Rear pinion bearing

pookie · **Joined:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:06 am **Posts:** 48

I finally broke down and took my KJ to the stealership. Got diagnosed (sp) as being a rear pinion bearing going bad. Which in turn results in the loud howl and crap I hear coming from the rear end. They said it was going to be $340 in parts, for new bearing seals, clips etc, etc. This is just bearings and stuff no new gears. But the killer is $630 in labor and shop supplies. Labor is about $90 an hour so I am guessing it is a 6 hour job. I told them to hold off on doing it. I am hoping someone from my local club can help me do it and at least let me save the $$$ on labor, but does this seem about right? The only other thread I found was beepbeep's when his had the same thing going on. beepbeep if you read this did you end up doing this or did you go with a new rear? I consider this more of an advanced job so it might be out of my league. For example I'd say the most advanced Jeep project I have done is putting the 4" lift on my TJ. But I have done valve adjustments and clutch replacements on my other car. I've just never done a rear diff before. Also is there a how to for replacing this stuff? I know there is a shop manual for the TJ's is there one for the KJ's? Also anyone in NOVA or MD or Souther PA who wants to volunteer to lend me a hand I'll make sure to hook you up.

Any pointers at all?

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:20 am

You should go ahead and buy a Detroit TruTrac and new bearings and find a 4x4 shop to do the work...this way you will improve your KJ

Reider Racing sells the DTT for a decent price.

wildrussian · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:43 am

I would love to help you and learn some too if I lived closer. Alway want to get my hands greasy.

I looked on Reider Racing web site but I couldn't find the Detroit TT for the Chrysler 8.25. What do they normally run?

Milner · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:15 am

A local shop will be MUCH more reasonable on cost....Bearing kits generally run $100 and labor about $250.
Check with some local clubs and see who is reputable in your area.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:09 pm

The DTT for the 8.25 came out recently...so you will probably need to email them or call.

ARBSeth · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 12:36 pm

Take it to a Diff shop, a full master overhaul kit for the 8.25 including all 4 bearings in the diff (Carrier and Pinion) should retail for more than $250... the diagnosis sounds right, bad bearings howl. The labor is brutal. I'd pay them the diagnosis fee and run like hell. You'll want to replace all 4 bearings becaue if 1 goes bad, the metal shavings from the failure will get in the rest of them and roast them, too.

Where are you? Maybe I can send you to the right shop.

oldhockeyvb · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 2:52 pm

Go to a differential shop. I talked to the dealer about installing my front true-trac and decided to go with a local diff shop instead. I wasn't convinced the dealer was the best qualified to do the work and I definitely didn't like the price. The diff shop did a great job for me.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:19 pm

Seth is real close on parts,about 250.00..........As far as the labor,our independent shop where I work would probably get 3.5 to 4 hours labor @60.00 an hour.....so about 5 to 550.00 with synthetic fluids and tax,parts and labor.If ANYONE quotes you 630.00 labor to replace just the bearings,they probably don't know what their doing to start with and are charging enough to do it twice when they mess it up the first time.I can only guess that I've personaly done a hundred or so in my 25 years of profession(all different makes)and 630.00 labor is out of line. :wink:

And as Seth also said....One bad apple WILL spoil the whole bunch,make sure that ALL bearings are replaced,and the diff. cleaned out as good as possible.

Ron

jason thompson · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:52 pm

$630 in labor is a RIP OFF
I paid less than 1/2 that to have an ARB installed into my TJ and they put new break pads on :lol:

the parts sound steep as well

I would go the local 4X4 shop route and do a Tru Trac or something like that
if it were me I would go full Detroit locker but thats just me
I would look at it like this
I need to buy berings and pay for them to set up the gears again ,shims, so all I am paying for is the locker it self
now some times you can find a deal where they sell you a locker and install kit at a discounted price so shop around

Milner · **Posted:** Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:04 am

Bearings and install kit $94.26
http://www.ringpinion.com/ProductDetail ... rodID=1459

True Trac $523.42
http://www.ringpinion.com/ProductDetail ... rodID=1473

Most local shops around here are a flat rate of $250 to r&r gears and bearings....
When I was doing then daily (about 10 yrs ago, we were $150)

Sorry even $550 labor is double local rates around here....

pookie · **Joined:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:06 am **Posts:** 48

Sorry to leave you guys hanging. I am a member of the MD Jeep board even though I live in WV so I hollered at them yesterday. One of my buddies has a shop that he used to put his ORB locker in his TJ so I got their number. Needless to say I picked it up from the dealership, without them touching it, and will be taking it to the other guy next week. He gave me a phone quote of $250 so I figure even if it ends up being more than that I will still be better off than the dealership. I'd love to do it on my own, but I got a lot of stuff going on right now, not to mention I don't know how to do it. I knew the dealership would be high, but they were close and I figured they could diagnos and then I could get it fixed elsewhere.

