Has anyone else had repeated failures of the pinion bearings in the rear end. this is the 4th time mine have been replaced in 135,000 mi. The bearing races were cratered so badly , that when I drove thru town, people looked, and my truck is ugly. Work truck-never washed and dented all to hell. Any help or advice would be appreciated, as they are making noise again. Truck is not overloaded, as the outer axle shaft bearings are always clean.

 

Hope I got to you before you let the Dodge dealer on N 76th Street do ANY work on it. They have "fixed" a leaking PS rack twice and now want $800 for the third "fix". NAPA has rack for $205! I went to JustAnswer.com and a Dodge tech said the seals are weak - my 03 3.55 lsd is leaking and on Hwy 45 yesterday started howling like crazy. I'm afraid to look inside. That being said, alot of posts here recommend an aftermarket rear. Independant shop on 91 and Fond du Lac seems to know his stuff. And no, I don't work for him. Just my OPI.

 

Nope, Didnt go anywhere. I installed a Dana 60 out of a 2000 2500 van. 4.10s and posi. Got the rear for $200 and the wheels, tires and other small parts for about another $550. about the same as a bearing replacment from the dealer. Had to have the shaft shortened and balanced, New u joints etc. It now has 5 bolt on the front, and 8 on the rear. Help, Does anyone know If the 2500 pickup hubs bolt on to the 1500 steering knuckles? They are both three bolt flanges on the 2wd.

 

Hey Milwaukee, Did the van axle line up or was there some work to do with mounts and shocks. Brakes? Disc or drum? I looked for a less than $1000 axle and they were all pre 02 with drums - do you have to switch proportioning valve, any effect on ABS... I went to a sister dealership on Brown Deer Rd to trade on a Quest and they said btwn 3-6K for trade in... 55,000 miles. No wonder they are swirling....

 

Drum brakes. You will need a metric to 3/16 adapter for the brakes and new line from where it splits off of the front on the driver side. you need a rear flex line off of a 97 2wd ram and new lines from the tee on the flex to the wheel cylenders. The shock mounts have a slightly smaller hole and need to be drilled to fit the larger bolts on the 05. Also, one of the mounts will need to be moved to the other side of the axle tube as the newer rams have staggered shocks. The spring mounts are CLOSE to the same spacing on both. I had to pull the springs about 3/8 inch together with a bar clamp to line it all up. Change the ABS sensor on the rear end before you put in the new rear. 2000 van and my 05 ram have the same part number. They are very fragile and the one in the rear I got looked good, but had an internal wire broken- couldnt tell by looking at it. The van rear is narrower overall, but does not look out of place. If yours is stick, you will also need to do something with the p brake. I used cables out of a 97 2wd 3/4 and remade the adjuster and made a new bracket for on the frame, and made a new intermediate cable from one of the old cables that came with the new rear. Hope this helps, I do not have access to internet much, so I will try to answer questions when I can.- I found my axle on EBAY and went with a van axle because it was much cheaper than a truck axle. The PITA part is new lines to the wheel cylendars and bleeding the brakes. If I did it over, I would change the lines on the axle and replace the flex line BEFORE I installed the axle. You will also need a new yoke for the Dana so your u joint size will work. Google Dennys Driveshafts, Mike was very helpful.