i need help asap. I need to figure out what differential i have. How do i do this?

I was driving and had some clunking and clanging with vibration afterward. I pulled off the highway and looked under the truck and the pinion seal completely blew out and it was smoking like crazy. So i left it and had it towed back to my house and there it sits.

I'm assuming getting a whole rear end from a junk yard is cheaper and easier for me to do myself. I've never had to open one up and change out gears before so i have no idea what is involved in doing that.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Look in your glove box, there will be a sticker that says what size.

 

Do determine which axle it is, count the cover bolts.... 10 bolt is 8.25", 12 bolt is 9.25"

Do determine if its open or LSD, it might be impossible to tell if its blown up without opening the case, so take the cover off and look at it.

This is for the 9.25", I don't know if the 8.25" would be the same, but this is what the open carrier looks like: (ignore the arrow and pretend it has a ring gear on it!)

DSCN0426.jpg?t=1259025838

And this is what the LSD looks like: (the difference is in the shape of the right side of the case)

DSCN0499.jpg?t=1259025983

Just keep in mind, you can always upgrade! For example, if you have an open 8.25", you can always get a 9.25" LSD if you can find one.

You didn't say if it was 4x4 or 2wd, but if it's 4x4, you must get the same ratio that you have now. If it's 2wd, you can change it if you want to. To find the ratio, there is usually a tag on one of the cover bolts.

 

Not there. Is there a part number i can go by? I looked on the diff. for a part number and there is a million different numbers and i can't really make them out.

Sorry for not stating specifics on the truck. It is a 01 v6 2wd auto extended cab. it has the ten bolt rear end. by what you said thats the 8.25". since it 2wd does it matter what rear end i get?

 

no i does not matter what gear ratio you have in a two wheel drive you could run what ever you want

 

Is there any i should stay away from because of motor size?

What one is better for acceleration? as of right now its accelerates really slow

 

As long as it's a 2wd axle it doesn't matter. I've been told 2000+ have a different yoke(flange?) than the 1999 and older so keep that in mind.

Sounds like you want 3.92 gears.

 

Yeah, I agree with Hahns5.2... if you want acceleration you want 3.92s. You haven't said what you have now, but I'm going to guess 3.55s? The 3.92s do cause slightly higher rpms on the highway.

My recommendation is that you look for chrysler 9.25" rear axle with the trac-lok lsd and 3.92 gears, but you may not be able to find one.

 

4:56 or bust! :d

 

Yeah if you don't know what rear gear you have, with stock tires 3:55's will give you ~2k rpms and 70mph, if its a 3:92 I'm guessing that number goes up to 22-2300? But not positive because I have 3:55's.