2011 1500 5.7 3.55 limited slip. Any done dif bearings???

[Jory]

Sorry I didn't know where to post this.

245000km a while ago my mechanic said he he noticed a high frequency vibration coming from the drive shaft after he did the u joints. And I recently moved found another good mechanic, he notice a grinding nose from the dif when going slow in the parking lot when he did the calipers. I thought it was cause the one caliper was seizing. Sounds like the break rotor is grinding. She said it's probably your dif bearings and recommended a guy who just does difs. That said the dodges eat dif bearings. Calling around just pricing it out. One shop, said it if making nose it probably got filings in it and has pitted the ring gear and the nose will still be there after the bearing as said to just get a rear axel from the wreckers. Yeah, like I going to do that without even seeing the truck. Lol. What's involved with changing those bearings. Does the ring and pinion have to come out. I am assuming they do. If so then it wouldn't cost extra labour to put a new ring and pinion in it. What do you guys think. I am have the fluid changed in a couple weeks. Not taking the cover off. Just for filings and put royal purple in it. And just see if there is an improvement. Figure good place to start fir lil cost. Will be lucky if I run 3 tanks of gas through it this winter. Will address the diff in the spring. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Wild one]

Sorry I didn't know where to post this.

245000km a while ago my mechanic said he he noticed a high frequency vibration coming from the drive shaft after he did the u joints. And I recently moved found another good mechanic, he notice a grinding nose from the dif when going slow in the parking lot when he did the calipers. I thought it was cause the one caliper was seizing. Sounds like the break rotor is grinding. She said it's probably your dif bearings and recommended a guy who just does difs. That said the dodges eat dif bearings. Calling around just pricing it out. One shop, said it if making nose it probably got filings in it and has pitted the ring gear and the nose will still be there after the bearing as said to just get a rear axel from the wreckers. Yeah, like I going to do that without even seeing the truck. Lol. What's involved with changing those bearings. Does the ring and pinion have to come out. I am assuming they do. If so then it wouldn't cost extra labour to put a new ring and pinion in it. What do you guys think. I am have the fluid changed in a couple weeks. Not taking the cover off. Just for filings and put royal purple in it. And just see if there is an improvement. Figure good place to start fir lil cost. Will be lucky if I run 3 tanks of gas through it this winter. Will address the diff in the spring. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thank you. View attachment 553552View attachment 553553

Hit up SGI salvage for a replacement diff,it'd probably be cheaper then rebuilding your original diff.They're based in Sask,but ship anywhere. You can swap the diff yourself pretty easily on a driveway on a Sat afternoon

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

The 11 model had a recall back several years ago 12 or 13, something to do with some of the diffs being shipped with no hole for the rubber fill plug and low fluid.

I know at the time dodge, not ram, rebuilt the diff in my 11 for bearings due to the recall.

Might check, it could still be active or it could be a warranty thing. I don't remember the specifics. If it was a recall then a TSB would be published

Might check this article

Chrysler recalls 56,000 2011 Ram 1500 for axle risk

Chrysler is recalling 56,611 2011 Ram 1500 pickups over a problem with the rear axle bearings which could lead to the rear wheels locking up while traveling at speed.

www.torquenews.com

Here should give you tsb number but not bulletin

https://www.alldatadiy.com/TSB/1117_mo.html

 

[62Blazer]

I would recommend doing some research on working, or rebuilding, a differential. Maybe watch a few YouTube videos to get an understanding. Not saying you need to learn step by step how to do it, but just watch a video to at least get an understanding of what to do.
To replace the diff carrier bearings you have to remove the diff carrier, and the ring gear is bolted to the diff carrier. So I guess technically you are removing the ring gear. If you replaced the ring gear it would then involve unbolting it from the diff carrier (the carrier has to be removed from the diff housing anyway). Not sure on the exact number of bolts on this exact diff, but usually zip out 10-12 bolts with an impact and bolt on a new ring gear. There is a chance the ring gear is fine. Usually as long as you didn't drive it long, and the bearings were not that bad, there is no issue with it.
There is quite a bit of labor time involved if you do need new gears. While simply unbolting the old ring gear and bolting on the new ring gear is easier, you also need to replace the pinion gear as it's a matching set with the ring gear. It's a good bit more labor to replace the pinion gear. The biggest labor expense when replacing a ring and pinion gear set is you don't simply unbolt the old stuff and bolt in new ones. Gear sets are cut very precise and you have to set them up, meaning checking backlash, bearing preload, and contact patch which is adjusted by placing shims under the bearings.

