Replacing differential bearings - pinion and carrier

ions82

Member
I am amidst the wonderful process of installing new bearings in the rear of my 2004. Fun times! :crazy:

Anyway, I noticed that the pinion bearing is a Koyo and the carriers Timken. Makes me wonder if someone has been inside of this thing at some point. It's a retired FedEx unit that has 333K. Once the axles were moved, the carrier just came right out with virtually no resistance. That also made me a little suspicious that someone had previously been in there. Each side only had one thick shim behind it. I found this odd as there really isn't much "fine tuning" to be done with only thick shims. The last rebuild kit I bought (for a Dana 70) came with an assortment of thin shims for tuning the gear mesh and bearing preload/interference. After pulling the carrier in and out a couple times, I got the backlash down to .005". Fortunately, the rebuild kit from EuroParts-SD (highly recommended) comes with a number of thin shims. I suspect that I will have to do a process of trial and error by pulling the carrier in and out to check backlash and mesh.

Bottom line, I would be very hesitant to trust anyone to "rebuild" a differential for me. It is a tedious process when doing it right. The other Dana 70 I looked at had something like .080" backlash. I think many people who "rebuild" a differential simply put new bearings in and call it good. Getting this one dialed in is going to be a headache, but, with proper care and maintenance, it should be good for another 300K.
 

Zundfolge

Always learning...
FWIW, mine was stock almost for certain, and had never been dug into before. I only had one thick shim on either side as well of the carrier. Didn't have to mess with my backlash after bearing replacements. I did have to rubber mallet the carrier back in, but no too hard. The mismatched bearings are possibly an indicator though like you say, that someone scuba dove before you.

Similarly I only trust myself for this kind of work, even though I had never done it before ;)
 

ions82

Member
I measured the width of the bearing seats to be 6.470". I put the carrier up on the granite inspection block and measured a total width of 6.469". I was hoping to set it up with a thousandth or two of interference, but it looks like it is what it is. The carrier bearings (Timken) actually looked pretty good, but the pinon bearings had a bit more wear (Koyo.). None of them felt "crunchy" once cleaned up.

There was plenty of metallic residue in the black sludge that was stuck in every nook and cranny. I'm curious about the health of the wheel bearings. I still need to give them a good cleaning. I'm going to use a power washer through the axle along with some Purple Power. I want to get as much of that metallic residue out as I can. Nasty stuff.
 

ions82

Member
I'm about to start putting everything back in. I decided to do the wheel/axle bearings, too. So, I ordered those up and got everything sorted. I used Purple Power and my small electric pressure washer to get the axle housing as clean as possible (of all the nasty metallic residue.)

Anyway, going back through the thread, I didn't see any mention of checking backlash along with gear mesh. My rebuild kit came with pinion shims. I believe they go BEHIND the race of the larger pinion bearing. So, if any need to be added, that thing has to be hammered out again. My plan is to machine a dummy shim that I can use to pull the pinion into its race so I can check backlash before installing the driveshaft side bearing. As mentioned earlier in the post, that's the point of no return.

Also, a previous post mentioned a small shim that slides over the pinion and goes on before the crush sleeve. That one is only on 2004 and earlier units. For those, a shorter crush sleeve was employed. 2005 and later had no shim but just used a longer crush sleeve. The shim and shorter crush together are the same length as the longer crush. The shim is beveled on one side to clear a radius that is machined into the pinion shaft. So, the longer crush sleeve can't be used in place of the short+shim unless you machine a bevel into one side.
 

ions82

Member
I finished all prep work for reinstallation. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to check backlash before installing the front pinion bearing (in the event that I would need to add shims behind the rear pinion bearing race.) So, I machined a bushing that would sit in place of the front bearing so I could tighten the pinion in place and check backlash. Worked like a charm.

Anyway, I now know that MB doesn't mess around when they build a differential. Everything I checked and measured came out right on the money. The measured backlash was .004-.005". Doesn't get much better than that for fresh bearings. Both of the carrier bearing shims were identical in thickness. I thought for sure there would be a difference in pinon depth with the new bearings. Everything seems perfect. Couldn't have asked for better results. The Dana 70 I did in the past was far more tedious than this one.

