Anybody ever do a differential gear change themselves. My local 4x4 shop wants $1300 to do the front (Dana 44) and the rear (9 1/4). I am wanting to go from the stock 3:55 gears up to either 3:90 or 4:10. How difficult is this to do yourself (I'm mechanically inclined).

Thanks.

 

Hello... I'm sure you don't want a girl answering this, but I just went through it so here goes...

I'm SURROUNDED by Mopar Mechanics here. I had a new gear, posi unit and chrome differential cover to install. I had to ask and beg for weeks. They kept saying it's tempramental and if something goes wrong, it's a big time problem (duh) and they don't want to risk it. And these are full time dealership mechanics. I even asked my friend George who does a little bit of everything... he works for Rousch Racing here in Michigan. $1300 is very pricey... my local Rack and Pinion shop wanted $350 for what I listed above. I ended up paying $135 to a mechanics I begged and pleaded with. LOL!

Anyway, my point is it's nothing easy stuff... I'd say, last resort, do it yourself. Not because I think you can't, but it's a big, time consuming job. If you need the truck by Monday for work or something... I'd be careful having a novice mechanic tackle it.

~Amanda

 

Thanks for the info. Anyone else think this is too pricey. Here is the breakdown the 4x4 shop gave me:

Rear gear and pinion - $196.00
Front gear and pinion - $187.00
Front carrier - $47.50
Labor - $385 per axle
plus tax and gear lube

Thanks.

 

I think the labor is a tad pricey, this isn't a dealership, right?

~Amanda

 

No, it's a 4x4 specialty shop. The dealer price was even more.

 

Labor is hella pricey. 2.5 hr. per axle = $154.00/hour
Why do they say you need a new carrier?

 

Wow... I still think the labor is a tad pricey... I understand they are charing you for two jobs... but more often then not... they are charging by the hours their books says it'll take, so it says, for example, 4 hours to do your front end and 5 to do your rear. You are being charged for 11 hours, but it might only take them 7 hours to actually do the work. I HATE that...

I do think everything but the labor is perfect... and way you can talk to them about maybe doing it for a little bit of a price break since you are bringing a large job to them? Do you know any other mechanics that could do it under the table?

~Amanda

 

If that's new bearing, gears, shims, lube, and labor, that's not too bad. Have you explored finding the entire housing with the correct ratio from a salvage yard and just installing the whole thing?

 

They said it would be 5 hours per axle.
About the carrier, they say they recommend it basically so everything is new. They told me that 7 times out of 10, the carrier needs replacing anyway once they get in there, so they just put it into their price quote so it doesn't suprise the customer later.

 

I have thought about that, but I would be too worried about the condition of a used diff. If it has problems, I might end up having to have work done on it anyway. This would defineltly cost more in that case.