[03DAKFIXER]

I posted a Faint whine I am hearing at 45-55 mph in the Dak last week....I will be taking it to a Person who was recommended to do Dodge rear ends as we all know are Tricky at best...

I thought I would dump the old gear oil & do a complete change out, even though I just did this 3,000 miles ago, before I take it in for an official diagnoses...

I took Pic's of the gears if anyone wants to weigh in as to how they look as far as even wear, etc....They actually looked really good to me, but I may not know what to look for either!

No broken metal parts, in fact the only shavings I could distinguish if you want to call them shavings, were down by the magnet & it was more of a "Puree" looking stuff and not shiny at all, telling me that my gears are in good shape.

That doesnt mean that a Pinion bearing cant be on its way out (i.e. the whining noise) so I thought I would change out the fluid & try Amsoil this time as opposed to Royal purple last time to see if I could get "Lucky" and no more Whining!

I havent taking the Dak out yet to know, just wanted to post Pic;s of the Gears to get opinions of the visual condition.

Thanks all!

RJS......2003 Dakota v6 auto 2wd 8-1/4 rr end 3.55 lsd

 

[dualdakota02]

if you have limited slip make sure you use the mopar friction modifier additive with your oil change. if you have posi and you don't add this you'll have more noises then just the possible pinion whine. my truck when i got it had horrible growl noises when turning and parking at low speeds until i added it with a diff fluid change. now its great. aside from the whine after 50 while on the gas.

 

[Little Blue Guy]

What's the brown color on the ring gear in the first picture?

 

[03DAKFIXER]

What's the brown color on the ring gear in the first picture?

If you mean towards the end of the teeth, its old gear oil...

 

[twistedcherokee]

Hard to see the wear pattern in the photo's. Need more at a 90* to the gears upward & down so we can see both sides of the gear. Did it lessen when you let off the gas (coast)?

Toby

 

[03DAKFIXER]

Hard to see the wear pattern in the photo's. Need more at a 90* to the gears upward & down so we can see both sides of the gear. Did it lessen when you let off the gas (coast)?

Toby

Yes, no whining when let off gas..

 

[petrock]

if you have limited slip make sure you use the mopar friction modifier additive with your oil change.

True, but Amsoil's 75W-90 SVG oil (which is what I use in my diffs) has the modifiers already. I don't know about Royal Purple though. If Royal Purple doesn't have it, and you didn't add it, then that would easily cause the wine you are talking about.

No broken metal parts, in fact the only shavings I could distinguish if you want to call them shavings, were down by the magnet & it was more of a "Puree" looking stuff and not shiny at all

Thats normal. Its probably from the LSD clutch pack/disks.

 

[03DAKFIXER]

True, but Amsoil's 75W-90 SVG oil (which is what I use in my diffs) has the modifiers already. I don't know about Royal Purple though. If Royal Purple doesn't have it, and you didn't add it, then that would easily cause the wine you are talking about.



Thats normal. Its probably from the LSD clutch pack/disks.

I thought I would put in a 4 oz Slip loc in anyway with the Amsoil svg, even though it has it already. think that is overkill?

 

[petrock]

think that is overkill?

Yeah.

 

[SolidStateS15]

i don't think it's anything to worry about unless it's very loud. when my pinion bearing went it was a very loud and annoying whine that would resonate bad like when you run your finger around the top of a champagne glass and drove me nuts.

since then it has been rebuilt, and checked again twice and it still has a faint whine between 50-60mph. i was told by the shop that these mopar diffs are just a pain to get set perfect and they tend to make some noise. it also depends on what brand of gears you have too and i'm not sure what they put in when it was rebuilt. yours being stock shouldn't make noise, but it could be your bearings just starting to go out. if the pinion gear doesn't show much sign of wear or the seals aren't leaking then i wouldn't worry about it. just make sure to have to correct fluid like everyone has said.

 

[03DAKFIXER]

i don't think it's anything to worry about unless it's very loud. when my pinion bearing went it was a very loud and annoying whine that would resonate bad like when you run your finger around the top of a champagne glass and drove me nuts.

since then it has been rebuilt, and checked again twice and it still has a faint whine between 50-60mph. i was told by the shop that these mopar diffs are just a pain to get set perfect and they tend to make some noise. it also depends on what brand of gears you have too and i'm not sure what they put in when it was rebuilt. yours being stock shouldn't make noise, but it could be your bearings just starting to go out. if the pinion gear doesn't show much sign of wear or the seals aren't leaking then i wouldn't worry about it. just make sure to have to correct fluid like everyone has said.

Just switched from RP to Amsoil SVG so will see what happens :wave:

 

[03DAKFIXER]

Just finished a 100 city driving trip to see if changing out the gear oil help the Whining noise at all, I went from RP to Amsoil SVG, & believe it or not,
it actually helped....There is just the Faintest whine, barely audible at 50 mph and thats with the stereo off & windows rolled up, almost non existent now...:mullet:

Anyways, I found this guy from L.A. on a recommendation from a mechanic here in Palm desert, ca, and all he does is Rearends, says he's done 1000's of
vehicles & 100's of Dak's, so sounds like I found my guy as far as Gear work goes..

He says he can do the gear swap with an upgrade from my 355's to new 392's
plus the TIMKEN Master Pinion seal/bearing kit for $600 installed...Also said if I wanted to upgrade my lsd/carrier, just the cost of parts to add that in too!!

I thought that sounded like an excellent deal to me, plus he sounds like he knows what he is talking about too..