Also, the carrier measured out to .001" less than the distance between the bearing seats. However, once going back in, there was just the right amount of interference. I carefully tapped the carrier and shims in place and used the yokes to pull it in the rest of the way. I don't think a spreader would've been worth the trouble. Perhaps others' carriers were a bit more finicky, but this one was rather cooperative.

Also, I noticed that the new pinion bearings (Timken) had longer rollers than the ones being replaced (Koyo.) Obviously, this was inconsequential. Just caught my eye as I was closely inspecting everything as I went through it.
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
Just a word of caution on the B/L since you are a bit on the tight side :
It should be a nominal 0,3 mm taken at three positions equally around the 360 circumference of ring gear (crown wheel) .
This ensures no binding loss of clearance and accounts for wear and slight run out that as occurred during previous service periods.
What preload have you set the carrier bearings to for curiosity sake, as that will affect the true B/L in service?
Dennis
 

Samson365

New member
Thank you for the guide. I just completed this myself and all of the information here was very helpful.

For anyone else getting ready to change bearings there are some things that made this whole process a little easier for me. I am not the best writer so bear with me. :lol:

While removing the carrier I used pry bars with wood strips against the case to protect it. I leveraged against the bolts and with a small-medium amount of force the carrier came right out. Make sure you have some rags or wood under the ring gear to protect from damage when it pops out. As mentioned in this thread the right way of doing this as per the manual is to use a case spreader, I considered welding one up but decided against it due to time and risk of over spreading the case.

Pushing the pinion out required a considerable amount of force. I measured the threads to the case to ensure it was coming out. If I were doing this again I wouldn't be so worried about hitting it harder.

Removing the bearing races was taking forever with a punch so I used an air hammer with a brass set. Apply equal force around the race and it will pop right out. Also don't hit the pinion shim. Installing the bigger pinion race was a PIA, I eventually heated the case up with a heat gun, then oiled everything up and it drove right in. The smaller pinion race went in easy without heat. Both races were put in the freezer for 6 hours before installation. You will hear the difference in noise while hitting the race driver when everything is seated so wear some ear protection. :laughing: Another way to know is when the hammer somewhat bounces back.

I heated all of the new bearings up and they slid right on without the use of the shop press this includes the smaller pinion bearing. The use of a nice heat gun really makes this whole process easier.

I used a parts washer to clean all of the removable components and I used 4 cans of brake parts cleaner coupled with a magnet to clean the differential housing and axle tubes. YMMV with the brake/parts cleaner and a magnet but it worked great for me.

It may be a good idea to change wheel bearings during this process. Its hard work yes but those wheel bearings are lubricated with differential fluid. The same fluid that was full of metal. When I was cleaning the axle tubes I found just as much metal as was in the case. At the very least clean and inspect the bearings.

Last tip I can think of is to check that case vent while you have everything apart.

Thanks again to everyone in this thread. Total cost for parts was $180 and 3 days labor @ 3 hours a day. Attached are some pictures of a tool I made to hold the pinion in place.
IMG_20191130_155627.jpg
IMG_20191130_155620.jpg
 
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Spencermobile

Active member
Thanks again to everyone in this thread. Total cost for parts was $180 and 3 days labor @ 3 hours a day. Attached are some pictures of a tool I made to hold the pinion in place.
Samson365 - Where did you find your parts?! I'm having trouble getting just the bearings, races, crush sleeve, and nut.... I really don't want to buy the kit with everything for the diff...

I just pulled apart my differential to address the howling noise. Pinion bearing is the culprit for sure. I can see it's all pitted. Looks like there was some sort of failure with the seal.

Thank you all for the information and posts!!!!

