Well I finally installed an SYE and Tom Woods Driveshaft to fix my bent rear
outputshaft and all went well. Let me take this opportunity to put in a
plug for Tom Woods! He was great! The first driveshaft sent was to long,
either due to my stupidity or misbuilding (probably my stupidity!) , either
way he sent out a second one that fit at no charge to me, all I have to do
is send back the long one! Any, driving with the vibes from that bent
output shaft appearently cuased my pinion seal in my rear diff to die... it
seemed to be a fairly minor leak driving around town, but on a recent
highway trip I was surprised to see how much fluid got flung EVERYWHERE
underneath. I have been checking the fluid level regularly and have not seen
any significant decrease. I called ProGear and was quoted $90 to have it
done, $60 of it being labor. So my quistion is, can a reasonably intelligent
person with minimal mechanical experience (IE smart enought to pull the
tcase apart to change the output shaft succsuffuly, but have never changed
tranny fluid) manage to change this themselves? I understand the tricky
part is ensuring you get the torque correct when putting back together? I
have the Chrysler Shop Manual, which is a godsend to someone who is learning
auto mechanics as they go! What are the chances something else is wrong
that I may not be able to deal with? Thanks,

Alon :)

 

If vibrations got your pinion seal then there is a chance those same
vibrations got your pinion bearings too. Of course, it is also possible
that the pinion seal gave up the ghost on its own, or that the bearings
loosened up a bit without permanent damage. It is impossible to tell any of
this for sure without actually looking at the thing. You can probably do
this yourself if you have all the tools mentioned in the manual and are
willing to follow directions to the letter. No short cuts!

Story time. In 1985 I was travelling cross country with everything I owned
in a 1967 Dodge A100 van and a trailer made out of a cut-in-half Chevy
pickup. About the middle of Ohio the rear axle started making a noise. I
pulled into the truck stop and found that the pinion nut had started to
loosen, with the pinion and drive shaft flopping around considerably. After
digging out the torque wrench and the real big sockets, I cleaned up the
pinion threads, torqued down the nut with some super glue, and drove that
van for another eight years.

Earle

"Alon :)" <alonfw@wiedenman.com> wrote in message
news:sKTSa.15959$Ne.10413@fed1read03...
> Well I finally installed an SYE and Tom Woods Driveshaft to fix my bent
rear
> outputshaft and all went well. Let me take this opportunity to put in a
> plug for Tom Woods! He was great! The first driveshaft sent was to long,
> either due to my stupidity or misbuilding (probably my stupidity!) ,
either
> way he sent out a second one that fit at no charge to me, all I have to do
> is send back the long one! Any, driving with the vibes from that bent
> output shaft appearently cuased my pinion seal in my rear diff to die...
it
> seemed to be a fairly minor leak driving around town, but on a recent
> highway trip I was surprised to see how much fluid got flung EVERYWHERE
> underneath. I have been checking the fluid level regularly and have not
seen
> any significant decrease. I called ProGear and was quoted $90 to have it
> done, $60 of it being labor. So my quistion is, can a reasonably
intelligent
> person with minimal mechanical experience (IE smart enought to pull the
> tcase apart to change the output shaft succsuffuly, but have never changed
> tranny fluid) manage to change this themselves? I understand the tricky
> part is ensuring you get the torque correct when putting back together? I
> have the Chrysler Shop Manual, which is a godsend to someone who is
learning
> auto mechanics as they go! What are the chances something else is wrong
> that I may not be able to deal with? Thanks,
>
> Alon :)
>
>

 

Limited mechanicing experience also translates to minimal tools for me... so
if I need much in the way of special tools to do this it is probably just as
cost effective to have a shop do it??

