Well, dropped the burb off at the dealership to have them diagnose a loud pop followed by a repetative ticking/clunking noise. Turns out one of the brake backing plates came loose and a chunk got torn off, which was making contact with the wheel (hence the repetative noise). While back there, they saw that the rear brakes were shot, which didn't surprise me as I've known they were just about ready to be replaced. They also noticed that the front axle seals and diff seals are leaking, and the oil pan gasket is weeping quite a bit.
Now, try to follow along here:
While tearing the calipers, pads and rotors apart, the service writer told me that in order to pull off the old backing plates, the techs had to drop the axle, drain the diff and pull/replace the rear axle seals due to the way that the backing plates mounted to the axle. Cost? $1400. With the diff open and the axle seals out, they found that the rear end is pretty much gone. Ring and pinion is toast from wear, and the axle itself is worn out. New R&P gears are about $90, and the rear axle is about $600. No additional labor to replace since they were already in there, but jaysus, we're in it for over $2k on a truck with 236k miles, just for the rear end and rear brakes. Sheesh. I'll do the front axles and gaskets myself as it's not too complicated and they wanted an absolutely rediculous amount of money for the work ($686 for JUST the oil pan gasket! WTF).
The truck has been in the family since new, and the rear diff fluid has been replaced four or five times. No towing, just alot of road miles for vacations and whatnot. My father in law (who, thankfully, is footing the bills for the repairs since he gave the truck to us this way) seems to think that everything should be A-OK back there...me, on the other hand? I wasn't surprised at all to hear that the gears were shot. 236K of metal-to-metal, even with fresh fluid, is asking alot for a hard-use set of parts. Anyone have an opinion one way or another? Sound normal? How about the deal with the backing plates? Anyone ever have to replace one, and if so, did you have to do the axle seals too?
Now, try to follow along here:
While tearing the calipers, pads and rotors apart, the service writer told me that in order to pull off the old backing plates, the techs had to drop the axle, drain the diff and pull/replace the rear axle seals due to the way that the backing plates mounted to the axle. Cost? $1400. With the diff open and the axle seals out, they found that the rear end is pretty much gone. Ring and pinion is toast from wear, and the axle itself is worn out. New R&P gears are about $90, and the rear axle is about $600. No additional labor to replace since they were already in there, but jaysus, we're in it for over $2k on a truck with 236k miles, just for the rear end and rear brakes. Sheesh. I'll do the front axles and gaskets myself as it's not too complicated and they wanted an absolutely rediculous amount of money for the work ($686 for JUST the oil pan gasket! WTF).
The truck has been in the family since new, and the rear diff fluid has been replaced four or five times. No towing, just alot of road miles for vacations and whatnot. My father in law (who, thankfully, is footing the bills for the repairs since he gave the truck to us this way) seems to think that everything should be A-OK back there...me, on the other hand? I wasn't surprised at all to hear that the gears were shot. 236K of metal-to-metal, even with fresh fluid, is asking alot for a hard-use set of parts. Anyone have an opinion one way or another? Sound normal? How about the deal with the backing plates? Anyone ever have to replace one, and if so, did you have to do the axle seals too?
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