Hi, the rear end of my 1990 3.9 started making grinding noises. I am wondering if anybody replaced the rear end by themselves and if you did, is it hard? Thanks.

 

Just a few things, bolts, brake lines.. etc. Easy if you know your mechanics, if not.. can be hard. Are you looking to replace the whole axle or just get the internals rebuilt?

 

Do you mean internals as in differential? If you do, this is what i believe is making the noise. Oh, one more thing, for a little while, when i would go to put my truck into 4wd it would make a gringding noise. But today, i went to show my dad and it started making the noise and it stopped. When we got to where we were going i went to put it in again and it went in without any trouble. Does anyone know what this is???

 

I just helped my neighbor put a 8.25 inch limited slip rear axle into his 87 or 88 dakota. Both were 2 wheel drive but the 92 uses 6 bolt wheels while his truck had 5 bolt. So now he has 5 bolt 14" on front and 6 bolt 15" on rear. The axle bolted up fine but he did have to get a different universal joint. The joint on the 92 axle was a little wider than the joint on his original axle. Anyone know if he can put the front hubs from the 92 on his 87/88(?) so he can have 6 bolt wheels all the way around?

 

My truck shifts and drives fine. I think the grinding is comming from the differential. It drives fine even when i hear the big clunking noise the rear differential makes.

 

sounds like you have a limited slip that is acting up. if you don't do any wheeling then I'd just replace it with a straight open carrier from a junk yard. but if you think you'll need it, then just replace it with an aftermarket limited slip locker. it's not a hard job but you have to have the right tools and a lot of patience. look around for a local 4x4 shop --- sometimes they do that stuff cheap. I found a place that put a locker in a chrysler 8.25 for $150.

 

We found out that the noise was comming from the wheel bearings being soooo bad, that it cause the wheels to move back and fourth against the rotor. So we ordered new bearings and a new rotor. So i should be good. Does anybody think that since the bearings were soooo bad, that thats y it wouldnt go into 4wd?