Cliff
 

Spencermobile

Active member
For anyone doing this job. After LOTS of internet searching I believe I have located the correct part #'s for just the pinion bearings and races and oil seal:

Timken part # HM803146 HM803110 inner bearing and race

Timken part # M88043 M88010 outer bearing and race

National seals part # 710983 differential pinion seal

Crush sleeve and nut ordered from Europarts. Would have ordered bearings there too but didn't want the entire diff rebuild kit
 

220629

Well-known member
For anyone doing this job. After LOTS of internet searching I believe I have located the correct part #'s for just the pinion bearings and races and oil seal:

...
Thanks. :thumbup:

I added your info to my post.

Rear end pinion carrier differential bearing replacement parts rear wheel seal

Check this post if you plan to replace the bearings in your rear end. Cheaper parts are available than dealer prices.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4734

Thanks goes to member marcrunner.

20101006 edit: Added rear seal to search words. Added this link to Rear End thread.

rear wheel seals
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12911

Dennis (lindenengineering) has some comments about rebuild here:
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?p=202828#post202828

Apparently the NCV3 differentials have different parts/design. Thanks goes to Dennis. :thumbup:

Yes I fit Timkens for the older TIN as well!'
but the later 906 diffs use a special KOYO not yet available in Timken--Bin Thur Tried that!:thumbup:
Dennis
Added:

A very nice overview of simple bearing replacements for a differential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OurJHaiy6kI

...

That video is good. Unlike the Dana rear ends, the sprinter does not have a crush sleeve. Instead torque to spec, and check for binding on the pinion. There is a special washer under the pinion head. Do not lose it. It is custom fit for that pinion/ring set.

As always, the original thread/post can be accessed by clicking the blue arrow icon within any quote box. (The other threads are worth at least skimming.)

Added:
Some recent part numbers.

For anyone doing this job. After LOTS of internet searching I believe I have located the correct part #'s for just the pinion bearings and races and oil seal:

Timken part # HM803146 HM803110 inner bearing and race

Timken part # M88043 M88010 outer bearing and race

National seals part # 710983 differential pinion seal

Crush sleeve and nut ordered from Europarts. Would have ordered bearings there too but didn't want the entire diff rebuild kit
 

Zundfolge

Always learning...
For anyone doing this job. After LOTS of internet searching I believe I have located the correct part #'s for just the pinion bearings and races and oil seal:

Timken part # HM803146 HM803110 inner bearing and race

Timken part # M88043 M88010 outer bearing and race

National seals part # 710983 differential pinion seal

Crush sleeve and nut ordered from Europarts. Would have ordered bearings there too but didn't want the entire diff rebuild kit
Thanks for that research, curious, what was the total cost of all parts sourced?
 

Spencermobile

Active member
For anyone doing this job. After LOTS of internet searching I believe I have located the correct part #'s for just the pinion bearings and races and oil seal:

Timken part # HM803146 HM803110 inner bearing and race

Timken part # M88043 M88010 outer bearing and race

*******National seals part # 710983 differential pinion seal******** INCORRECT!!!

Crush sleeve and nut ordered from Europarts. Would have ordered bearings there too but didn't want the entire diff rebuild kit
I don't know how to edit my original post. I realized today that the seal # originally posted was incorrect!!! My apologies. I'm still working on the correct seal.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
I just did this twice, though on a GM rear axle. These notes apply.

I was able to remove the pinion bearing using one of these pullers. I had to buy some longer bolts (high grade!) so the clamp would fit over the pinion shaft. I greased it all up and torqued as far as I could go. Then I hit the old pinion bearing with my propane torch. I was able to walk it off that way. The other shade tree method is to cut the cage off, and then dremel the inner race enough to crack it with a cold chisel.

Always use a good molly grease on the surfaces prior to pressing on new bearings.

Installing the new bearing was made easier by heating the bearing to 300f (no hotter) in the oven for 20 minutes. I used the old bearing as a tool, combined with a piece of thick walled pipe which would slip over the pinion shaft. I dropped the hot bearing on, tapped it a few times with my rubber mallet to get it seated square, then I beat on it with my 4lb sledge through the pipe and old bearing. It went on in about 30 seconds. You can tell when it bottoms, as it bounces the hammer and the sound changes. Don't forget the pinion shim!

