My rear diff blew, mechanic said pinion bearing and planetary gear were toast, $2k to fix, plus over a month to order the part. Backorder... So, I'm going to do it myself. I have a Dana 80 rear axle. I'm planning on putting a Detroit Locker, upgrading a bit, because doing it myself, I can afford it. I read online that a locker for a dana 70 will work for an 80 if you drill and tap a few holes. The locker is a few hundred cheaper, so I was curious about this. Sounds like it wouldn't hold up as well. Also I'm looking for a write up on the pinion bearing install, and the locker install.

Plus if anyone knows a good place to order the detroit locker from, that would be handy.

 

2k?!?!?

 

$700 for just the bearing, $2000 total for the bearing and gear. Plus they couldn't get the gear in until middle of September.


Also, I forgot to ask, anything else I need like yoke gasket or something?

 

yeah, i believe its called a pinion seal

 

If you're going to do all of that then just get the rebuild kit. It will have everything in it.

You should have to wait that long for parts. That's crazy. And if they were doing gears too, then the price still sounds a bit high but probably not too far off. If just the pinion seal, way way over priced.

If parts are available for your axle, then get those. Don't use parts made for another axle to then have to alter to make fit.

Try these...
4Wheel Parts
Randy's Ring and Pinion
AccuAutoParts
Quad4x4
DrivetrainOutlet

 

i see you got a diesel...

my brother in law has a 2nd gen cab and chassis 3500 with the diesel and probably the dana 80? his rebuild, with all new parts, was expensive as hell, about $2000.

just by the way, its a ring and pinion gear, not a planetary. those are in transmissions. +1 on pinion seal. while you're in there replace axle seals as well.

not trying to be a dick, and i wish you all the good luck in the world, but a rear end setup requires some special tools and experience. if you have to ask, you're going to have a problem.

 

Have you ever done a ring and pinion install before? Since you'll be replacing the carrier and installing new gears you'll be starting from scratch as far as setting up gear lash, pinion depth and gear spacing goes. If you've never done it you should probably let someone that has the proper tools and know-how do it. Doing it wrong will lead to the failure of some very expensive parts and could destroy your axle. Not trying to scare you, but even a good engine mechanic will refer gear work to a gear shop because unless you know what you're doing, it isn't really as easy it looks.

 

Did he pay someone to do it, or did he do it himself?

I knew planetary sounded wrong, I always referred to it as ring and pinion, but the shop said planetary.

I know it's more complicated than it looks, I think my friend at work has worked on differentials before.

 

The shop said that my pinion bearing was toast, but the ring gear wasn't too bad but was pretty beat up. Not surprising, for 270,000mi on it. If I just replace the pinion bearing, would I have to worry about lining everything back up, since I'll just put the shims back in the way they came out?


I just read how to install a Detroit Locker, and it looks like I would use the same ring gear. A friend said that the locker would replace the ring gear, which was the whole reason I was going to do the locker now instead of later. Could someone please clarify?

Also just read that you can't just replace the ring gear, you have to do it as a set. The more I read, the more I don't trust this place. They just don't seem to know what they're talking about. Calling it a planetary gear, only replacing the ring gear, not able to order the ring gear for a month...

 

An standard open differential is a type of planetary gear. If you don't have an LSD then that is what you have. Yes, pinion and ring gears are sold as matched sets and must be replaced as such. A locking carrier like the Detroit still needs a ring gear and pinion to go with it. If yours are toast then you'll need a new set. It does not replace them. Changing the pinion bearing will require you to reset the pinion depth and backlash from scratch. Do yourself a favor and find a competent shop and let them do the work. You're in over your head here.