Rear end rebuild - research

[Black1500Ram]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been hearing rear end whine in my truck. 137k miles so most likely time for a time for a rebuild.

Has anyone done this themselves and have any pointers? This is the one thing I’ve never done.

Any easy way to check for clutch wear? Typical mileage they last?

A few videos / threads I found mentioned reusing the pinion shims resulted in the best alignment for them, since shims go to casing not gears.

Found the below videos for reference.

Nothing I’ve viewed seems difficult so wanted to check with some veterans for the nuances that may not show up in a vid.

Thanks in advance.

Rear End Rebuild

Rebuild pt 1
Rebuild pt 2

Rebuild vid 3

 

[Black1500Ram]

Anyone?

Planning on putting bearings in the oven and pinion gear in freezer to help with new bearing going on.

Will rent the clam shell style pullers to get them off.

Otherwise it seems easy... what am I missing? I’ve heard horror stories about rebuilding diffs.

Are ours easier since we have the adjusters and don’t have to shim the carrier also?

 

[crackerjack1957]

If you have to ask........this is 1 skill set you should not attempt.
Not trying to be an a** but wouldn't want an expensive failure for ya.

 

[Joseph Godvin]

Have rebuilt a lot of axles, it's not something for the armature mechanic !! unless you have a factory service manual and a dial indicators set, torque wrenches and a lot of patience !!!!

 

[Black1500Ram]

Hi guys thanks for the feed back.
I am going to be doing this myself already ordered the rebuild kit.

The major thing I’ve heard from all my older mechanc friends applied to different style axles that have to be shimmed for left right adjustment to get the interface pattern low / high on the ring gear.

We don’t really have to worry about that since we have the adjusters, it can be set in vehicle without having to remove the carrier assembly repeatedly to adjust shims.

The only thing shimmed on this axle is the pinion gear to get heel / toe distance correct. A lot of people I see just reuse the oem shim for that. I’ll probably take a mic measurement and install a new shim of the same thickness.

Setting gear mesh isnt something I’m afraid of (mechanical engineering grad), just never done it before.

Keep ya’ll posted.

 

[Black1500Ram]

So started rebuilding my diff today.
Got the carrier and pinion out…
2 jaw puller didn’t work for getting the carrier bearings off. It just tore the case off one but didn’t move the inner sleeve,
so I’ll most likely buy a press and the clam style bearing splitter…

Thing that has me puzzled is… the carrier bearing races both look really good.

One has very minor pitting but otherwise pristine.

Haven’t pushed the pinion outer bearing and seal out yet so we’ll see if those races are what’s howling.

I replaced my outer axle bearings when I did my suspension rebuild ~ 20k miles ago so shouldn’t be those. But if the pinion bearings look good then I’ll pull the outers as well to at least check.

Clutch pack looks great even after 138k

This has been extremely straight forward so far.

Biggest hurdle has been the heat here in Phoenix (no garage) - every tool that you put down turns into lava, and just not having the right tools before I started.

I knowingly went into this thinking I’ll most likely end up having to buy a press or take the carrier / pinion to a shop to have the bearings pulled / pressed on.

Pinion nut is a 32mm 12 point.
An air hammer would be very helpful if you have one otherwise a mini sledge is a must to get the yoke and pinion out and in my case brake rotors off .

 

[DILLIGAF]

If you have to ask........this is 1 skill set you should not attempt.

Spoken like someone who dosent like buying new tools.

 

[DILLIGAF]

2 jaw puller didn’t work for getting the carrier bearings off.

This is the one I bought. Ive used it over a dozen times now and works perfect https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09GKBDF4B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also built myself a 20T press with a 100$ air jack...lol...

Setting these diff is a cakewalk compared to the dana 44/30s and GMs I do. Gears swap are dirt simple. the ones who say otherwise are either not mechanically inclined or mechanics trying to scare you on spending money for nothing.


So this is the perfect diff for your first gear swap. as you dont have to deal with shim packs.

Word of advice have 2 crush sleeves for your first time JIC

 

[TC]

Admire your determination and courage to do this. I had same issue with a 142k mile rear end. Ended up buying a used axle assembly from junkyard with 50k on it for $750. I’m sure your cost is much less. Good luck getting it put back together and hope it is nice and quiet when done.

 

[Black1500Ram]

This is the one I bought. Ive used it over a dozen times now and works perfect https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09GKBDF4B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also built myself a 20T press with a 100$ air jack...lol...

Setting these diff is a cakewalk compared to the dana 44/30s and GMs I do. Gears swap are dirt simple. the ones who say otherwise are either not mechanically inclined or mechanics trying to scare you on spending money for nothing.


So this is the perfect diff for your first gear swap. as you dont have to deal with shim packs.

Word of advice have 2 crush sleeves for your first time JIC

This is the style used in the videos I watched.

Still need a press or heat the bearings for install correct?

Who knows may end up with one of those also.

Only have 1 crush sleeve but I plan on taking the pinion install slow and rechecking turning torque frequently to get to 16-30 in-lbs.

 

[Black1500Ram]

Got the outer pinon bearing out this morning! Ah ha here’s where my noise is coming from!

Race looks pitted too…

*edit* wow the races came out super easy when hitting it with a sold chisel as opposed to a screwdriver…

Outer pinion race has much more wear than inner…

Inner race had a shim behind it (that expectedly got damaged during removal). The new bearings don’t have this I didn’t see it in any of the videos. Going to rewatch

 

[Yardbird]

What is causing the outer pinion bearing to go out on these trucks? Most rear axles never need any work, yet, I read all the time about Ram bearing noise.