A similar approach can be used for the pinion bearings. These typically have less of an interference fit, so they may just slip on if you heat them to 300F, and cool the diff in the freezer for 2-4 hours.

The pinion races can be removed with a steel punch. Mine werent long enough, so I took some of the cheapo harbor freight long screwdrivers, and broke the handles off. I ground the tip to a good shape. These cheep screwdrivers are usually softer than the races (but not the housing). I used my 4lb sledge to drive them out, slowly working around their circumference. If you nick any of the mating surfaces in the housing, clean them flat with 80 grit paper. This is especially true for the bottoming faces for the pinion races.

For driving the new races in I used the same home made long punch and sledge hammer. Working around the circumference. Near the bottom I switched to using the old race as a tool, sometimes with the punch.
 
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Devon

New member
Oh, I am exhausted from all this. The noise from my rearend was so frightful, I almost gave up after hearing how much it would cost someone like me. I took it to Mexico and it was rebuilt exactly as you did in this write-up for $360 parts and labor. US dollars, too. Leaving it there for a few days was stressful, but I got it back right the day quarantine began.
 

Scottv125

New member
I just completed this project on my 2006 Dodge Sprinter 2500 Single rear wheel.

I’d like to say thanks for all the contribution in this thread, it made the job possible for an average joe like me.

With that, I wanted to contribute more to this thread in hopes of helping others and adding the few pieces of info I didn’t have going into the project. Let’s get into it:

Being new to differentials, I could not find enough evidence/info online to pin-point exactly what I needed to replace. Many posts stated what their issue was (their sounds) then failed to give enough detail on what exactly fixed their problem. “Full Rear end rebuild” was stated often, but that is a very broad statement. My rear end “sounds” were different than Zundfolge’s, so I wasn’t confident it was just my bearings like his─assuming he’s male.

My sprinter had a violent whine on acceleration and howl on deceleration. The whine started around 20-25mph and got worse, never stopping if you were on the throttle. The howl started right when you let off the throttle (decelerating). Even going 15-20 in a neighborhood, when you let off the throttle, you heard a loud howl/grind. Tough to explain the howl/grind, but it was a lower pitched noise. If you were cruising and put the van in neutral (or had the perfect amount of throttle), the noises got quiet.

It didn’t matter if I was turning either, so that eliminated wheel bearings.

I put the rear end on jack stands, disabled the ASR thing, and listened for noise (from the side) as my girlfriend held the throttle steady. It was clear my center support bearing was making noise AND something in the rear. I replaced the center support bearing but my rear end noise was clearly still there.

From there, I first changed my diff fluid─ no change in sounds. Then I removed the diff cover and I had a ton of metal shavings in my oil. TONS. My carrier and inside was also covered in black sludge (I just bought this van).

As I mentioned, I couldn’t determine if I needed a new ring and pinion? Or Should I buy a new carrier because of my metal shavings? Or will just pinion bearings fix my issue?

What should I replace when I'm in there???? I had no idea.

Now that I am complete and all noises gone, here is what I replaced:
Front and rear pinion bearings (and races) and the two carrier bearings.

I did not replace wheel bearings, even though I had metal shavings in the old oil. But, I inspected them and cleaned them out in the process. (By inspected, I spun them and they didn’t make weird noises or felt loose). I did not take the ring off nor did I disassemble the carrier.

My rear end is silent and makes no noise. I reused the original carrier and ring/pinion set.

So, if your rear end is making a howling/whining noise, chances are high you only need new bearings. Before the bearing replacement, I had my Gf drive the van while I stood in the back to see were the noise came from, but that was a fools game. The jack stand thing helped and I hope helps you realize if it’s your center support bearing or rear.



Ok, onto my notes with the project. I tend to ramble, so thanks for taking the time to read my detailed notes:

I bought the Timken Differential rebuild Kit DRK-307MK. I picked it up on Ebay, $242 to my door. It had a tube of RTV, yellow gear paint, correct pinion crush sleeve, tons of spacers, a mystery mini spacer, and all the bearings. I’ve never seen the Europarts kit in person, but the Timken kit was packaged just like the Europarts and $60 cheaper (not including Europarts shipping). In hindsight, I would have bought the individual bearings/seals that the folks list in previous posts on this thread. I compared their bearing numbers to mine and they match.