 

[Jory]

I see. Thank you. I know it was recalled for pinion bolts and was done before I bought it. Will have to do more research. Just want to get it right the first time.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You're jumping to conclusions w/o any evidence. Someone should look at this issue/s before determining the rear diff even HAS a problem. Could be:

1) The guy who did the u-joint did a crappy job..or problem with the U-joint.

2) Center Driveshaft bearing which often fail, could be at fault.

3) The grinding could be it needs friction modifier for a limited slip diff

4) The grinding noise could be the parking brake in the rear rotors, rusted apart.


Before jumping to conclusions, someone needs to get it off the ground. Remove the wheels, probably take off the rotors, unbolt the driveshaft....and inspect & rotate things.

I had an awful grinding noise in my Jeep rear diff. I was sure it too was possibly bearings. Here all it was was 1) A hold-down spring on one side broke and was grinding around in the rear shoes. #2) There was some rust build-up on the other side drum lip that was rubbing on the backing plate. The point is ...it could be some other things.

 

[Jeepwalker]

If you take it to a shop and tell them, "I think my rear diff is shot..cause it's making noise." you can almost bet some shops will be calling you telling you it needs a different rear diff. They'll be glad to show you their well-used pan of shavings and metal bits they keep under the counter for unsuspecting customers ....and charge you 2 grand to install a used one (even if your old one was still good). Now...maybe it legitimately is going bad. But I would want to be standing there when they take the cover off....to see what it looks like inside with my own eyes.

Like mentioned above, educate yourself and proceed with caution so you don't unwittingly enter a financial minefield.



Ideally...shops which do drivelines (call around, there might be one in your area), are probably the best place to go ...if it is determined the rear diff **is** going bad. They can do it quick and do it right, and probably the cheapest. This isn't a job for a moron who doesn't know what he's doing ...but 'thinks' he does. But first determine what the problem is. It might be a bad axle bearing or any of the things I listed above...all which are easy to fix

 

[Jory]

You're jumping to conclusions w/o any evidence. Someone should look at this issue/s before determining the rear diff even HAS a problem. Could be:

1) The guy who did the u-joint did a crappy job..or problem with the U-joint.

2) Center Driveshaft bearing which often fail, could be at fault.

3) The grinding could be it needs friction modifier for a limited slip diff

4) The grinding noise could be the parking brake in the rear rotors, rusted apart.


Before jumping to conclusions, someone needs to get it off the ground. Remove the wheels, probably take off the rotors, unbolt the driveshaft....and inspect & rotate things.

I had an awful grinding noise in my Jeep rear diff. I was sure it too was possibly bearings. Here all it was was 1) A hold-down spring on one side broke and was grinding around in the rear shoes. #2) There was some rust build-up on the other side drum lip that was rubbing on the backing plate. The point is ...it could be some other things.

Thank you very much. I do have a broken hold down spring on the brake shoe. Was like that several years ago when I did the the calipers rotor and pads on the rear. I don't use the break, and it was quite for a couple years after I did the breaks. Didn't think much of it. Was planning to address it when I redo the breaks again. My break cable isn't hanging low like some other rams, but could be tighten up a lil. I was the told the axel shaft has to come out to adjust the cable. What kind of engineering is that? Seems like a lot to just tighten up the slack. Thought would adjust when the axel seals or dif needs work. Can't justify taking the axel shaft out for an adjustment. The royal purple has the friction modifier already in it. I didn't know the fiction modifier helps make it quite. I know it is important to get the limited slip to engage properly. That's how I generally tell if the fluid needs to be changed. If I can't hold a fish tail all the way through an s bend in the snow. Then fluid needs to be changed. I didn't know about the center shaft bearing. I haven't been hard on the dif. No towing, don't spin tires. Truck never seems to go past 2800 rpm even when I am passing. Just paved country road, 80km 90km an hour mostly. Rarely I open it up just give full pressure on the injectors and blow it out a bit. But even then 3200 3500 rpm max and need to let off. Only a couple times in 7 years I pinned it. It is not happy on the top end, and then is no torque up there.

 

[Jory]

Will definitely go through that check list first. It not about saving the money. I don't mind spend it if it needs it. But nothing worse then fix something and still have the same problem or sound. We all been there before. That's why I tell hypochondriacs a doctor is no different then a mechanic. How many times has the mechanic gotten wrong. And not that it is a bad mechanic. Just everything suggested it was this instead of that. Like rebuilding the top half of a motor and then after finding out it is was a 2 dollar exhaust clamp rattling. Lol. When I was a kid my old spent spent a ton of money on or 86 f150 302, and was still stalling when sitting at the lights and sometimes was hard to get get it going. 5 dollar plugged fuel filter. After 2 dealers and 3 independent shops. Was the guy with the most beat up roughest looking shop around figured it out right away. I always say don't underestimate those old sketchy looking shops. They usually have a excellent mechanic. I try to stick to the same guy so he can develop a relationship with the vehicle. I find that helps a lot

 

[Jory]

You're jumping to conclusions w/o any evidence. Someone should look at this issue/s before determining the rear diff even HAS a problem. Could be:

1) The guy who did the u-joint did a crappy job..or problem with the U-joint.

