benwahballs

OK, so everyone do me a personal favor and make sure the diff bleeders on their trucks are in good working order. I was on a long drive and blew my pinion seal (noticed gear oil being sprayed in circular pattern from end of driveshaft), and then noticed my diff bleeder was slightly bent. On further inspection, I noticed it was right plugged off, hence the cause of the blown seal.

When I tried to remove it, it broke off, leaving a solid plugged up mess. I replaced the seal, and used an easy out to remove the rest of the threads from the mangled bleeder. However, when doing this work the mechanic helping me said me rear end was on its very last legs, due to the fact that the pinion had at least an inch of freeplay. When we replaced the gear oil as well we found a fair amount of metal shavings on the magnetic plug.

So what are my options here? I'm thinking the cheapest / easiest way to replace rear end would to get a whole used rear end from a wrecker, housing and all, and then its just a matter of remove and replace, fairly simple right? However, this way I'm running the risk of replacing with a rear end in just as rough of shape, or close to... Is this a bad idea to buy a rear end without inspecting third member? What years would be compatible with my rear end (89 reg cab pu 4x4 V6 w/ stock 4.10s)? Is there any easy ways to identify if third members are in good (or bad) shape while still inside diff housing?

What about just replacing the third member with a new one? Apparently this is a fairly simple project (as far as rear ends go, that is) and I am just wondering what I should be expecting for a time/price for a shop to do this for me. That is if I could find a new / usable third member...

Then there's the old drive er till she breaks option, which I am not really a fan of, but if it will get me another 10k, it might be worth risking, as fundage is not great right now.

Anyone with any experiences along these lines, or any info as to cost/availabilty/location of parts/service/materials I would greatly appreciate some advice here.
thanks in advance

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Find a low mileage one at a wrecking yard, then jsut replace the third. Quick and simple. I replaced the third in my crawler in about 45 mins, not counting brake bleeding time.

Yoda

If you have that much play, you won't grt 10K miles

And it is the diff breather

benwahballs

Any idea what years are compatible with my third?

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Anything from '79-'95 would fit, for a V6 rear, many '88-'95 would fit. Try http://www.car-part.com/ and get one with a matching ratio.

Jay351

Yeah just go pick up a used third member. The swap is quite easy on our trucks

Check your gear ratio (im betting its 4.56 or possible 4.10's) and find a used one. These ratios are common, third members can be had (in good shape) for under 150 bucks each. The 4.10 thirds usually go for about 45 bucks

OR since you are running 33" tires, you can grab the front and rear diffs out of a 92-95 pickup or 4runner with 31" tires and a automatic. Then you will have the proper gearing ( 4.88 gears).