I have a feeling that I have some bad wear in my rear diff (8.25)...ring and pinion, sleeve yolk/mainshaft spline..something like that (I'm going to drain the fluid take the cover off, and have a look at it soon).

In the event that I am faced with the option of a rebuild, or swap, what are some good ways to go, and how difficult can a swap be depending on the diff/axel that gets put in?

I'd like to price some stuff out for the worse case scenerio and I'm thinking that a full swap and doing the work myself is better than having a shop rebuild my diff after I buy the parts....

What do you guys think?

 

what year is your 8.25? 27 or 29 spline? if its a 29 spline i would just rebuild or find another used 29 spline 8.25

 

its a '99. 29 spline. I would only want to swap for another 8.25 or better, like a dana 44 or something. It really comes down to cost though because I'd be in over my head tearing my diff apart haha.

 

is it making noise? whats the issue?

 

I'm getting that bad clunk noise and jerk when I put it into drive. It's especially bad when I go back and forth from R to D. The rear diff jerks up about an inch or so when it's put into gear.

 

that almost sounds like a tranny issue not a diff issue

 

thats a scary thought...

 

danna 44....i got one from someone who thought he had a 35....150 for a d44 an d30

 

when you are running down the road does the rear axle make noises? if not i would say its your tranny. those tranny are a dime a dozen. simple to remove and install

 

Ya, It doesn't make any noise while I'm driving. Process of elimination I guess. Thanks for your thoughts on it.

 

Thats rad. Theres a couple on craigslist right now... very tempting.