I have a 97 2500 4x4 5 speed 188k miles with a lot of play in the rear diff. The truck has 3.54 gears and no lsd. I noticed shortly after purchasing that on/off throttle produces an noticible clunk. I thought it was u-joints at first but they are all tight, however I can rotate the driveline about 50 degrees with the truck parked in neutral. Is this a sign that the ring and pinion need replaced? If so is $1100 a good deal to purchase a rear axel with 58,000 miles and limited slip? Or would I be better off rebuilding this one and putting an lsd in at that time?

The other problem I have is the front driveline has a ton of slop. It is at the transfer case so I'm guessing I need new bearings. The 4wd works fine but I don't want to break the t-case this winter. Has anyone rebuilt their transfer case? If so how much did you end up spending?

Thanks a bunch for any help you can give.

 

I haven't looked lately but for close to that you used to be able to get the r. axial rebuilt for that. and used this is some time ago but 250 for a used r.end. go to a differant dismantler and get on the hot line if they do not have one.the transfer case if its side to side then it bearings , if its rotation then it could be the chain - big bucks - but easy to do compaired to setting up a r. end.

 

The slop is axial not rotational so it sounds like bearings. Any suggestions on a good manual?

I tried www.car-part.com and the only axels that are close are in the $1000+ range. We have one big yard here in Spokane and another 100 or so miles south, besides that you have to go about 300 miles to the coast for any large yards.

 

Try E-bay. Type in "Dana 80" and see what happens. I see complete rear ends all the time. Like to gamble?

 

If you have acess to a gear house [drive line shop] you could ask them to look at an old set of instuctions and ? If you haven't done much wrenching this may not be a place to start , not too many spec. tools except torqu wrench and magnetic base dial indicator , the problum lies in $400-800 in parts depending on gears & bearings needed and if theres a problum then it could be as bad as a hole r. end , if you had done a few before and the clunking sound just started then with an experenced eye you could possably get by with $100 -seals pinion bearing . Or you might find a shop that could do it the cheap way but they worry about warrentee issues ,and its comin that they do not want to gamble .If you can contact some of the far away used parts places than you could put the cost of the local ones towards some travel expences.