Pulling the diff apart isn't a problem. Putting it back together is a whole
nother world. With the new bearings in (you'd better replace them since the
diff is open and apart) it has to be readjusted and unless you have the dana
rear end, it is not shimmed. Instead it uses mechanical adjusters. For
what it's worth Chilton's says that's about a 7 hour job wether you replace
anything or just look at it.
Geoff
<jon@dakota-truck.net> wrote in message
news:ajufdv$994$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
> waterpolo5150@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>
> : I am having a problem with my differential/rear end (insert jokes here).
> : I have a 99 Dakota SLT 4X2 with a 5-speed manual. It is making a very
> : loud howling noise from the rear end. It sounds like a bearing went
out.
> : The dealer wants to charge me 525.00 to take a look at see what the
problem is.
> : I was wondering if anyone had any similar problems and knew what this
is.
> : When the problem first started it was very hard to hear, now you can
hear
> : it all the time. The dealer did verify that the noise was not coming
from
> : the tranny or the drive shaft support bearing. Any help would be
greatly
> : appriciated.
>
>
>
> The same thing just happened on my '96 4x2 5-speed. It turned out
> to be the pinion bearing, and the dealer said the axle bearings were
> wearing too. Fortunately, it was covered under warranty. $525 seems
> like a heck of a lot of money just to diagnose the problem! I would
> expect the whole repair to be less than that! About the most I would
> probably pay to diagnose the problem is their standard labor rate
> $40-70? times maybe a couple of hours. It doesn't take much time to
> pull a rear end apart.
>
> Here is a link to the thread where I was asking for help with
> my problem: http://www.dakota-truck.net/ARCHIVES/0207/0863.html
>
> Some of the answers there may help you. You will also find another
> URL in that thread: http://www.ring-pinion.com/diagnosing.shtml
> Which is a link to good info on diagnosing rear end noises.
> (If the direct link doesn't work, just go to ring-pinion.com,
> click on "tech articles" then "diagnosing".)
>
> Good luck!
>
>
> --
>
> -Jon-
>
> .---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or
jon@jonsteiger.com -----.
> | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL
|
> | '70 Barracuda, '92 Ram 4x4, '96 Dakota, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly
|
> `-----------------------------------------
http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:05:16 EDT