Most of the minor stuff I do do myself but as far as tearing apart may axle and taking out the ring and pinion and carrier I don't want anything to do with that. The reason it cost so much was the axle was 520 and the wheel hub was 250 (all from the dealer) the guy actually cut me a huge break on the labor scince he is such a good friend of mine and I've sent him so many customers to get trannys rebuilt cause he does a awesome job. He rebuilt mine 8 months ago and did a FANTASTIC!! job. But I do agree to try and do things yourself most of the time.

 

I own 2 trucks. A 95 Chevy S10 (no laughing from the peanut gallery!!!![:'(]) and of course my 98 Ram. Unless your vehicle is under warranty, I see no reason to go to the dealer to buy parts. The prices are usually WAY out of line. Unless of course it is the only place you can get a certain part.

I'll hit the major auto parts places, NAPA and AUTOZONE, just to name a few. Depending on the part, I will also look at wrecking yards. Some great deals can be found at wrecking yards, but research is the key. I'm not perfect so I do tend to break things from time to time, especially interior trim parts. Napa isn't going to have those and I have no intention of paying a dealer my entire next paycheck for a pillar trim piece. Sooooo..............off to the wrecker I go! I use a web-page called Car-Part.com ( http://www.car-part.com ). It lists many wrecking yards in the US and Canada. I only provide this as a reference. The site does not cost any money to use and no personal information is requested.

A former colleague of mine replaced his entire rear axle assembly for $125 and he did that just because he was having differential problems. It cost much less to replace the entire axle than it did to tear into the diff. When I have a problem with the diff, I'll be doing the same thing because to me, differentials are like transmissions, TO THE LEFT OF WITCHCRAFT!!!!

 

lj i looked up that website and found some parts ive been needing.. thanks for the info dude... i gotta make a trip to get it put its prolly gonna save my a few hunnys on brand new parts... who knows...i might pick up some other stuff too

 

ANY vehicle will kill your wallet, Vehicles are a maintenance nightmare.

dont feel bad, i have to rebuild my steering box this week too.

 

Yea I really hated having to go to the dealer but they were the only place that had it without waiting for forever! I'll definetly check out that site next time something breaks, thanks for the info.

 

Richard-
How much of the damage to the front end was caused by you looseing that wheel a month ago or so?

 

Granted I have just a 4x2 2001/1500, but I went to a Chrysler dealer and bought both front bearing assy's for $225.00. I hate it for you but you might want to consider shopping online for parts before relying on your local dealer to mark them up and add labor.

 

i would not want to mess with a dana but a stock 1500 rear end is not to bad.

 

Glad it worked for you. I give that webpage out to just about everyone I know. Don't remember how I found it originally, but damn glad I did. It's saved me a bundle over the past few years. EVERYONE WHO READS THIS POST: Just make sure you thoroughly research the hits that come back for a parts request, and don't necessarily pick one on the first page.

 

Yes. I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 and my front axle seals started linking . I repaired the front end and two later the rear axle seals went out. So far I replace the fore ball joint, front and back seals and two rotors.