For about a week I was hearing a noise coming from the rear end. I thought it might be the tires, they're 10 plys, or maybe ball bearings. I wasn't sure so I took it into a local shop. The guy that owns the place took it for a drive. When he gets back he tells me he thinks the rear dif is going out. I know it's going to be expensive to fix. So how do I know for certain that's what it is before I spend all that money? And what happens when it goes out? I've never had this problem before in any vehicle. Thanks for any help.

 

Did he give you specifics? Did he say whether it was bearing noise or gear noise? If he was a competent mechanic, he should be able to tell.

If it was bearing noise, you can just simply get a master rebuild kit and replace all the bearings. Since you aren't changing gears, you won't have to worry about pinion depth, just reuse the shim thats on the pinion already. Then all you need to worry about is setting backlash and bearing preload.

If you don't feel comfortable setting up a rear end on your own, a shop shouldn't charge too much to do a bearing replacment since its a lot less involved than gear replacement.

If its gear noise, that will be a bit more money and work to fix. If thats the case, you may as well just get a whole new axle assembly from a junkyard and swap the whole thing in.

 

He didn't say which it was. It's actually a brake and tire shop I go to. I took it there because I thought it might be the tires. He did mention getting one, I assumed he meant the whole axle, from a salvage yard. A friend mentioned getting some gear lube and that would buy me some time. I don't know enough about it to try and fix it on my own.

 

A mysterious noise appeared a while ago that I feared to be gear whine. Took it to the dealer and they said it is coming from front bearings, and it was. How the bearings go at 25K I don't know.

 

Mines definitely from the rear. I know that much.