Just got the estimate to replacing the pinion bearings in the rear of my 2006 ....$1800. $500 for parts and $1300 for labor. The labor includes the $175 diagnostics. is this correct? Man that labor seems high....somewhere between 9-11 hours to tear down and rebuild? Is that correct? Just looking for a sanity check.

 

WOW!!! $500 for parts??? What all are they replacing? Is this a dealer? 9-11 hours labor is insane! With the correct tools this could be done MUCH faster than that. My brother has his own shop and said we can change out the gears (including all new bearings) in about 3 hours. We were going to do both front and rear in one day easily!

 

That includes bearings....fluid...any gaskets or gasket maker...seals...etc. I agree it is high. But the labor is what is the biggest shocker to me.

 

Yes. Labor is way high! Is it a dealer or independent shop?

 

It is a dealership. i am in a pinch and needed the truck back in a hurry. they were the only ones that could do it in the timeframe i needed. And no I did not tell them my timing issues so they came up with this figure on their own.

I am assuming you have to pull the axles...then the carrier and them remove the pinion. R&R the bearings and then reassemble. Do you need to reset the pinion / ring gear engagement depth and install a new crush sleeve??? I have never done a rearend and this Mega Cab does not fit in the garage so I could not attempt it myself.

I even looked at a used rear....best i could find was $1100 and then I would need to swap over my brakes or buy new. When all said and done i was close to the same cost of this bearing job.

 

I have never overhauled an AAM, but I can tell you that on the axles I have overhauled they were no where near the labor time your being quoted.

 

Take it to a local 4WD shop... Stay away from a dealership for this repair.

 

UPDATE.....

Ok....So the pinion bearings and the carrier bearings have been replaced. The Tech installed everything 3 times to get the gear pattern acceptable. There is a slight gear whine now ....most audible at highway speeds on both acceleration and deceleration....almost the same pitch noise. The Tech said that the ring and pinion would need to be replaced to make the whine go away. My concern is....is this whine caused by the rear not being set up right or is it because the R & P have 112K miles on them and have been disassembled and reassembled. If the whine is just an annoying noise I can deal with it but if it because something in not right...then i want it fixed. Hoping to get some rear end mechanics to weigh in here...please.

 

Sounds to me like he just put them back in without getting them the same way they were before. I'm not real sure about the AAM axles but I could always call my brother or PM you his number and you can ask him. He is HIGHLY recommended in the Northern CA area for gears and axles.

 

If it was set up correctly then you should NOT have any gear whine. Sounds like the gear lash is off.

 

How many miles were on the gears before being redone?

 

You shouldn't have noise. ESPECIALLY at that price. It sure sounds like that tech is a little green.

 

Isn't that what I said?

 

No... You said gear lash is off and he said the tech was green!!




I do second the gear lash though. Not too sure what color the tech could be so can't second that

 

one should not have to change any shims if just changing bearings. bearing tolerances are so close that chances of the pattern being off are slim to none and slim is out of town. with about 40 years of drive train repair i think i have just a little experience along that line