Outside basic auto tools, I spent $180-ish on tools I didn’t have. Here’s my list of purchased ─ and used─ tools:
-ARES ¼ drive beam torque wrench. Amazon $22
-1500W Heat gun. Amazon $19.75
-Orion Motor Tech 10 pcs Bearing/race Driver set. Amazon 27.99
-32mm 12point shallow Socket for pinion nut. Auto Zone $11.85
-3lb Mini sledge hammer. Harbor freight $7.99
-Long drive Punch set. Harbor Freight. $8.99
-Mini pick set. Harbor Freight $1.99 Must have for parking brake shoe install.
-Tube of grease. Harbor Freight $6.99
-Bearing separator kit. Harbor Freight. $50 If you line up a press to use, and your friend has the large puller, you wouldn’t need this.

With my $242 bearing kit, $20 pumpkin gasket, and these tools─ total project cost me $442-ish. That doesn’t include shop towels, degreaser, etc. Hopefully you wont have to buy all the above tools (this was a very large project for me) AND save cash buying the bearings individually, skipping the wasted spacers, shims, ring bolts, and rtv. I live in the Phoenix area and was quoted $700 for just labor. No way I was paying $1000+ for a job on a van I just paid $1200 for.

Ok, on to my tips:
-The most important thing needed for this project, if you’ve never done a rear end, is the determination to keep going when things aren’t going right.

-Take it step by step. There's too much info to take it all in at once and you sure as hell won't remember it all. After you begin working, most of this will make sense. This is a large project with many steps, do your research, watch the video in the first post, but plan to take breaks and research things you forgot as you go. Your research is more effective once you’re in the middle of the actual task.

-Goto a DIY car wash before starting and pressure wash/degrease the underside, rear axle case, sway bar, drive shaft etc. You will save this time with less hand/arm washing.

-Without a lift, hammering the races in while laying in my driveway was the hardest/most tiring and frustrating part. It’s the part that drove me to feel I made a mistake taking the project on myself. You must hammer until you get really pissed it’s not going in, then you magically hammer enough for it to go in. Just keep hammering. And make sure to stay an arms length away from the case so you have the most leverage. My race would get off center from time to time, so I’d hit it from the back (with a punch) to get it straight again. I heated the outside of the diff case, but no idea if it actually worked. As Midwestdrifter says, grease the outside of bearing race before you start. I also tried the freezer part. This is the step that made me say next time id drop the entire rear for this project

-To get the front (smaller) pinion race out, I put a race driver in from the larger hole instead of hammering w/ punch like shown in the video. This allowed me to give it 2-3 big blows instead of punching around the race.

-I posted in my neighborhood app asking to use a shop press. I originally bought a heat gun to heat the old bearings on/off, but my large pinion bearing (it’s the bearing that was busted) wouldn’t come off with the harbor freight puller Midwestdrifter linked above. With how tiring the project is, I’d highly recommend lining up a friend or just buying the $140 press from harbor freight.

-When pressing new bearings on, the old bearings/races were great to have in aiding the install at the press. Others used pipe or square tube, I put a bunch of random things together because I had no random steel pipe laying around (see photo).

-Make sure to take lots of cell pictures before you take things apart, mainly the E-brake setup (star adjuster location, little actuator piece, direction of shoes, etc). Star adjustor goes to van’s forward side of shoe assembly. Actuator in rear.

-When reassembling the parking brake shoes, install the actuator thing to parking brake line first (in the unfolded position), but keep the parking line unbolted from axle so you can move the actuator in and out. Once you have the two linked up, wiggle everything so the actuator goes into folded position. From there, Put the rear spring (one w/ more coils) on your two shoes and install that setup first. Then you put star adjuster in place and spread your front spring with the pick.

