have the gear oil changed after 500 miles even though it is an hour from my house!

Post 500-​mile gear oil change by these guys and everything is still going strong. Thanks!

These guys were nice. That’s all I could really say. Since this was the place to go for the best price and turnover time, I’m guessing this place rocks people socks. I haven’t heard anything bad about them. Support local businesses, don’t ship you stuff to another area or state!

Straight-​up, honest, fair, and FAST work. Brought my Ford truck for re-​gearing and a locker install early one AM — done and out the door just after lunch.
As another reviewer mentioned, these guys are OK with the customer supplying parts. Which works out well for DIY folks and swapmeet scrounges like me.
But if you do need parts, also know that RS appears to have a huge stock in the rear of the shop.
20,000 miles later, including some very rough spots in Baja, and zero problems with their work.

I needed differential bearings replaced due to a loud grinding noise. I took it to two mechanics who quoted me $ 1,500. Rearend specialties quoted me $ 450 — $ 800 depending on the severity of the repairs and it ended up costing $ 700. They got it done in one day and the grinding noise is gone now.

Finding a shop to shorten your axel is a pain and when you find them they charge outrageous prices.
Rear End Specialties only charges $ 600, that is a steal! The turnaround time is super quick too.

I really get the feeling that these guys know what they are doing but I have to say the entire process with them was less than optimal. Their entire customer service model is lacking. I dont want to go as far as to say they were jerks, but they were not friendly.
I want to talk to the guy doing the work on my jeep. That is not in their business model. They had the receptionist call me who could not answer any questions about the work being performed. As soon as I asked questions, they had to get one of the guys out of the shop. We could have saved that step by having the mech call me.
Any shop would call you to tell you what they found and get your permission to do the work. When they called me to tell me, it really sounded like they already performed the work. Lucky for them I was cool with what they had done, not what they were about to do. Dont do work that you dont have authorization for.
When I picked up the rig no one talked me through the work performed. I would have appreciated that. Thats the way it is done at most shops.
Reasonable price.
Timely repair.
Time will tell if their work holds up.

I brought my camaro in here recently to install a new differential and rear gears. While I can do my own oil changes, tune-​ups and most other PM, gear work needs to be very precise so I recommend that you or anyone else needing rearend work to take it to a shop.
I made an appointment about a week ahead of time. I don’t know if this was necessary as they didn’t appear to be too busy. Regardless, they were ready for me and went through a thorough checklist of the work I wanted done, if I had my own parts, understood the warranty, etc. I received the written estimate, handed over my keys and was told about when the car would be ready. As with any shop, I recommend buying your own parts ahead of time to avoid the mark-​up at a shop. As it turned out, I needed new bearings and with the car already up, I had the shop install these as well.
Overall, these guys did a quality job on my car and the job was done in about 3 – 4 hours. I was called about approving the extra work promptly as well as when the car was ready. I would recommend them to anyone in the south bay area who needs rearend work. Their website is pretty informative as well and gives pricing on common installs. Give them a look!