May need to rebuild rear end, need advice!

[Corts60]

Hey all,

So this afternoon I was just doing some maintenance and lifted the rear end to check the brakes. After I was through and putting the tires back on, I spun the wheels by hand while it was still on the jack stands and there was a distinct noise coming from the differential that sounded like the ticker on the wheel of fortune wheel. You know what I mean? Dub, dub, dub, dub......

So, I am thinking I have a wiped out bearing in there. Also, I have considerable play in the yoke, maybe a half inch play or more. I know this rear end has probably over 200,000 miles on it so I am looking for advice on how exactly to go about rebuilding the rear end and what the costs involved may be.

It is a 3:73 open, 12 bolt. The truck is a '78 shortbox Silverado 1/2 ton. Not sure if this matters, but this number was stamped onto the axle tube 3896839.

What all is involved in the rebuild? Do I need new gears if there is a lot of play? How hard is it to replace the carrier bearings?

Thanks for the help!

-Cort

[Corts60]

No one?

[harleyhouser]

http://www.ringpinion.com/Default.aspx

I just rebuilt my front end and rear end, I used this randy's ring and pinion for all my parts and info. They will help you out with any questions. There are some items that you will need that you may not have (dial indicator on mag base, calipers, pinion depth setting tool, or another way to do correctly also).
Take your time find a step by step some where on internet or buy a book from randy's. You will also need access to a press or will have to ake your pinion somewhere and get your bearing pressed on. It is not hard to complete this task.

[wilkin250r]

It's not too hard, but it's not a piece of cake, either. The tolerances in the differential need to be really precise, and as harleyhouser mentioned, there are going to be special tools associated with it.

The tutorials and pictures you can read don't quite tell the whole story. Sure, they give you all the information on what to look for, but they don't tell you that you'll be pulling and installing your carrier six or seven times, each time torquing all your bolts and setting your backlash, only to find you need yet another small adjustment and repeating the whole process over again.

[Corts60]

Nice. Thanks for the link!