pinion bearing ?? do it yerself??

hey there i have a ford 8.8.out of a 2000 explorer and the pinion bearings are makin noise, is this a do it yerselfer kinda thing or should i get it done by a certified mechanic?? and if i do get it done pro what do u think it should cost thx guys

bump?

ranger125 said:

hey there i have a ford 8.8.out of a 2000 explorer and the pinion bearings are makin noise, is this a do it yerselfer kinda thing or should i get it done by a certified mechanic?? and if i do get it done pro what do u think it should cost thx guys

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A lot depends on your mechanical skill level.:repair:
It is not terribly dificult, but does require some specific tools (torque wrenchs,press or bearing puller, dial indicator, etc) that if you do not own, or have access to can easily cost more money than paying a professional. Shop rates very across the country(and Canada, eh ) but you could probably count on paying about 4.5 hours of labor to do the job.
I recomend reading up on rear differential repairs to get a feel for if its something you can, and want to tackle.
If you do it yourself order a couple extra crush sleeves, youll thank me later
-Ryan

Without sounding harsh. If you have to ask,........ i would get a qualified tech to do this.

I've never set up an 8.8, so I'm not sure about their shim setups, but the only advice that I can give you is to check the backlash before you start, and also make sure you put any shims back exactly where they were before you started. You'll need a bearing seperator, and a press to put them back in. One way you can get around the press is to heat the bearings on a George Foreman type grille and they should slip on if you're quick enough. Bearings are manufactured to very close tolerances (a lot closer than R&P setups), so you should be fine just pulling it apart and replacing them, then putting it back together. Also, if it uses a crush collar, I would highly recommend replacing it with a solid collar.

If you plan on building your own trucks, beating them on, or off-road, you'll probably be money ahead to learn now how to repair and set-up differentials yourself. You can easily pay for the specialized tools needed with the money you will spend on having it done. First step is to Google for diff rebuild and set-up articles, hopefully applicable to your specific diff. Sellers of ring and pinion sets (Randy's) generally have how-to articles on there web sites. Proper gear patterns are the same among the popular diffs we tend to use, so your knowledge accumulated on one diff will be applicable to most others.

wow thanks guys yeah diff scare me for some reason lol i amm gonna ask the kal tire shop here in town what it is gonna cost me for them to do this job and i will prolly sit in on the operation so i have a better ideah of whats goin on lol but if all else fails i am gonna get the tools n stuff ang git er done myself

oh and am i gonna kill my diff if i drive around town for a few days with the pinion makin noise like the whole diff is snug as in good shape, nothin is loose