I am new to the Dakota club. Bought a 2000 4.7L 5spd 4x4 with 173k on it this last weekend. It has a bit of a whine in the back (as far as I can tell, it's behind me). I started off by changing the tranny fluid to just last night I changed the differential fluid in the rear. I found these little bits stuck to the diff magnet. Any ideas on what they are and how much of a concern they are? I am in for $2000 at this point, and would like to not kill my savings making repairs. I only drive around town mostly, but may make the trip between Colorado Springs and Denver a few times, which is roughly 140 miles round trip at 75+ mph.

Thanks all, just found this site, so pretty early in my research.

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Hi Monkey, welcome to the forum.


Some of those are the remains of the clutch pack retaining clips. You have (had) a limited slip differential. It's probably not working very well.


There is a chance that more pieces can break off and possibly go through the gears. If that happens there'll be some damage. Also, without them there is a chance of some housing wear.


Mine failed at about 100k and I rebuilt the clutches at the same time. Dodge seems to have revised the newer part.


What are you running in the NV3500 for fluid???

 

Dan,
Thanks for the reply. I am a quasi-mechanic, but my father-in-law is a really good mechanic, so if I were to need to rebuild the rear end and clutches, what kind of price would I be looking at for parts?

If I don't, what kind of time bomb am I setting myself up for?

Here is what I used in the diff. Got it from my GM mechanic neighbor.

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The parts aren't that expensive, it's the labor and tools. Basically your LSD is a goner. If it's working it probably isn't working that well. I can clearly see the clips, the small metal pieces. The bigger pieces look like clutch material.

Who knows how long it may last. Worst case you'll have some of the parts go through the gears. The rear end will get very noisy. Could it lock up? I suppose it's possible.

You can rebuild it or get another style of LSD if you want. If you reuse your existing gears replacing the carrier isn't that difficult. Since you hear noise you could also just pick up another rear differential assembly, with the correct gear ratio, from a boneyard. 4x4's have the leaf spring pads on top, a 4x2 has them underneath.

What fluid did you use in your transmission, the NV3500?

 

Dan,
I put Valvoline MTF Synchromesh in the tranny.

Where would I find a rebuild kit? Sorry for the ignorance, this is my first truck I have ever owned. Been a motorcycle and car guy up until now.

 

Good on the transmission. I was looking for you to say Syncromesh.

How far do you want to go? Do you want to just redo the carrier or replace all the bearings? Do you want to keep the LSD or replace it with something else? Is it for street use or do you plan to go off road where a "locker" would benefit.

East Coast Gear Supply is one place but shop around. Ebay (I know) has parts too. I'm sure some of the other guys will chime in later.

Make sure it is a 9.25" rear. It'll have 12 bolts on the cover.

 

No intentions of off roading more than Jeep trails for hunting. A locker may not be necessary, so just a "replace what's broken". I will discuss with my father-in-law and see if he's even interested and how far he would want to go. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

Is there an option to swap to an open rear end? If it's a straight swap and just be rid of the LSD until a later time, is that an option, or were the open axles not geared the same to mate up to the trucks with the LSD?

Thanks again for all the help on this!

 

I don't know of anyone ever doing that conversion. Honestly, I wouldn't want it.

With the 5 speed and 4.7, I find it easy enough to get the tires spinning.

 

Fair enough, thought I would ask.