Thanks for the help.

krazz1e · **Posted:** Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:47 pm

call a driveline shop and tell them you have a 8.25 corp axle that needs new bearings on the R&P. Super common setup they can do it in a day for under $250.

mine went bad at 30k on my KJ.

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:13 pm

Actually $600 isn't that bad for a dealer You cant get anything done for less than $90 per hour around here. Most shops are close to $100hr +. I just looked it up here at work and the job pays 5.5-6hrs. so $600 for labor isn't too bad. No way in hell would i pay it because i'd do it myself but they are not exactly ripping you off. If you can get it done for $250 that's awsome take advantage of it. Make sure it's a decent shop though.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:24 pm

I know 2 really good shops in SD that do gear installs for most vehicles for $250,some others are $300.They have 1 guy doing it and pay him salary(that's all he does all day,day in and day out),the shops charge $95 a hour for labor for everything else and some of the other guy's labor pays his salary,sounds dumb but say a shop has a labor rate of $95 a hour,well the tech may only see $15-$25 of that per hour and the rest goes to the shop.

KY Liberty · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:46 pm **Posts:** 1195

If you're getting ready to lift it, and are going to take apart the diff, you might want to consider going to 4.10's while your at it.

pookie · **Joined:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:06 am **Posts:** 48

I thought it was just the rear pinion bearing but in the end it turns out my rear end gears work but are worn. So the recommendation is replacement. I can get the stock replacement parts with the updated carrier for about $1400, but I am thinking for $1400 I should be able to upgrade. So what are my options? Also my KJ is a 02 Limited, I assume that the rear is a D35. What other Jeep vehicles share this same rear? I know some TJ's have a rear D35 but what else? I was also thinking a swap of the whole rear end might be an option. And what rear will fit it that has disc brakes? My KJ has rear drums, but I noticed a newer KJ has disc brakes in the back.

Quote:

If you're getting ready to lift it, and are going to take apart the diff, you might want to consider going to 4.10's while your at it.

I'm not a super hard core off roader, I admit that, I do like to take it off road and get it dirty, but I don't think I need super low gears in this thing, so I don't know if that would really be a good option.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:59 am

pookie wrote:

I thought it was just the rear pinion bearing but in the end it turns out my rear end gears work but are worn. So the recommendation is replacement. I can get the stock replacement parts with the updated carrier for about $1400, but I am thinking for $1400 I should be able to upgrade. So what are my options? Also my KJ is a 02 Limited, I assume that the rear is a D35. What other Jeep vehicles share this same rear? I know some TJ's have a rear D35 but what else? I was also thinking a swap of the whole rear end might be an option. And what rear will fit it that has disc brakes? My KJ has rear drums, but I noticed a newer KJ has disc brakes in the back.

Quote:

If you're getting ready to lift it, and are going to take apart the diff, you might want to consider going to 4.10's while your at it.

I'm not a super hard core off roader, I admit that, I do like to take it off road and get it dirty, but I don't think I need super low gears in this thing, so I don't know if that would really be a good option.

The D35 rear for the KJ was very rare,I believe only the 4 bangers got them(or most of them).You most likely have the 8.25 rear end.I have the 3.73 gears(and carrier minus the tone ring and center pin) that I took out of my 8.25 at 28,000 miles(replaced with 4.10's),selling cheap($75+shipping),just need new bearings.

spoonplugger1 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:02 pm

If you have the 35 the Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Comanche, Wagoneer, Scrambler and Wrangler had all ran that axle one time or another.

pookie · **Joined:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 10:06 am **Posts:** 48

Yeah like I said I assumed it was a D35. I never bothered to really look at it when I was under there. I just changed the fluid but I don't think I could id one just by looking at it.

tjkj2002 I sent you a PM

Milner · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:21 pm

Precision or Yukon gears and and ARB or TruTrac for it, should be able to even do the ARB for near the $1400 you were quoted for factory parts....

Rear pinion bearing

Who is online