Are the axles tilted up too much for oil to get to the front pinion? is the fill hole too low, not allowing enough oil? Are they underfilled at the factory?

My truck was purchased with 24k on the odometer. 2 1/4 years later it now has 36k.

The rear axle needed about a pint to fill it up when I got the truck. I don't think it had ever been checked. The Carfax showed no dealer services to it.

I've had a slight whine from 45 to 51 mph since I got it, both under acceleration and deceleration, but none when in between the two.

It seems to be getting slightly louder, and I'm not happy about it. I have a 1200 mile trip lined up before long, and I don't want to be in a garage off somewhere.

I really like the truck, but these same problems happening to so many people is unacceptable.

 

[Black1500Ram]

What is causing the outer pinion bearing to go out on these trucks? Most rear axles never need any work, yet, I read all the time about Ram bearing noise.

Are the axles tilted up too much for oil to get to the front pinion? is the fill hole too low, not allowing enough oil? Are they underfilled at the factory?

My truck was purchased with 24k on the odometer. 2 1/4 years later it now has 36k.

The rear axle needed about a pint to fill it up when I got the truck. I don't think it had ever been checked. The Carfax showed no dealer services to it.

I've had a slight whine from 45 to 51 mph since I got it, both under acceleration and deceleration, but none when in between the two.

It seems to be getting slightly louder, and I'm not happy about it. I have a 1200 mile trip lined up before long, and I don't want to be in a garage off somewhere.

I really like the truck, but these same problems happening to so many people is unacceptable.

I’m at 138k mi and I tow a 6k lbs camper through some pretty steep mountains 1-2x/ year as well as other misc towing hauling duty, and I sure don’t baby it.

I generally consider the lifespan of any bearing ~100k miles, and a maintenance item. So I look at this as I got an extra 38k out of it. All normal to me.

 

[Black1500Ram]

Admire your determination and courage to do this. I had same issue with a 142k mile rear end. Ended up buying a used axle assembly from junkyard with 50k on it for $750. I’m sure your cost is much less. Good luck getting it put back together and hope it is nice and quiet when done.

Appreciate the comment.

I’m that guy that won’t spend a dime on labor but will curse at the truck for hours. I dunno, guess I haven’t gotten to the age yet where I’d rather pay for someone to do something when I know I can.

We’ll see where I land dollar wise all said and done. Most likely the press will be returned unused, as will some other tools I bought just to have in case.

All in I’ll probably be <$200-250 by the time I’m finished and rentals / unused tools are returned.

I scored a deal on a brand new set of Koyo bearing for half price on Amazon, valvoline gear oil and I bought another mini tank of propane for the torch cause I was out, and I need a longer chisel / punch for the races in the case cause hitting them with a screwdriver with a rubber end isn’t doing anything

 

[DILLIGAF]

I use this to press my bearings in I like it much better as I can feel if the bearing is going in straight. My 20T behind it just sends them and ive grenaded one before...lol. Lucky i found this in the metal bin at work. not sure what retard would throw that out but i cleaned it up and proudly hung it in my shop.

 

[Black1500Ram]

Welp bought the tool you recommended as the clam bearing separator tool just broke the lip off the bearing rather than pulling it off… even with it heated to 200°

Don’t buy this style people.
Maybe a bigger one might have worked.

 

[Black1500Ram]

Inner race had a shim behind it (that expectedly got damaged during removal). The new bearings don’t have this I didn’t see it in any of the videos. Going to rewatch

Hmm in reading some more, the shim is to set bearing preload… I thought this was just done with the crush washer. Oh well don’t have another one of those.

Plan is to drive the new race in no shim, take a measurement of the race to housing shim and bearing to pinion shim and just shim the bearing that same amount to maintain the same pinion depth on the ring gear since I don’t have another shim for the race.

The race shim is 0.065”

I have 0.106” worth pinion shims with the new bearings for the pinion, so I should be ok.

 

[mdc1990zr1]

Hmm in reading some more, the shim is to set bearing preload… I thought this was just done with the crush washer. Oh well don’t have another one of those.

Plan is to drive the new race in no shim, take a measurement of the race to housing shim and bearing to pinion shim and just shim the bearing that same amount to maintain the same pinion depth on the ring gear since I don’t have another shim for the race.

The race shim is ~ 0.078”

I have 0.106” worth pinion shims with the new bearings for the pinion, so I should be ok.

I would de-burr that shim and put it back before I started messing with re-shimming the pinion. Re-shimming the pinion sounds like a recipe for disaster.

 

[Black1500Ram]

I would de-burr that shim and put it back before I started messing with re-shimming the pinion. Re-shimming the pinion sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I would agree if the shim wasn’t pretty bent as well. I’ve been seeing if I can find another shim too but don’t know if all that is necessary.

In doing more research / reading, not all Chrysler 9.25” rear ends are shimmed behind the inner pinion race.

At the end of the day, 20-25 in-lbs turning force on the pinion, and in my mind pinion depth / pattern rules - so we shall see once my new bearing tool gets here on Tuesday.

New outer race is in already.
Race driver I rented didn’t have a big enough beveled adapter to do the inner race. So that race is in the freezer until I decide what I wanna do with it.

 

[Black1500Ram]

More reading: lots of people state that the stock 75 ft-lbs torque spec on the carrier bearings is not enough preload.
Suggesting 150 ft-lbs min. Which should equate to ~35-50 in-lbs turning torque at the pinion.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/any-chry-9-25-axle-experts-out-there.959955/page-3