Rear differential is shot. Help?

[Philly758]

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 brought it down to Firestone. They replaced the bearing, took it for a test drive and told me that the car was still making terrible noises. They believed it was just the rusty drumbs that they had to practically break off to do the job. So they offered to replace the drums for cost and just charge me $19 for the differential fluid they needed to remove to do the bearing.

So today they were supposed to do the drums... I got a call saying they had it running up on the lift and the noise is definitely coming from my rear differential. I guess I don't doubt it since the other day I put my car in reverse and it continued to roll forward, I had to put it back in park and back in reverse to get out of a parking spot.

Long story short. Differential is shot and they threw me a ballpark estimate of $1800 for everything with a used diff.

So, what advice do you have for me? Just drive on it (I still have my front diff right)? Havet it fixed, fix it myself, part out my van, etc? I love my van and am very tight on money right now, not to mention I turn in my lease on Monday and planned on driving my van through the winter.

Thanks in advance.

Dan

[ihatemybike]

Find a lower mileage rear diff and swap it in yourself.

www.car-part.com

[Smiliesafari]

Like Aaron said........fix it yourself. It's not a difficult job. Rear diffs around here go for $150- $200.

[Rileysowner]

Like Aaron said........fix it yourself. It's not a difficult job. Rear diffs around here go for $150- $200.

Wow! I wish I lived there. Here they are $400 to $600, at least the places really close to me.

[rlsllc]

and

Just be 100% sure that you have the right gear ratio. Look for one with a G80 while you're at it.

I've done several myself, a couple without air tools or a torch handy, although those make it easier in some cases.

Those numbskulls at Firestone should have known the difference, if not by sound. then as soon as the axles and wheel bearings were out. Those places make me nuts. Part changers.

[Philly758]

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 can beat that price with a 30-pack and a couple hundred dollars. Regardless, Firestone is good people and have a heart.

Either way I appreciate the feedback as always. The guys at Firestone told me the bearing is more than likely shot and will probably give out and explode eventually. I have about 3500 miles of hard towing on this noise, and about 1000 miles of casual driving. When would you guess that this will eventually fail? I've got fresh diff fluid in there now (compliments of Firestone) and have an epic weekend planned.

This weekend is the UCI World Cup finals for mountain biking in New York (http://www.racewindham.com). I received a box of 64 assorted rock and roll tapes from the 80's yesterday, as an ebay purchase. Pretty sure the van is going regardless of its current condition... There will be a lot of this <first :insert random flags from all over the world here: . If you are within driving and want to check it out you are welcome to party with me.

Enjoy the weather this weekend and thanks for the help as always.

[ihatemybike]

I'll cross my fingers for you.

[mdmead]

I had my Safari's rearend rebuilt (bearings) at a GM dealership for under a grand about 10 years back. If you do decide to let someone else do it, I'd check around for a better price.

[Lumpy]

...Long story short. Differential is shot and they threw me a ballpark estimate of $1800 for everything with a used diff.

New rebuilt diff for my 89 three months ago was $1200 installed
with warranty from a local chain transmission shop. Used would
have been $900 installed with no warranty.

I'd say shop around.


Lumpy

[dunedog]

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

[Philly758]

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.

[rlsllc]

It's nice to hear that your local Firestone is not crooked like the one here. No offence to your dudes.

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 high speeds. It never got better or worse, just growled and howled like mad. That doesn't mean that yours will stay together, but I've seen several driven with loud bearings for many miles with no problem. I've seen a few grenade, also.

I wouldn't be afraid to drive it.

[Philly758]

It's nice to hear that your local Firestone is not crooked like the one here. No offence to your dudes.

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 high speeds. It never got better or worse, just growled and howled like mad. That doesn't mean that yours will stay together, but I've seen several driven with loud bearings for many miles with no problem. I've seen a few grenade, also.

I wouldn't be afraid to drive it.

I've been very happy with my Firestone. I'll continue to get my cars serviced there, but I simply cannot afford to have them fix this for me.

Thats kind of what I'm thinking. The noise has not changed so I don't think it can get much worse. If it blows up it blows up and thats why I have AAA gold.

[mdmead]

Yeah, I didn't mention that about mine, but it started making noise around 45K and I drove it to just over 90K before getting it fixed. It started out just making noise when going around corners to the left or right... don't remember which. Then it eventually started making noise when turning the other way. Eventually it was growling all the time. It wasn't until I was planning a long distance trip I decided to take care of it.

[Kidhauler]

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.