I don't know if you guys remember or not, but when I was having the transmission installed on the truck, they told me my LSD in the rear was starting to break up, and that it needed to be replaced. Often you guys mentioned about the clips on the dodge LSDs breaking, so it seemed like a probable thing. Anyway, I didn't have them do the job, they wanted $1,000, and I wasn't even sure if they were telling the truth or not. So I just dropped the truck with my good mechanics. They are the guys who put a sticker on for me for free just last week even with the obnoxious exhaust lol. He's going to pop the cover off and see what's going on in there. He asked me if I heard any odd noises at all ever, and I told him I've never felt or heard an issue, and that in the mud, both tires spin together still, so it appears to still be functioning. I'll know later today when he gives me a call what's going on. If it is broken, I may have them make it an open differential as some of you suggessted, this way I can stop the problem, and have some time to save up for a nice LSD. I'll keep you guys posted for sure though.

On another note, I have the K&N CAI installed on the truck. Of course the bitch who sent it to me didn't send most of the necessary hardware, but my brother and I spent the night figuring out what it needed by trial and error, and it is now sitting nicely. I'm having the guys doing the differential make me a custom little bracket for the arm of the intake to sit on as well seeing nothing came with the intake (the heat shields were all rusty and missing important bolts). I will say though, I'm very impressed with the results. Truck feels a nice push from 3500-5000 rpms. Love the whisteling sound as well. Also smarten up the exhaust even more, can't beat that

 

Chances are it may be hard to see the clips missing unless they know exactly where to look. The transmission shop probably took the borken pieces off. When mine broke I worked at a shop and I had the main mechanic look at it and he couldn't figure out where the clips came from so then I had the owner look at it and finally he figured out where it had broken off from. Had it not been a piece of metal in the bottom of the diff we probably wouldn't have been able to tell it was broken. It may have broken more pieces off as mine did it in that year I drove it with it broken. If he knows where to look he can probably see it broken or missing pieces but it might be hard to find.

Is this actually a trusted mechanic or is this the same kind of trusted mechanic the others have been?

 

No, these guys are good. This is the same group of guys that took apart my brothers engine, and had the heads replaned, a camshaft, waterpump, timing chain, and headers put in. I was impressed. Nobody wanted to even try his headers to begin with. They are the ones who fixed my exhaust leak as well and did a great job with it. So I have excellent trust with them. The head guy is an absolutely whiz too, and knows how to treat a customer for sure, I'm anxtious to see what he says about the rear though. I'm hoping it won't be too big of a deal..

 

For differential and gear issues, I take my truck to a 4x4 specialty shop. These guys see more gears in a week then a lot of regular shops see in a year. They do gear upgrades, lockers, and limited slips installs in jeeps, trucks, buggies, etc all the time. Think about how much experience a general mechanic shop or an engine performance shop is going to have with 4x4 truck gear setups compared to a 4x4 specialty shop that does them all the time. Just my opinion. Hope these guys you picked this time know what they are doing for you, not like that last few places you've been.

FYI, even if you decide to go with an open diff, I believe you'll need an open carrier to replace the limited slip you currently have. I would look for one used from from a salvage yard or from an offroad forum to save money. Pavement Sucks would be a good place to find a cheap one, in fact I think I saw a guy giving one away for just the price of shipping (like $25 or so). Be careful about buying a new one because you might find that it will not be much more to just buy a new limited slip instead for not much more money. Others can correct me if i'm wrong on this though.

 

Thanks Reid for the tip. I will defiantly being comparing and contrasting prices for making it an open differential to just replacing it with another LSD unit. As I said before, I'm set on Detroit or Auburn...although I like that Detroit has gears as opposed to clutches, but still, I like the sound of both.

I would bring it to a specialty shop, it's actually right across the street from these guys...BUT,they are complete dopers. It is like a giant boysclub over there. They have all of their ugly yotas out front with their custom cut fenders to fit their absurdly large tires, it's disgusting, so I refuse to bring my baby over to them. These guys impressed me when they did my brothers truck. They were the ONLY shop that offered to do the headers for my brothers truck when we found out there was a chip in casting of the head. And, they were never ********, which is a plus for me. Nothing worse than dealing with a cranky ******* who doesn't even appreciate your business and your money. So, I'll give them a shot with the rear. I just need to find out if there is anything serious going on in there. Then, I'll go from there. I am in no rush to have them do anything either, but again, like you said, I need to find out if it's even worth making it an open differential. If it's not an emergency, I'll most likely ride it out until I can afford a new one. I have a feeling that if I ever made it open, I'd be tempted to never go back in there..

 

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Just got a phone call from the guys. He told me that the right clip was in fact loose and that it was sort of just flopping around. He said he would need another hour into the job to see if the carrier is damaged or not, so I told him he could do that. Then from there we're going to see if the carrier is damaged or not, and if the lsd is repairable or not. I'm kind of in a sticky situation though. I don't really want to repair this stock lsd, but I don't have the money right now for a Detroit or Auburn....I'll know more when he calls me back later today though..

 

you should have let them fix it for 1,000. I'm looking at over 1,500 to have mine done. Thats for a Eaton posi, new gears, bearings, labor, chrome cover all that good ****.


And watch the basing of yota's they are great trucks. A yota will take a beating. I still have my 86. Guy bought it new kept if fora few weeks then traded it in on a full size truck. My dad bought it then and drove it till I was about 15. Being fire police the truck would sit idling for hours on end and blew out the head gasket. He was hard on it. He gave it to me and I beat the **** outta it. I have only replaced the head gasket, flex plate andpinion seal that I can remember. I ran it up until about 3 years ago when it started acting up. I could sit there and push thegas and the truck wouldn't move the rear tires would spin then it would bang real loudanddrive off. Thats when I got the ram. I have been pondering putting it back on the road though. Gas would be better in that lil 4 banger.

 

Yes, but $1,000 for just a new unit? You appear to be having much more done for just $500 more. Also, at the time, I hadn't even paid for the $4,000 transmission yet, so I was pissed they wanted an extra $1,000. Also, they weren't even trying to put in a Detroit, they were trying to install a "True-Lock"...sounded like some knock off Auburn brand..

 

no the unit was 600. i thought you ment 1,000 total. You sure it wasn't the true trac? If so they are good units from whatI understand. Umm I have a couple threads about my diff that you can check out for the run down of the prices. either way good luck with it mine should be done tomorrow or friday. I'm courious as to how different it will feel with the posi in there

 

Don't even waste your time bluebeast2. He already has his mind set anyway....I fear this will be another lessonfor him altho I hope it goes well in the long run. Remember how you arn't such a good judge onwhere toget your truck serviced. I as well as many others would have went to the otherother shop right across the street. Why? Just as Reid said..."For differential and gear issues, I take my truck to a 4x4 specialty shop. These guys see more gears in a week then a lot of regular shops see in a year. They do gear upgrades, lockers, and limited slips installs in jeeps, trucks, buggies, etc all the time. Think about how much experience a general mechanic shop or an engine performance shop is going to have with 4x4 truck gear setups compared to a 4x4 specialty shop that does them all the time." Just makes COMMON SENSE pretty much. Heck it may even be cheaper. Wish ya luck.