-I cleaned my silver lined axle tubes with a 5’ piece of 1x1 wood (see photo) and a rag. I sprayed degreaser down the tube, put a rag in on the wheel side, and shoved the rag through to the diff case. Repeat x6. Then sprayed brake clean to polish ‘er off.

-I didn’t buy (or make) a case separator. With an 8” pry bar and rag, it popped out very easy. Going in was annoying and a case spreader would have been much easier. But it wasn’t terrible, just took patience. I pushed the entire carrier with race and shims in hand, into the case by hand, sitting under the van in the wheel well area. I aligned it by hand, kept one hand pressing, then hammered with rubber mallet. After a while, it got in enough and I used the cap’s to finish getting it into place. Make sure it’s sync’d with your pinion. But that kinda just happened. This step is another reason I would have removed the entire rear end.

-The harbor freight bearing separator kit I linked works as a pinion yolk remove tool (see photo). The threads of the smaller puller are the same as your yolk threads.

-To hammer larger pinion race in, I taped an extension to the race driver (see photo).

-Crushing the pinion sleeve and setting preload ended up being much easier than I expected, so don’t stress over it. But just like the original post says, GO SLOW and don’t use an impact. You don’t actually need an impact for this entire job. I threaded the long bolt from the harbor freight bearing separator kit (as above, threads are the same as pinion yolk) into the yolk so it stuck out the back 1inch (photo at bottom). This bolt hit the diff case and stopped the yolk from spinning. I then tightened the 32mm until I needed lots of force. At this point, you could tell there was lots of pinion play still. So, I then tightened one 12 point at a time until the pinion preload spin-torque was within the 15-30 in.lb range. Whatever you do, just go one 12 point at a time. It was annoying to unthread the long bolt each time, but It’s sure as hell better than waiting on a new crush sleeve. The yolk eventually gets pretty tight to spin. Way tighter than I thought a diff should spin, ha. Once it gets tough to spin by hand, this is when you need to be very careful and stop on the one 12pt per try because it becomes less. I was scared and did less than 1 degree per spin test. I was around 10in.b

-Because I was only replacing bearings, I went with Zundfolge’s logic that the original spacers would suffice. Outside of pinion preload and my ring/pinion contact pattern, I didn’t check any other specs. BUT, I could feel there was some backlash in pinion, so I felt safe because you don’t want it to be 0. As I drive the van more, I’ll repost here if my rear end blew up. I have faith it’s just fine.

-to check contact of pinion and ring gear, rub the paint on both sides (concave and contour) of ring gear grooves. One side is accel side, one is decel. Do it in 3-4 sections on ring gear. Don’t wait for it to dry because it doesn’t dry. Spin the yolk both ways, full circle, and look at the paint. It gets real technical, but if your wear marks are in the middle of the gear, you’re good.

-My new pumpkin gasket didn’t arrive before I was done, so I used the old gasket, no rtv, and it doesn’t leak. Diff took about 1.8 qts. I used 75w-90 mobile 1 gear oil GL-5 rated. I found so many opinions online about proper gear oil it baffled me. It was truly a dead end search, wasted 20 minutes of my life standing in front the shelf at autozone. Then again, people play the same game for engine oil, so maybe I’m the fool. The service manual said MB 90W. Then said a GL-5 can be substituted. So I picked a 90w GL-5. Just like the oil change game, some will hate on my decision, some don’t care. If the van ran on sludge and trashed bearings for 2 years, I’m sure this mobile 1 is like a fresh coat of lotion on my dry skin.

***********

This job took me 2 weekends to complete. All in, I’d say 20 hours. Depends how you work of course, I took breaks and stuff. Answered the old lady’s questions, food, etc. I also spent many hours researching.

If I did this job again, I would fully remove the rear end from the van. You’re already taking 80% of it apart, a few leaf spring and shock bolts, the entire thing would have been dropped. I’m 30 years old and my body hurt from crawling under that thing over and over. Plus, it was very hard hammering the races in/out under the van. Your leverage is limited.