2) Center Driveshaft bearing which often fail, could be at fault.

3) The grinding could be it needs friction modifier for a limited slip diff

4) The grinding noise could be the parking brake in the rear rotors, rusted apart.


Before jumping to conclusions, someone needs to get it off the ground. Remove the wheels, probably take off the rotors, unbolt the driveshaft....and inspect & rotate things.

I had an awful grinding noise in my Jeep rear diff. I was sure it too was possibly bearings. Here all it was was 1) A hold-down spring on one side broke and was grinding around in the rear shoes. #2) There was some rust build-up on the other side drum lip that was rubbing on the backing plate. The point is ...it could be some other things.

I forgot tk ask what do you mean by center shaft bearing?. I have one drive shaft and 2 u joints.

 

[62Blazer]

If you go to a mechanic and tell them to "repair this" or "replace that", they will do that because that is the service you asked for. Unless you are super confident of the what the issue is I would say "do some diagnostics and tell me what is wrong". If anything that puts the responsibility on them. If you have a bad noise on the truck and tell them to replace a part, and replacing that part doesn't fix the noise, that is your problem and you should eat the cost. If the mechanic says what the problem is and what needs repaired or replaced, but that doesn't fix the problem the mechanic now liable for eating that cost. I don't understand all of these people who say they brought their vehicle in for repairs, paid a shop thousands of dollars, and the problem is not fixed. I've been in that situation before and simply don't pay the shop. You requested a service, they did not provide that service.

 

[Jory]

Yeah usually you cover the parts cost as you do get new parts. But labour is taken off. Some want to be paid regardless. I have a good guy. He does honest business. I will start with that check list. Definitely will check the brake shoes. Sounds does seem to becoming from the dif u joint area. But I have been fooled before thinking the sound is coming from one area and it was really coming a different area. The sound is spot on when the breaks are dragging and make that metallic grinding sound like the shoe is rubbing the drum. It doesn't have that typical u joint sweak you get sometimes when the the u joints cease.

 

[Jory]

And yes. I agree with you. Let the mechanic let at it. I always tell the mechanic what I think and where to check. But to always check it out first and trust them. When the TIMP went a thought fuel pump as most do. So a bought a new pumped to have for the mechanic. He said right away, it probably sometimes else fuel pumps rarely go in these trucks. He started with going over the grounds and then bypassed the tipm and got it to run. Returned the pump and got a new TIMP. That's the kind of shop I like to do business with.

 

[Wild one]

I forgot tk ask what do you mean by center shaft bearing?. I have one drive shaft and 2 u joints.

Thats only if you have a 2 piece rear driveshaft,then you'll have a center /steady bearing,your 1 piece shaft won't have it.

 

[Jory]

Thank you

 

[Tominator223]

It takes a special tool to torque the carrier. I had issues with my 04 3.55 gear diff. I had a race shop build it. Got 200,000 miles before the clutch’s went. I’d check for recall on yours 1st. Most places want 1500-1700 for one that’s built. Used they go from 200-800. Look for a race shop that builds rear ends if you choose to rebuild. That’s usually the best option for the time & cost

 

[Hagar1]

If you go to a mechanic and tell them to "repair this" or "replace that", they will do that because that is the service you asked for. Unless you are super confident of the what the issue is I would say "do some diagnostics and tell me what is wrong". If anything that puts the responsibility on them. If you have a bad noise on the truck and tell them to replace a part, and replacing that part doesn't fix the noise, that is your problem and you should eat the cost. If the mechanic says what the problem is and what needs repaired or replaced, but that doesn't fix the problem the mechanic now liable for eating that cost. I don't understand all of these people who say they brought their vehicle in for repairs, paid a shop thousands of dollars, and the problem is not fixed. I've been in that situation before and simply don't pay the shop. You requested a service, they did not provide that service.

In answer to your comment, all States and Provinces consumer laws are different.

 

[Hagar1]

Sorry I didn't know where to post this.

