whats up guys

last week i started to get this 'motorized/turning' sound from the rear/axle area. after about 2 days of driving it got louder and is most noticeable driving 50mph or more. i only get the noise if i am stepping on the gas.

so i decided to change out the axle fluid for the first time(i have 105k miles on the truck). when i opened up the rear, visually, everything seemed fine. noise still existed. so i took it to a dodge dealership.

this is what i got and this is what is says exactly in writing:

"sounds like rear pinion nut has backed off and causing pinion gear to have play which then causes abnormal wear pattern on ring gear and bearings etc... noise is very loud-needs rear differential overhaul to correct. test drove vehicle. inspected undercarriage and components and traced down noise"

now.. that $1756 is the minimum because it also says "fees could be more if more damage is found once taken all the way apart".

they did not take off the diff. cover to inspect the insides. could they tell if anything was wrong with the insides without actually opening up and looking? or are they just assuming the insides are messed up too?

the truck drives normal.

 

You can take it to a gear shop and they can tell you if thats the case and it is prob cheaper to do the work through them. All they do is apply some paint to the gears to see what the tooth pattern is like. If you pinion nut backed off you WOULD have damage to the gears and they would most likely have to replace the gearing.

 

How long has it been making the noise? If it hasn't been long you should be able to tighten down the pinion nut (if you have a corporate 9.25" rear, the specified torque is 210 ft*lbs) and be fine. When I did my axle swap, I had to take off the pinion nut to put on a new yoke, and I didn't thread lock the pinion nut when I put it back on. About 6 months later the pinion nut came loose and started making a whining noise and I was just able to tighten the pinion nut back down and it was fine.

I don't know what they meant by "rear pinion nut" cause there is only 1 pinion nut and it's in the front, but if the noise is under acceleration its the rear bearing (if its while coasting, its the front bearing).

$1756 for a complete overhaul is obsurd. A complete bearing set is about $150, and you could get gears in the $200-250 range of any ratio you want, and if you add in the labor for a gear shop to install everything, you're still well under $1000. You could even look in a junkyard for a complete new axle in the $400-500 range. I just got done buying and rebuilding an axle for my 2wd Dakota and I didn't even put $400 into it (but I did all the labor, so you'd have to add that in).

 

I would get a second opinion. I would start hunting salvage yards and looking for a replacement as I bet it would be cheaper.

 

I agree way too much$$, most likely needs bearings only!

 

i had that in my 98 grand cheroke 5.9 .... my local trans/ diff shop did a complete diff rebuild, for everything was 580 bucks, i say go to a shop that specializes in diffs.

 

1600 for a complete 4x4 set up in my 05 dakota, went from 3.55 to the 4,10, definitely get another opinion

 

i really appreciate all the input. helped alot.

found a mechanic through a friend. getting it done for $750

from what i read here i probally could have found a cheaper place but i already had a hard enough time just to find time to get it checked out by the current mechanic.

 

Hey, you saved yourself a grand, no worries there!