As for mechanic ability, I’m your typical DIY mechanic. No career in it. If you can do a brake job, you can do this job. It’s just a long job.
 

Attachments

Zundfolge

Always learning...
My rear end “sounds” were different than Zundfolge’s, so I wasn’t confident it was just my bearings like his─assuming he’s male.

I live in the Phoenix area and was quoted $700 for just labor. No way I was paying $1000+ for a job on a van I just paid $1200 for.
I'm male.

If I had to do this again I'd just pay someone to do it. $1000 is worth it. All that crawling around, blah. If you only paid $1200 for the van its even more worth it to spend $1k to have the rear end done (IMO;)

40k-ish miles and still going strong, hope yours lasts forever!
 

marklg

Well-known member
I'm male.

If I had to do this again I'd just pay someone to do it. $1000 is worth it. All that crawling around, blah. If you only paid $1200 for the van its even more worth it to spend $1k to have the rear end done (IMO;)

40k-ish miles and still going strong, hope yours lasts forever!
I found a motorhead differential shop here in Phoenix off the main industrial drag that did the job for $475 in labor. I handed them the Europarts kit, and they had it done the same day. The only thing they didn't know was to push the rear sensors back against the tone wheel. The Mercedes dealer had previously charged me $700 to replace the front seal and probably screwed up the bearings in the process.

The Mercedes dealer has a nice air conditioned high bay building and free coffee and cookies. The motorhead differential shop works basically outside in the 110 degree heat and has calendars on the walls with pictures of hot rods. Big difference in overhead and apparently in experience.

Regards,

Mark
 

Scottv125

New member
I found a motorhead differential shop here in Phoenix off the main industrial drag that did the job for $475 in labor. I handed them the Europarts kit, and they had it done the same day. The only thing they didn't know was to push the rear sensors back against the tone wheel. The Mercedes dealer had previously charged me $700 to replace the front seal and probably screwed up the bearings in the process.

The Mercedes dealer has a nice air conditioned high bay building and free coffee and cookies. The motorhead differential shop works basically outside in the 110 degree heat and has calendars on the walls with pictures of hot rods. Big difference in overhead and apparently in experience.

Regards,

Mark
haha, wow, would have been nice to know about that shop in Phoenix before hand! The fact they had it done in one day show's how much I was clueless going into this project. Good to know there are afforable places. After hearing this and in hindsight, I would recommend others is to buy the bearings individually (part #'s in this thread) and find a local shop to do the job.

Take it from both Zundfolge and I saying we'd pay someone if we had to do it again. But you have to find an afforable shop. You get what you pay for, so i'd watch them work from the parking lot, but that's just my controlling self.

It cost me a total of $543.72 to complete this job. That includes the bearing kit, special tools (see my list above), degresers, towels, etc. I now have tools (and knowledge) i'll probably never use again. I did save a few hundred bucks, but I would easily pay that looking back to give me time back.

Oh, it's been 500 miles since the rebuild and she is riding silent. TBH, she had a minor minor whine, if you listened very closely, around 75mph AFTER I completed this job. But now that i've put a bunch of highway miles, she is silent. My guess is my preload is giving some.
 
My Differential was leaking out of the front seal. I figured as It was getting close to 500k miles, I'd just go ahead and have it rebuilt. While I most things myself, after reading through this thread, and short on days off, I'd check around for a shop to do the labor for me.

I bought the rebuild kit from Europarts, as they are close by and always very helpful. Delivered the van and parts to a diff/trans specialist who promised he would get it done same-day.

After a receiving a couple phone calls from the shop about how bad my bearings were and how much trouble the e-brake cables are, I was doubtful that it would be finished by the end of the day. He said he was surprised how small all the parts were for a 3/4 ton vehicle. He said V6 mustangs have bigger ring and pinion gears!

He did good on his word and finished my van at 8pm and only charged me $580 in labor. Well worth it in my opinion.

Just the fiddling with the hand brake mechanism is enough frustration to drive anyone crazy, let alone all the shims and backlash measuring involved in a rebuild.
 

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