To the OP, If you follow Dirtydogs instructions to the tee you wont go wrong. I had a leaking pinion seal about 5k miles ago and used his instructions to change it and it was a breeze and no problems to date.

 

^^^Awesome. Good to hear.

 

I appreciate the response. I plan to have it fixed once I am employed again. Lost job of 22+ years without notice and still looking for work. I read a post about changing the seal and it said to change the nut also because it is only supposed to be used once. Oh well. live and learn. Hopefully I can get the 4.56's put in soon. Is replacing the crush collar part of the process of changing the gears to 4.56? Sorry if I hijacked the thread.

 

It's the crush collar that is a one time use. Once you crush it, that's it. And yes, with any gear install you need a new crush collar and preferrably new bearings as they are pressed onto the pinion shaft and a puller generally ruins them. There is a boiling trick, but I'd go with new bearings with new gears. A master install kit runs like $120 and your bearings are prob gonna be shot on the pinion shaft anyways from having that nut tightened up too much. The cruch collar goes in between the bearings so it's one of those PIA types of things if the gears didn't seat properyl and you have to re-shim, then you gotta pull the bearings and do a new collar. it's def a job for a pro and not a newbie. You gotta have the right tools and knowledge or you will have problems.
I hear ya bout the job, but luckily I've anaged to pull my stuff together and hit the books for a higher edumacation. Not that it would make a difference now, but it should later.

Who knows, maybe you'll sell the truck and not need to replace anything.

 

Thanks again for the input. I may get some estimates tomorrow just to see what it will be to do the complete job. I plan on keeping this truck for another 100,000 miles because it runs perfectly. I would only sell it to get a 4X4 but I would probably look at a 2006. I just moved from Florida to Missouri and we do get some snow here. I would love a 4X4 Dodge Ram Diesel when I get back into the working field. Until then I will keep this one. It turns heads everywhere I go.