Replacing ring and pinion-can I do it on my own?

[M/Z]

Got a bad noise coming from my rear Dana 44. I think it's the ring and pinion or differential. My mechanic wants $900 to swap the whole axle with one from a wrecking yard, but I think that is a little extreme. Question: can't I just replace the ring & pinion and/or the diff for a lot cheaper. I've never done any rear end work, so I'm a little hesitant to try it on my own. Any personal experiences would be helpfull.

[brent]

No personal story and no real experience with this problem yet. But it always seems with all the resources I can scrape (gearhead friends/this list/patience/desperation/flashlight/time I don't have) I can usually beat the HORRIFYING GARAGE QUOTE by 50% doing it myself. There's a ton of stuff I know I could never do and suck it up and pay a garage to do, but I'd roll the dice and try to work this one out if I was in yer shoes. My 2 cents, Brent

[Crazy_Jeepman]

That is a very high estimate!!! Swap in a used axle would be the cheapest, since rebuilding your current one would be expensive for just the parts alone. Shop around for a used axle with the same gear Ratio as your front. You could swap in the axle yourself, not much harder than changing a tire. Take driveshaft off at axle, Cut the U-Bolts, undo shocks and brake line, parking brake cables, roll out the axle, take tires off put them on the replacement axle and roll it back under, new U-bolts and put it all back together. Check the brakes in the replacement axle.

[greasyjeep]

http://www.technicalvideos.com/differentialvideos.htm

I got this video and bought a magnetic base swing arm dial indicator and was off and running. Made it real easy to understand. I had no one to show me how to set it up so the $60, although a little high, was worth it to me.
I've now done a front and rear D44 for my TJ and will be doing the FF14 for the big guy and a D60 when funds allow.

Not real hard once you figure out the secret.

[ June 08, 2003, 05:44 AM: Message edited by: greasyjeep ]

[porkchop]

CJM Has the right idea. It is real easy to swap the whole axle out. But if you do decide to do it yourself, it is not has hard as you may think. I did both my front and rear axle. I just read a lot and did research and it worked out great for me. A video would have been nice :D .

[Cliff]

I am swapping gears in a few weeks - got a great deal on a ring and pinion with carrier, found an experienced Jeep mechanic who can do the work for $100 (done a hundred of 'em). The total will cost less then $250. If I had the time I would tackle it myself, but the Wag is a daily driver, and I have to minimize down time. So far, I will do just about anything myself - I have yet to do a automatic transmission (and probably never will) but have become pretty good with another piece of feared and uncharted territory - the front suspension.