I have the 8.25 rear axle, 3.55 ratio, probably the most common rear axle out there for Dakota. I do still have underhood decal and it doesn't mention anything about LSD.

I was scrounging around the local upull JY today and the 93 LWB truck that was a school district truck, with 77k miles, has the same rear axle as I do but decal says LSD on it.

Given that I think I still have a rear axle shaft bearing problem (that I've managed to never deal with yet) is it worth just grabbing the low mile LSD and swapping instead? I think it will be about $150 for the axle assembly, maybe less if my friend John cuts me a deal.

Any thoughts about it?

Thanks
Steve

 

Steve,
If it was me, before pulling the rear out of the junkyard truck, jack up one side, put it in neutral, and take a wrench to the wheel off the ground and see how much torque it takes to turn.
I have a corvette and that is the way we test the clutch packs in it. New, they will hold 110-150 lbs torque. Once it drops to 50, we replace the clutch packs. BTW factory says 25 lbs to replace. But when drag racing, I dont let it go that far.
FWIW my 87 with the 8.25 factory LSD was wore out at 65,000 miles.
But IMO if that one seems to hold, and all else looks good, $150.00 would be a good deal. As you know, diff. parts are not cheap!!
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

I'll second the "diff parts are not cheap!!"

I'm going to rebuild a rear end for my Dakota; if I swap to a 3.55 ratio and toss in a TracLoc, even at the lowest prices I can find, I'm looking at about $700 just for the parts with new axles. Plus shipping.

Plus labor. Which I plan to supply myself; these aren't that hard to rebuild compared to, say, a Ford 8.8 in an aluminum IRS housing.

RwP

 

I will give your test a try but it might be difficult in that it's already completely in the air on wheel stands. I might be able to take a metal fence post and block one side from turning, but I don't know if there's a key in the truck to be able to put it in reverse, but I could disconnect linkage and do it manually.

I recognize that a rear end is a lot of (heavy) work but since this was a reasonably clean school truck with only 77k miles on it I think it's worth a check. Then again if these actually do wear out at 65k miles then is there really any value in getting one that might go south pretty fast?

Part of the rationale for doing this is to get away from the existing axles' problems, oh and the proposed replacement 8.25 has the larger 10" rear drums too, that's another small sorta side benefit except that I already have new rear parking brake cables for the 9" so that would be a waste also....

I'll check it out and report back.

Steve

 

If its in the air, pulling it would be pretty easy, especially if you cut the u bolts...
Mine may well be a bad example of how long they last. I can tell you, since the truck was 1 year old, the rear has given trouble..... My brother used to have to change the fluid every year or it would act up in turns.... Dealer never did anything about it.
I feel sure the trac-lock is better, but for $100.00 or $150.00 and you are getting bigger brakes, sounds like a good deal to me.
I still have my 8.25 that I plan to dispose of soon. If there are any parts you may want, tell me, I can send pictures, and they are free. Just pay shipping.

 

I put a brand new track Lok into my 96, have had both limited slip and non limited slip rear ends over the years, my 96 came to me with an "open" rear, but being 4wd, living in the country where plows leave us for last and having a job where I am on call especially when the weather is bad, I put the limited slip in by myself. Same ring and pinion as the truck came with originally. Just transferred the ring gear to the new real loo.

Coincidentally I work for IDOT and when I get called in that means I get to go fix a busted plow truck.

 

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm questioning now whether this rear end is what I think it is. I distinctly remember reading under the hood that it had the bigger brakes but after looking at them you can tell they aren't the big brakes. I need to do more looking at it, especially at the cover, to see if there's a tag there. If I get a chance tomorrow I might pop out and look.

Steve A

 

I wouldn't waste the time or money on a factory limited slip, since you already have an open differential, you can put a lunchbox locker in easily.