Long story short, my truck is currently at a differential shop to try and get some slop out of the rear axle (which was determined to be in the rear locker...and no one will do anything about that :
). Despite the fact that this shop looked in the rear diff last October, they now claim that the main carrier bearings are rusted and pitted.
Now I don't have that many miles on the truck since October...and they didn't see this before??
Here is the kicker. They want $600 to replace the rear carrier bearings. I just about fell over when I heard that. $300 in parts, $300 in labor.
Question: Reckon they are full of crap? If the rear bearings really are rusted, how much of a DIY is this? The rear fluid has been changed and monitored to make sure it isn't murky. It hasn't been.
Its a Dana-style axle and I've removed the 3rd member before myself. It is a bit of a bear but not completely impossible. I'm thinking of doing this myself. Can I just pull the 3rd member, replace the races and the bearings myself (well I'll have to have the bearings pressed on and off, but I think I can find a shop to do that for me for a couple of bucks)? Then check the lash and backlash myself and if need be, add in shims? I kinda have a feeling like it won't need much/not a lot.
Dunno, the $600 price tag was the straw that broke the camels back. Also I'm half tempted to just say eff it and keep running it. Obviously it hasn't been a problem up until now.
Oh and I guess I need to send an email to Detroit and find out why their locker is giving me 80 degrees of play in my rear axle...which it has been doing since for almost 10 years.
Sorry, I'm just at the end of my rope right now. The situation with my truck in the last year and a half has been one of incompetence by shops working on it. This just shoves the knife in deeper. Either way, doing it myself and having the truck apart for a month to do this seems to make a lot more sense than paying some idiot to get it wrong. At least when I mess up, it'll be justified.