can anyone please tell me the most common problem with the 9.25 rear.
i have a 97 ram 1500 9.25 rear with 3.55. i have over 185,000 miles on the truck and just recently the rear began to sing to me.over the past couple of days it has gotton worse. is there a common part or problem with this rear set up the is common with most all other 9.25 rears. and how hard is it to rebuild a rear. i have been working on cars and trucks for twenty years and belive it or not after a hundred engine and clutch overhauls i have never touched a rear. truely gratefull for any help here guys...thanks )

 

Carrier side bearing are common to pit and make noise. the 9 1/4 axle isn't difficult compared to some others but you need some special tools to service it. the 9 1/4 doesn't have shims behind the carrier bearings, they have an adjustable collar to adjust the backlash and preload. the tool you need is a special 4 foot long bar with a big nut on the end (can't remember size, sorry). you run this tool down the axle tube after you reassemble and rotate it to adjust the collars and set the preload torque. you could probably make one easy if you know the nut size.

 

Pinion Bearings on the 9.25 are common problem areas too.

 

I have a `97 Ram 1500 with 9.25 rear end that is getting noisy and makes a light "clunck" when I put it in reverse. Is this something I should leave to the pro`s? The truck has 160,000 mi. Is there a service manual that you would recommend for this job?

 

You can rent a DVD from the company 'Smartflix'
that goes through rebuilding several differential designs
including the 9.25

http://smartflix.com/store/video/135...ial-Rebuilding

 

Mine also makes a "clunk" sometimes when I put in reverse. I think it always has. Not sure if I should worry about this or not.

 

That my not nessicaraly be a rear axle problem. you will always get a bit of a clunk due to clearance in transfer case and rear axle. If it more of a bang it can be caused by the transmission.
there is a metal check ball that reduces the pressure to the reverse clutch. over time this ball keeps slamming into the separator plate and makes a dent in it then it doesn't seal and lets too much pressure by.

The fix involves removing the valve body and either replacing or pounding the separator plate flat and replacing the steel ball with a hard plastic one. the is a Chrysler bulletin about this floating around too.