Ken's rear end

["John Hofstetter" <hofs@domain.elided>]

Ken, 
In my not very humble, but also not worth a hell of a lot, the whine
is more likely to come from a bearing than the R&P, if it was
exacerbated by a lack of fluid. 
I think the silver lining is that it's probably going to run a long
time without doing anything to it. Personally, I'd add a Moly additive
to it, and run it until it got really noticeably worse. The Molybdenum
Disulfide tiny ball bearings really do often help resolve this type of
a problem. If it's a limited slip, however, I don't know how the Moly
would affect that. 
I've changed a couple of R&P's with great success, but it takes a John
L. type of patience and precision to do it right, and so I had a R&P
shop do it the last time when I had a Detroit Locker put in the back
and a LS in the front. At that time, by the way, they put the R&P from
the front axle into the rear axle and vice versa, because the rear
showed some wear.
If you are set on getting an ARB installed, yes you should do it if
and when you do other work on the rear end.
John H.
----------
From: owner-ihc-digest@domain.elided (ihc-digest)
To: ihc-digest@domain.elided
Subject: ihc-digest V6 #513
Date: Mon, Jan 25, 1999, 12:14 AM


Assuming that it's the differential, and assuming that it will be
going
out in the next 5,000 miles or so, what would need to be done to
fix this - replace ring and pinion?  I've been quoted labor costs of
around $500, along with parts costs of around $200 to do this.  Should
I go with someone who specializes in this, or is the work simple
enough
for a generalist?  Any other work that should be done if I end up
doing
this?  Any ideas on a silver lining here?  I'm not really interested
in
a gear ratio change (I've got 3.73, and tow a camper thru the
mountains).  
Would this be a good time to get an ARB installed, and save a bunch on

labor?


Thanks,

Ken Farmer