"Earle Horton" <enfermero_diabolico@registerednurses.com> wrote in message
news:bfh2n9$enm4k$1@ID-147790.news.uni-berlin.de...
> If vibrations got your pinion seal then there is a chance those same
> vibrations got your pinion bearings too. Of course, it is also possible
> that the pinion seal gave up the ghost on its own, or that the bearings
> loosened up a bit without permanent damage. It is impossible to tell any
of
> this for sure without actually looking at the thing. You can probably do
> this yourself if you have all the tools mentioned in the manual and are
> willing to follow directions to the letter. No short cuts!
>
> Story time. In 1985 I was travelling cross country with everything I
owned
> in a 1967 Dodge A100 van and a trailer made out of a cut-in-half Chevy
> pickup. About the middle of Ohio the rear axle started making a noise. I
> pulled into the truck stop and found that the pinion nut had started to
> loosen, with the pinion and drive shaft flopping around considerably.
After
> digging out the torque wrench and the real big sockets, I cleaned up the
> pinion threads, torqued down the nut with some super glue, and drove that
> van for another eight years.
>
> Earle
>
> "Alon :)" <alonfw@wiedenman.com> wrote in message
> news:sKTSa.15959$Ne.10413@fed1read03...
> > Well I finally installed an SYE and Tom Woods Driveshaft to fix my bent
> rear
> > outputshaft and all went well. Let me take this opportunity to put in a
> > plug for Tom Woods! He was great! The first driveshaft sent was to
long,
> > either due to my stupidity or misbuilding (probably my stupidity!) ,
> either
> > way he sent out a second one that fit at no charge to me, all I have to
do
> > is send back the long one! Any, driving with the vibes from that bent
> > output shaft appearently cuased my pinion seal in my rear diff to die...
> it
> > seemed to be a fairly minor leak driving around town, but on a recent
> > highway trip I was surprised to see how much fluid got flung EVERYWHERE
> > underneath. I have been checking the fluid level regularly and have not
> seen
> > any significant decrease. I called ProGear and was quoted $90 to have
it
> > done, $60 of it being labor. So my quistion is, can a reasonably
> intelligent
> > person with minimal mechanical experience (IE smart enought to pull the
> > tcase apart to change the output shaft succsuffuly, but have never
changed
> > tranny fluid) manage to change this themselves? I understand the tricky
> > part is ensuring you get the torque correct when putting back together?
I
> > have the Chrysler Shop Manual, which is a godsend to someone who is
> learning
> > auto mechanics as they go! What are the chances something else is wrong
> > that I may not be able to deal with? Thanks,
> >
> > Alon :)
> >
> >
>
>

 

Yep. Look in your manual and you will see that there are lots of tools
involved. Torque wrench, dial indicator, yoke puller. Bet you don't have a
yoke puller...

Took another van to a "Five Star" Dodge dealer to get the axle housing
replaced under warranty. Mechanic figured he was smarter than the manual
and used a bmfh instead of a puller on the pinion yoke. They wound up
buying me a ring and pinion and all the bearings too. Know who you're
dealing with.

Earle

"Alon :)" <alonfw@wiedenman.com> wrote in message
news:qaVSa.15963$Ne.12594@fed1read03...
> Limited mechanicing experience also translates to minimal tools for me...
so
> if I need much in the way of special tools to do this it is probably just
as
> cost effective to have a shop do it??
>
> "Earle Horton" <enfermero_diabolico@registerednurses.com> wrote in message
> news:bfh2n9$enm4k$1@ID-147790.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > If vibrations got your pinion seal then there is a chance those same
> > vibrations got your pinion bearings too. Of course, it is also possible
> > that the pinion seal gave up the ghost on its own, or that the bearings
> > loosened up a bit without permanent damage. It is impossible to tell
any
> of
> > this for sure without actually looking at the thing. You can probably
do
> > this yourself if you have all the tools mentioned in the manual and are
> > willing to follow directions to the letter. No short cuts!
> >
> > Story time. In 1985 I was travelling cross country with everything I
> owned
> > in a 1967 Dodge A100 van and a trailer made out of a cut-in-half Chevy
> > pickup. About the middle of Ohio the rear axle started making a noise.
I
> > pulled into the truck stop and found that the pinion nut had started to
> > loosen, with the pinion and drive shaft flopping around considerably.
> After
> > digging out the torque wrench and the real big sockets, I cleaned up the
> > pinion threads, torqued down the nut with some super glue, and drove
that
> > van for another eight years.
> >
> > Earle
> >
> > "Alon :)" <alonfw@wiedenman.com> wrote in message
> > news:sKTSa.15959$Ne.10413@fed1read03...
> > > Well I finally installed an SYE and Tom Woods Driveshaft to fix my
bent
> > rear
> > > outputshaft and all went well. Let me take this opportunity to put in
a
> > > plug for Tom Woods! He was great! The first driveshaft sent was to
> long,
> > > either due to my stupidity or misbuilding (probably my stupidity!) ,
> > either
> > > way he sent out a second one that fit at no charge to me, all I have
to
> do
> > > is send back the long one! Any, driving with the vibes from that bent
> > > output shaft appearently cuased my pinion seal in my rear diff to
die...
> > it
> > > seemed to be a fairly minor leak driving around town, but on a recent
> > > highway trip I was surprised to see how much fluid got flung
EVERYWHERE
> > > underneath. I have been checking the fluid level regularly and have
not
> > seen
> > > any significant decrease. I called ProGear and was quoted $90 to have
> it
> > > done, $60 of it being labor. So my quistion is, can a reasonably
> > intelligent
> > > person with minimal mechanical experience (IE smart enought to pull
the
> > > tcase apart to change the output shaft succsuffuly, but have never
> changed
> > > tranny fluid) manage to change this themselves? I understand the
tricky
> > > part is ensuring you get the torque correct when putting back
together?
> I
> > > have the Chrysler Shop Manual, which is a godsend to someone who is
> > learning
> > > auto mechanics as they go! What are the chances something else is
wrong
> > > that I may not be able to deal with? Thanks,
> > >
> > > Alon :)
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>