2003 Dodge Ram 1500, 5.7 Hemi, 235k

Coming down the hiway this afternoon and heard a loud whining when I let off the gas. While doing about 10mph through town the rear locked up for a second. I limped her home and pulled the cover. No major damage, but the pinion bearing definitely failed. Fluid coming out near the driveshaft, major play side to side near the pinion bearing, and all sorts of metal, bearing looking parts in the diff. All gears look ok, I'm suspecting the pinion nut got loose, the pinion came in a bit and jammed, destroying the bearing.

So, is this a fixable situation in my driveway? Special tools? Do I have to worry about backlash after I take everything out and reinstall? Anyone have an exploded diagram or the manual that gives steps on this job.

After thirteen years of doing all my own work, I can't break the streak now!

Thanks in advance!!!

 

Very difficult to do in your driveway. At the very least your going to need pinion bearings, seal, collapsible sleeve, pinion nut. When assembling, the collapsible sleeve takes a lot of torque and usually a huge long torque wrench to get correct pinion bearing preload.

Yes special tools are required. Pinion flange holding tool ,Carrier side bearing preload tool, dial indicator for backlash adjustment are the main ones.

After having said all this, from what you have told us, i highly doubt the gear set didn't escape unscathed...

 

Your welcome

 

Thanks TrueDogman, much appreciated!!!

I was away for a couple weeks on business, so I ended up bringing the truck to a rear end specialist around here. The price tag for a complete rebuild was about $2k.