Typically VW trans rebuilders charge a core charge. So they take your
tranny apart and look for damage to items that are not considered part
of a "standard" rebuild. Then they charge you for any "extra" parts
needed beyond the normal ones. The ring and pinion gear set is the most
expensive of those "extra" parts. In a 2wd Vanagon tranny you often
loose the whole core charge if the ring and pinion is bad

Because of the design of the Vanagon tranny the pinion gear is part of a
shaft that is very long and also acts as one of the main shafts that all
the other gears mount to. Because of this there are different ones for 4
speeds, 5 speeds, and Syncro. Thus the prices of replacement ring and
pinion sets depend in part on which tranny version it is for.

Another factor in the cost is supply and demand. The good news for Don
is that the ratio of his DX code ring and pinion gear set is considered
undesirable by most people and this means you can get replacements for
less than for other ones. A lot less at this time. Now whether a given
rebuilder will pass on that savings to a given customer is another question.

Mark

Don Hanson wrote:
>    What is meant by "adds drastically to the cost of a rebuild?"
> Like...how much more is  rebuild with a ring and pinion replacement as
> opposed to one without that?, And do they even rebuild effectively,
> without replacing those gears?
>
>    The reason I'm asking...and an educated guess would be close enough to
> help me with a plan...is that my 84 with a 5sp manual has that whine, it's
> not alarmingly loud, but it's been growing  louder as time passes, and I've
> begun trying to avoid piling on the miles that I usually do (about 20k per
> year, mostly rural)
>