245000km a while ago my mechanic said he he noticed a high frequency vibration coming from the drive shaft after he did the u joints. And I recently moved found another good mechanic, he notice a grinding nose from the dif when going slow in the parking lot when he did the calipers. I thought it was cause the one caliper was seizing. Sounds like the break rotor is grinding. She said it's probably your dif bearings and recommended a guy who just does difs. That said the dodges eat dif bearings. Calling around just pricing it out. One shop, said it if making nose it probably got filings in it and has pitted the ring gear and the nose will still be there after the bearing as said to just get a rear axel from the wreckers. Yeah, like I going to do that without even seeing the truck. Lol. What's involved with changing those bearings. Does the ring and pinion have to come out. I am assuming they do. If so then it wouldn't cost extra labour to put a new ring and pinion in it. What do you guys think. I am have the fluid changed in a couple weeks. Not taking the cover off. Just for filings and put royal purple in it. And just see if there is an improvement. Figure good place to start fir lil cost. Will be lucky if I run 3 tanks of gas through it this winter. Will address the diff in the spring. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thank you. View attachment 553552View attachment 553553

If you are going to tackle the job yourself, I'll offer some advice. Some of the things you will need are a couple of torque wrenches, 1 pound inch and the other pound foot. You will also need a Dial Indicator and some gear marking compound (that yellow stuff) Then ....... a good supply of solvent and plenty of black and some white wipe rags. Before you start reassembly, make sure everything is clean, that is where the wipe rags come in, Clean the Axle tubes like you want your mother to eat from them. White rags wipe through, looking for dirt and black rags run through looking for metal flakes.
If you plan on re-using the old ring and pinion, unless you get it perfectly back to where it was, you will have a whine. Seen that more than a few times. Easier to set up a new gear set than to get the old one back exactly.
DO NOT use an impact wrench to collapse the collapsible sleeve, high risk of brinelling the pinion bearings.

 

[62Blazer]

In answer to your comment, all States and Provinces consumer laws are different.

Not sure I understand what you mean. The example I'm thinking of. Your truck won't start so you take it to a shop. They replace the battery and starter and give you a bill for $1,000....but the truck still won't start. Is there any situation where the consumer should be responsible for paying the shop for this?

In another reply, somebody mentioned the consumer paying for the parts but not for the labor. I kinda' understand where they are coming from, but don't think that is right. In the example above why should I pay for a new starter when there was nothing wrong with the original one? There are parts on vehicles that last a long time, maybe even the life of the vehicle, so why would you pay for something that was working fine. Along the same lines as above my last truck was 16 years old and still had the original starter with no issues. So maybe your truck is 5 years old and they replace the starter...sure it's "newer" but the old one would have worked for 10+ more years at least. A little bit of difference with wear items, but unless they are substantially worn out and near the end of the life I would have a problem with that. Let's use the battery as an example. Let's say you expect 4 years out of a battery but they replaced the one in your truck that was 2 years old and working fine. I could possibly see paying a pro-rated price, but that would be pushing it.

 

[Hagar1]

Not sure I understand what you mean. The example I'm thinking of. Your truck won't start so you take it to a shop. They replace the battery and starter and give you a bill for $1,000....but the truck still won't start. Is there any situation where the consumer should be responsible for paying the shop for this?

In another reply, somebody mentioned the consumer paying for the parts but not for the labor. I kinda' understand where they are coming from, but don't think that is right. In the example above why should I pay for a new starter when there was nothing wrong with the original one? There are parts on vehicles that last a long time, maybe even the life of the vehicle, so why would you pay for something that was working fine. Along the same lines as above my last truck was 16 years old and still had the original starter with no issues. So maybe your truck is 5 years old and they replace the starter...sure it's "newer" but the old one would have worked for 10+ more years at least. A little bit of difference with wear items, but unless they are substantially worn out and near the end of the life I would have a problem with that. Let's use the battery as an example. Let's say you expect 4 years out of a battery but they replaced the one in your truck that was 2 years old and working fine. I could possibly see paying a pro-rated price, but that would be pushing it.

I understand what you are saying, all that I was saying is that some shops use the parts cannon for everything ...... I do not agree with using that model. TEST, don't GUESS is what I lived by. I would demand that the shop put my old starter and battery back and I would promptly look for a good shop.
Now .... having said the above, I have seen and experienced personally where a starter quit without any warning. In my case, the braided wire between the solenoid and starter had corroded to the point of failure. Batteries .... typically will give some warning that they are on their way out. generally time will start being the first indicator.
I don't generally patronize ANY shop, I do ALL my repairs my self including engines, diffs and automatic transmissions. At 3/4 of a century old, it takes a bit longer but being retired, I have the time.