I quizzed him on Backlash/cruch sleeves, etc & before I could ask the questions I needed good answers for he volunteered this information confirming that he is definetley the guy I need when I do this swap next month..
:bye:

 

[petrock]

I went from RP to Amsoil SVG, & believe it or not, it actually helped....

Which would indicate that Royal Purple doesn't have the LSD additives in it, and you didn't add it yourself. The whine was the LSD clutch pack. Glad you've got it 'fixed'. :mullet::drive:

 

[03DAKFIXER]

Which would indicate that Royal Purple doesn't have the LSD additives in it, and you didn't add it yourself. The whine was the LSD clutch pack. Glad you've got it 'fixed'. :mullet::drive:

I thought that the gears would CHATTER if no friction modifier wasnt added, plus I cant remember if RP says it already had it in there or not, oh well all is well at the moment, & ive got a guy in my pocket for the job in the future for a gear swap/bearing kit if nessessary....:banana2:

 

[SolidStateS15]

He says he can do the gear swap with an upgrade from my 355's to new 392's
plus the TIMKEN Master Pinion seal/bearing kit for $600 installed...Also said if I wanted to upgrade my lsd/carrier, just the cost of parts to add that in too!!

I thought that sounded like an excellent deal to me, plus he sounds like he knows what he is talking about too..

I quizzed him on Backlash/cruch sleeves, etc & before I could ask the questions I needed good answers for he volunteered this information confirming that he is definetley the guy I need when I do this swap next month..
:bye:

if you already haven't purchased the gears then why limit yourself to 3.92's? just go to a full 4.10 because they are awesome and you will wish you did it. anything less than a .5 jump isn't really worth it imo and not as noticible. yes 3.92's a nice, and sure better than 3.55's but for the same price you can get 4.10's which you will get way more benefit out of. i promise you they won't kill your mpg like a lot of ppl think. i have better mpg with them than the 3.55's actually. especially with a v6, you need all the help you can get.

sounds like you found a good guy to do the work. 600 for everything is a good price but you shouldn't pay more than that. it's no extra work putting in an LSD unit so yes it's the best time while it's already apart. it's the same work either way if you keep the stock or add a new one. do you have a 9.25" rear? do you know if it has the RWSS? i'm not sure what the V6 come with and if all models are the same now. i figure they are though, but if not then i have an auburn you could use. it only works if you have the speed sensor in the tranny like on earlier models.

make sure the guy puts in a new crush sleeve and doesn't reuse the old one which isn't a good idea. the kits don't come with one i don't think and you need to get it seperatly so some places reuse the old one. if your pinion is already worn out then the sleeve is as well and can cause the new bearings to fail early.

 

[03DAKFIXER]

if you already haven't purchased the gears then why limit yourself to 3.92's? just go to a full 4.10 because they are awesome and you will wish you did it. anything less than a .5 jump isn't really worth it imo and not as noticible. yes 3.92's a nice, and sure better than 3.55's but for the same price you can get 4.10's which you will get way more benefit out of. i promise you they won't kill your mpg like a lot of ppl think. i have better mpg with them than the 3.55's actually. especially with a v6, you need all the help you can get.

sounds like you found a good guy to do the work. 600 for everything is a good price but you shouldn't pay more than that. it's no extra work putting in an LSD unit so yes it's the best time while it's already apart. it's the same work either way if you keep the stock or add a new one. do you have a 9.25" rear? do you know if it has the RWSS? i'm not sure what the V6 come with and if all models are the same now. i figure they are though, but if not then i have an auburn you could use. it only works if you have the speed sensor in the tranny like on earlier models.

make sure the guy puts in a new crush sleeve and doesn't reuse the old one which isn't a good idea. the kits don't come with one i don't think and you need to get it seperatly so some places reuse the old one. if your pinion is already worn out then the sleeve is as well and can cause the new bearings to fail early.

After thinking about it, I will be going with the 410's, makes more sense, not sure about the Speed sensor if I have one or not, I have the 8.25 and im calling Yukon this morning just to verify correct Part#'s for the Master kit, Gears, etc. I think the master comes with the crush sleeve, shims, Iwant to make sure it does, or buy it seperately as I Will Not be using any OLD parts, even if someone tells me its ok.

What is the Auburn you have?...

 

[SolidStateS15]

it's an auburn pro LSD, but it will only fit a 9.25" non RWSS. i made the mistake of buying it to find out it won't work on mine.

 

[03DAKFIXER]

Im looking at the NITRO 410's now after the Tech at "Just Differentials" recommended them over the Yukon's.....Anybody running Nitro's with nothing but good things to say please chime in now, will be making the plunge in the next week or two...

RJS

 

[SolidStateS15]

never heard of nitro, but i had yukons in mine. my rear did fail early and i just had to have it rebuilt, but i can't blame it on yukon. it was a poor install. they worked fine up until then.

most of the gear sets themselves are about the same. just stay away from richmond unless you were very fond of your gear whine, because they never stop.

the bearing kits are important though. any of the major names will be fine. i just wouldn't go getting some offbrand discount stuff.

 

[03DAKFIXER]

never heard of nitro, but i had yukons in mine. my rear did fail early and i just had to have it rebuilt, but i can't blame it on yukon. it was a poor install. they worked fine up until then.

most of the gear sets themselves are about the same. just stay away from richmond unless you were very fond of your gear whine, because they never stop.

the bearing kits are important though. any of the major names will be fine. i just wouldn't go getting some offbrand discount stuff.

THANKS!! :wave: