shooter5635

Hey all, just doing a little research.

I've got two major jobs that are going to need to be done on my jeep:

The flexplate needs to be replaced

and

The rear Chrysler 8.25 is whining only under load around 45mph.


How much should one expect to pay to have the flexplate replaced? How much to replace the bearing in the rear? (carrier and pinion?)


I know I haven't been on here much recently because I've been looking to get rid of the jeep, but i just can't do it. So it's time to start planning to fix whats wrong with her.

XxXJ99xX

Well I'll tell you how much it costs to get your read 8.25 rebuilt with 75% new bearings from a Chrysler dealer. Came to like $680 for labor and parts. First and last time I'll be spending that much money at a stealership. At least in ohio it did, not sure if your labor rates are any different in IL

shooter5635

Why did you have it done at a dealer?

lookin2wheel

Never have a dealer service dept work on your ride unless its warranty work otherwise you will get drug through the coals with labor costs. Stealerships have huge overhead costs and that is paid for by very high labor rates. In NC and GA the labor rates are anywhere from $85-$100 per hour. Any good small privately owned place will have labor rates at half that. Just shop around and research. Dont be afraid to ask shops what they charge for labor. Alot of time you can negotiate. Youd be suprised what a 12 pack of Bud Light can get you in reduced labor costs. I had the rearend rebuilt in my '84 Corolla and it cost me $500 for all the bearings, new ring and pinion, and labor. As for the flex plate, is there a reason you dont do it yourself? I know it sucks pulling a trans but it beats paying out the butt for someelse to do it.

XxXJ99xX

Because it was 30 Degrees outside I didnt have the slightest idea on how to set backlash and pre-load and when I tried to find out no one knew on here. I needed to be home the next day and I had sold my 98 the day before. It seemed like it made sense since I didnt want to completely wipe out my 3.73 ring and pinion. It orgianlly was going to cost $300 but once they opened up the 8.25 the tech who was working on it found out it had something like .30 on the left side bearing and someone had swapped the races from side to side so all they were doing was digging groves into them. So after an almost complete overhaul I've got a very nice 8.25.

shooter5635

Ouch. At least you got it figured out. How many miles were on it when you needed the rebuild? I'm at 100,000 but the PO took horrible care of her. Wen I opened the diff to change the fluid it wasn't fluid, it was peanut butter. Litterally took me 3 cans of brake clean to get all of it out

XxXJ99xX

129,000. I didnt have any peanut butter but you can tell whoever had it before me only changed the oil coolant and transmission fluid. And whoever else did the rest must've been 5 years old because they did a horrible job, I dont even want to comment on how my old exhaust system was run and where they bought the parts for it or for anything else that was wrong with it. The brakes were so worn down that the parking brake light was on and the right rear wheel cylinder had been leaking so long that it made a nice finish on the inside of the drum because it was nothing but black tar sludge and the occasional spot of metal. It was so hack jobbed before I got it it was scary and its drove me broke fixing all the things on it.

shooter5635

I think we bought our vehicles from the same people! The front rotors were so warped that if I hit my brakes at anything above 45 the entire front end would violently shake like I had DW. Rear drums were almost metal on metal. She SPLIT the front drive shaft -_-

And she tole me to take care of her baby lol

XxXJ99xX

The front rotors were shot on mine but it did have a nice set of new pads, which did nothing to the already shot rotors. The front axle shaft U-Joint was so bad that everytime I slowed down you could here it clank loudly because it had so much play in it that the joint would slap the ends agianst the even more so hollowed out center caps and someone replaced the drivers side axle shaft with a Grand Cherokee CV Shaft....thankfully I had a set of 98 Axle Shafts left over from when I put a new D-30 in my 98. You just cant fix stupid. So I guess my point is in all of this is that if you have 3.55 gears your better off just going to get one out of a junkyard for $100 and just going through it to make sure everything is working properly and isnt damaged to much. For the price I paid you could have some chromo axle shafts and do a disc conversion so IMO that'd be your best bet unless you want to spend that much. The only reason I did is because I needed to get home right away and I didnt want to loose my 3.73's and trac-lok rear end.

shooter5635

Stupid question... but how do i find what gears i have? It would be gold if i could find an axle with trac-lok....

XxXJ99xX

Do you have any skid plates or tow hooks or a rear tow hitch and transmission cooler? Auto/Manual? And you should be able to tell by the tag on your front or rear diff cover if its still on there. If you have a regular cherokee with an auto 3.55's, if you have a regular 5-speed, 3.07's and if you have the up country package then you have 3.73's. It also varies if you have a 2.5 or a 4.0

xjbeans

Junk yard rear end = cheap and easy no need to set backlash! While you in the jy pull diff cover and inspect every thing!

XxXJ99xX

X2

shooter5635

Guess I've got 3.55's. Auto no tow package, tow points, trans cooler, nothing.

How hard do you think Itd be to find another Chrysler 8.25? The junkyards in my area are pretty picked over, or the vehicles are super high mileage

xjsnake

Wrong gear ratio, decent price
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/pts/2766190753.html

Saw 4 or 5 rear axles that would work on there.