bkrukow

My truck has a growl that started a while back and I thought it was the front tires being cupped. I rotated them and it did not change anything. I took it to the dealer and had them look at it. I had it in my head I had bought a 100,000 mile extended warenty when I bough the truck with 58,000 miles on it so I told them to just get it fixed. I decided to call rite away in the morning while on break at work and Ime glad I did cause they said my warenty was only a 50,000 mile extention and I was abought 6,000 miles out. I said then not to fix anything. They said the mechanic had already said he thought it was the pinion bearing. I brought it home thinking I would do it myself but now am thinking I may not. How involved is it to do a pinion bearing?? I searched on here but couldent find anything that gave me an idea. How expensive is it to have done?? I dont wana take it back to the dealer as they are idiouts that I dont want touching my truck if I am paying the bill. I have a local private shop that I trust and has treated us great in the past. I will most likely bring it to them. Is this a expensive item or not to bad??

C Schomer

Most of the load is on the back pinion bearing so there's not much chance that replacing the front bearing would do any good. I'd pull the cover and inspect the gears and check for wear metal. A little experience with setting up R&Ps goes a LONG way and it takes more tools than the average DIYer has. A 500 ft. lb. and an in. lb. tq wrench with the right adaptors and sockets, dial indicator and base - not to mention the big pullers and some kind of a back-up wrench on the yoke. A shim kit would be nice so you don't have to cut shims out of welding rod cans and steel siding, like I've done before. I don't know about the AAM - a case spreader might be needed, unless you just want to muscle the carrier in and out. I've done it with a helper. I doubt if any shop would just replace one bearing and they might demand replaceing the R&P if you want any warranty. Craig

bkrukow

Ya I talked to him today and he is gona look at it tomarow. He said at least $400 labor plus parts. I am not doing it in my driveway. A budie wants me to bring it to his home shop where he works on the side but I dont realy trust him to get it rite, not to mention his shop is a pigsty and I dont need any dirt in there.

Dr.Dizzle

I agree with the comments noted by CSchomer. This was an issue that I had to deal with a few months ago in one of our company Dodge CTD's. The tires were not cupped, however; the differential fluid was low due to leakage at the pinion seal. After several hours and finally concluding that the pinion bearings were the issue, I opted to go with a master overhaul kit. The r&p was in excellent condition. This requires the removal and replacement of the wheel bearing assemblies. There is a good chance of damaging one or both during the removal process, especially if they have a significant amount of mileage on them. I recommend replacing them with Timken bearing assemblies, given their reputation for quality.

Any good master overhaul kit will include Timken bearing products and other quality parts such as pinion bearings and races, pinion seal, complete shim kit, pinion nut and crush sleeve, paste and a brush.

The work was performed by a local Diesel performance shop, which has also performed work on my personal vehicles for several years. The overhaul kits cost approximately 350.00 and the Timken wheel bearings may cost you 300.00 a piece. Then add the cost of your preferred brand of 75w/90 differential fluid,which puts parts alone at 1,000.00. The total cost in labor and parts was approximately 1330.00. The mechanic allowed me to examine the old parts (pinion bearings; etc) which showed spalling in the races. I highly recommend having a shop that you trust perform a repair such as this, if it turns out that your pinion bearings are causing the issues.

bkrukow

He ordered a complete rebuild kit for $300 and he said abought $500 in labor now. So now he said its looking more like $800. I wish this would have happened 7000 miles ago so the warentie would have covered it.