If it's a 4x4 then it has 3.55 gears or optionally 3.92's. It likely won't just
be the dif. Could be the pinion bearing and/or you could have trashed the gears
too. Better plan on rebuilding the whole center section.
A Tru-Trac diff is going to be cheaper than Auburn by $100+.
Dave Clement
99 SLT+ CC 4x4
In article <000901c43c7c$f05c5250$0a00a8c0@radon>, don.rey@uconn.edu ("Don
Rey") writes:
>
>
> Hi, I've been lurking for quite a while... it was a busy semester at school.
> My 89 Dakota convertible just started giving me problems tonight.
>
> The rear differential seemed to suddenly start crapping out on me. It still
> drives alright as of now (though now that its parked in my driveway, I'm not
> taking it anywhere soon!) It started grinding and clunking badly just
> tonight. In the past few days it just started making different slight
> grinding noises when I would take significant right turns (especially at
> speed). The grinding was just starting to become audible over the driveshaft
> howl... and tonight when I started driving, it made several clunking noises
> coupled with a much louder grinding. I drove it the remaning few miles to my
> destination and then 7 miles home and it started smoking. I looked under
> there when I parked it, and it was dripping (one drop every minute or so)
> and was audibly boiling. The whole diff case was hot; the dripping and
> boiling sound was coming out the front.
>
> In a few minutes I'm going to pop the cover off and take a look (no I havn't
> done that yet). What I'm considering is going with an Auburn posi as a
> replacement. Can anyone tell me if thats a good idea or a bad idea? Should I
> not be assuming that it will drop right in? Are there better options...
> should I not go to posi? I've never done rear-end work before but I need to
> learn and I've got the manuals. I have to do this fast; this is my main
> vehicle... (on my Dart I'm still workign on the camshaft, heads, intake,
> etc). BTW, the truck is a pre-mag 3.9L auto 4x4, currently not posi. To my
> knowledge its never been rebuilt... and its got 226,000 miles on it. Pretty
> sure its a 3.21 ratio (I'm about to go make certain of that). Also, what
> distributors would you suggest? From a quick search online, National
> Drivetrain offers the Auburn posi for about $330.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!
>
> Don
> 89 Dakota Convertible 4x4
> 74 Dart Sport 340
> CT
>
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