Well, 7k miles after the noise started I finally picked up a rear axle for my van! Its out of a 2000 Astro, 90k, 3:73 and it has only been sitting in the yard for a week. I got it for $300 out the door (including drums) which I think is fair, they even loaded it into the van for me. The yard has a s...

Looks good! I've wanted black wheels on my van since I got it. Mine is very similar, except I have gold trim instead of silver.

I'll be going for new tires soon, so I may splurge for some wheels at the same time (or be cheap and just spray mine).

We all know that owning/maintaining a car costs money and that at some point in the cars life it will cost you more than other times. That being said, do you believe there is any benefit to buying a car with high mileage? You can almost assume that most things that will go wrong, have gone wrong, an...

This appears to be a useful link that I found elsewhere on these forums: http://www.4x4now.com/gt0699.htm Worn pinion bearings can cause whirring noises at all speeds, under deceleration and/or acceleration. Pinion bearings tend to whir, rather than rumble because the pinion is turning several times...

Swapping to the newer axle will change your rear bolt pattern. You will probably run into proportioning issues too going from drum to disk. These issues can be overcome, but it won't be a quick & simple swap in. Fair enough, I want to keep the cost of the swap down while keeping it quick and ea...

I met up with dunedog yesterday to look at the differential he had and got to talking. After putting about 1200 miles on the van since my original post, I think the issue may just be the pinion bearing, or as dunedog said, maybe the pinion crush sleeve needs to be tightened a tad. What are your thou...

I wouldn't drive on a rear end that you know is making noise. If the pinion gear goes into the rear end you will lock the axle up. One of the guys I work with had his truck lock up at about 70kph and was lucky not to have a crash. You can get a rear axle up here from the pick a part for $90. Yeah, ...

It's nice to hear that your local Firestone is not crooked like the one here. No offence to your dudes. =D> I once drove a 1995 Astro that belonged to my employer. The pinion bearing in that thing sounded like it was going to explode for 30K+ miles, and it was driven repeatedly loaded heavy and hig...

dunedog wrote:I'm a little further NE of your NY race(WMass just below VT.) and have a whole rear end if you want it. I believe it is 3:73

That might actually work... Sent you a PM.

Thanks.

Picked up the van tonight... They didn't charge me a dime for the bearing replacement, oil change, and diff fluid resulting from bearing swap.... However, they did give me an estimate for $1914 (including tax etc) to replace the diff. I've got some off road driving axle breaking redneck friends so I...

I have a 2000 GMC Safari AWD that I bought a year ago with about 60k on it, currently it has about 84k on it. I have been driving on what was believe to be a bad wheel bearing for a couple thousand of miles now. I finally bit the bullet and decided I was going to have someone else fix it, so I broug...

Well, as Logan said earlier in the thread he gained 2 mpg... If it's as easy as popping the hood and pulling a fuse to gain 2 mpg during dry summer months, why not?

So what bad could come from just pulling the ATC fuse and driving in 2-wheel, specifically towing.

Did you fit a trans temp guage? No... I would like to put one in eventually, but didn't have the time or funds right now. Knowing I have the trans cooler is good enough for me since the trip was going to happen with or without it. In the end its not a burly trailer, just a 6'x10' enclosed Haulmark ...

Drive around a bit so the fluid heats and goes through the cooler, then check your level and top up. The only annoyance is adding fluid in the dip stick tube, you need to wait a while for it all to go in to check the level again or you have the residue all over the dip stick. Haha yeaaaaaah thats m...