Yup, and thanks, but it is nice to know I can come here in the future and ask about stuff.
I fell in love with my Durango real quick, it is my dream after running beaters for many years, and I intended maintaining it better than this but there are only so many hours in a day, and so many days in the week.
Maybe this will be a good start for me to get more into the regular maintenence of it so this kind of thing does'nt happen again.
Thanks, Neil.

 

Mind my asking how bad the shop beat you up on replacing the diff?

I recently blew out the front diff in my 98 and the first shop I took it to quoted me a thousand bucks. Since I knew they were going to use a diff from a salvage yard, and I knew they go for $250 tops, I decided $750 labor was a bit much for such an easy job (did it myself in about 4 hours a few years ago, but that was back in my old house when I had a heated garage). Paid $75 to have it towed to another shop that treats me real well, tracked down a diff on my own, and had it back on the road for just a shade over $400...

 

Well I wont be getting much change out of $1000, and thats for a rebuilt Diff with 6 months warranty, so that sounds about right.
To be honest I know I could probably buy all the tools I needed for the job and DIY it, save myself a lot of money, but I am 49yr old, have 2 compacted discs in my back and a trapped nerve in my neck, so spending a day under the truck would put me out of action for a time, thus losing more money in the long run. It sucks getting old.

 

For a rebuilt diff with a little warranty on it, I'd say you're being treated fair on that.

I hear ya on the getting old part. I'm a decade younger than you, but I can definitely feel the effects starting to set in these past few years. My entire life the one and only thing I had ever paid to have done to my vehicles was alignment. Did everything else myself, including a couple complete engine overhauls. But over the past year I seem to have crossed some line, because all of a sudden it's starting to sound pretty reasonable to spend an extra couple hundred to avoid having to do it myself. (Especially when it's cold out. )

I'd definitely say you made the right call on not DIY. Although it's a pretty simple straightforward procedure, the diff is reasonably heavy and you're in a pretty awkward position when you lower the old one out and lift the new one in (unless you invest in a tranny jack). With a bad back already, it probably would have beat you up pretty good.