Update: Nitro 4:10 Gears Installed / New England Gear Polishing REM treatment.
Dropped my truck off at Colorado Axle & Gear at on Tuesday June 28th and they called me at 1415 in the afternoon to tell me my truck was done!!! These guys (Father & Son) did an excellent job and were very meticulous setting up my gears. I would recommend them to anyone in the Colorado front range and beyond. They warned me the REM polishing would make the already by reputation Nitro gears louder. This is exactly the opposite of what NEGP said. They did agree they would require less break-in and would run cooler.
I picked up my truck at 1600 and took a few minutes to re-flash my Trifecta tune and speedo for the new gears. I hit rush hour traffic on my way home but this is what I observed so far on a 48 mile drive home:
Speeds 0-30 - I can hear an audible whine at constant throttle and deceleration but not during acceleration. I cannot hear it with the windows down and unless I was listening for it I wouldn't notice it over the "throaty" drone of my GMPP cat back exhaust and BFG KM3 tire noise.
30 - 50 - I can't hear the whine at these speeds at all over my exhaust during acceleration, deceleration and cruising speeds. I can hear a very faint whine on deceleration and I think this is because I am off the throttle and the exhaust noise is minimal, but I have to focus and concentrate to hear it. If I didn't know what to listen for I certainly wouldn't notice it at all.
Above 50 - I flat out can't hear it at all. . .
First impressions -
"Frustrations are results of mismanaged expectations."
My biggest expectation and desire for this upgrade was for a performance gain in highway cruising speeds and lower torque under less throttle during "4-Low" off-roading. During the very short first drive in-town and on highway the performance have certainly met and exceeded my expectations. It is no longer hunting for gears and the torque curve through all the gears are much more responsive and noticeable. The tranny is shifting up through and down through the gears as I imagined it should have from stock but never did. I am confident I will get a slight MPG boost the way my truck is configured and can't wait to get off-road to try it out.
I expected the Nitro's to be a little noisy but I honestly thought they would be louder. In full disclosure I am hard of hearing from countless small arms fire, mid and high explosive ordinance and numerous under water demolitions however I can honestly and without bias say that if someone that did not know I did this upgrade were to jump in my truck and ride with the windows up and the radio off they wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. My wife who is a very experienced in all things 4wd and truck related looked at me shrugged her shoulders and said . . . "you annoy more than the little bit of gear noise I can hear, so I definitely can live with it, and ignore it like I have done with you for the last 35 years!"
All kidding aside - I hardly notice it and can certainly live with it too. I will be working to get another 500 miles of short trips on it checking the differential temps every 50 miles or so to be sure they don't go above 190. I'll be sure to post updates and experiences as I do this. I believe I wouldn't be able to hear any of the noise if I would not have done the polish and REM treatment. For me this is a fair compromise for the easier break-in and cooler temps under the heavy load and heavy off-road use Tatanka gets.
Cost:
Nitro Gears and Master Install Kit $1042.00
Install Labor / Colorado Axle & Gear $1700.00
Misc. Parts not included in Kit $56.00
Total Cost $2798.00
New Tatanka Build Total $78,146.00 +/-