Hey guys I’m new to the forum and the other night my pinion nut backed out of my 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab 4x4 with the 5.9L magnum I was hoping it would be a simple fix but I took the cover plate off and saw my inner bearing all over the place and it destroyed my gears I’ve got the 9.25” ring gears with the 3.92 LSD and I’m wondering what other rear ends would fit in there without to much modifying I’d much rather get a better one that will hopefully last longer since I only have 124,000 miles on the truck and I had a diff fluid change at 100k thanks for the help in advanced I’ve gotta get it back on the road by Tuesday

 

The corporate 9.25 IS a good rear diff..... Why the pinion nut failed becomes the question. Of course, now that it already has failed...... all that's left is to clean up the mess. Given your truck is a third gen, I don't know if any of the second gen rears (which also used the 9.25 in the half ton trucks....) will swap in there..... A similar diff out of a third gen should be a direct swap though.

 

I had a 2004 3rd gen since new, until 2015 - about 150k miles. The 9.25 is a fine rear end, however the big problem is the way the LSD diff sits in the housing. There are .... bushings? ... that crack and come apart, grind the hell out of the housing, then if the metal shavings from the grinding doesn't take out your bearings, the bushing pieces will finally get loose in the housing, and make a real mess of gear teeth. Mine took out the tone ring. Dodge came up with the strategy to make the owners pay for excessively frequent rear lube changes, so they could put new bushings in when they broke. I tested my LSD a couple times on ice to see how it locked up, I wasn't real impressed. However in 4x4, you couldn't stop that truck.

I recommend finding a non LSD unit to make sure you don't have housing issues, then put an aftermarket diff in there along with the gears you want. Then you have a permanent solution.

This thread should be in the 3rd gen section...

 

If the stock limited slip unit doesn't grenade it will wear out(friction plates). Get a trutrac...
http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/ProductsS...trac/index.htm

 

2nd gen 9.25 will fit just have to change the combination valve to your 02 valve so keep it

 

 

To get you going quickly, can you possibly find another complete working 9.25 3rd gen rear from a salvage yard, craigslist or wrecked 3rd gen truck?

 

Yea that’s what I’m gonna try to do after Christmas hopefully I can find one with the same ratio as mine if I had the money I would just swap the front and rear with 4:10 and be a lot happier I’ve been on the phone with Dodge a couple of times about the matter but they won’t admit to the problem so I’m just gonna swap it with a used one until I can get the parts for a rebuild if imagine it’s not that hard to straight swap them I was planning on replacing pinion seal and cover gasket and changing fluid once I get the used one to hopefully make it last for a little bit

 

Hardest part is moving them around. Them fellers are HEAVY!

 

Yea I bet 😂😂😂 I was planning on supporting new one on jack stands and just leaving wheels on and just unbolting it and rolling it out then vice Vera’s for new 😂😂