So this weekend I was out working and it started raining, so I dragged the 300 rear ends I have laying around into the shop and started tearing them down.
Rear end #1 was from an 88 4x4 I picked up for $200. Got into it and the axle was shiny new under the tube. Rear diff was shiny new with a new pinion seal, zero play in the pinion, and like new splines. Only thing I can think of is the whole rearend was brand new not too long before this one was parked. I'm going to rebuild that 88, put this rear end back in it, and sell it to a friend of mine for his kid.
Rear end #2 came out of the super clean 98 tan 4x4 I picked up a few weeks ago. The inside of the diff is pictured. When I saw the pinion bearing my first thought was "It's dead Jim", but I wonder if I couldn't make it work. It doesn't appear that the pinion bearing has moved so as long as it stays put it should be good right? This diff was packed in grease, had a grease zerk on the tube, and the axle and ring gear splines were triangle'd a little. I'm not sure if this is worth fooling with, or just chunk it.
Which leads me to my 2nd question....The tan 98 came with a 350D rear end that at first glance looked ready to go. Spins over ok, but the pinion does have a little bit of play in it. I thought it was "good enough" but after seeing what a bad pinion bearing does, and seeing how tight the pinion bearing is in that 88 300 rear end, I thing I'm going to go ahead and go through it while I have it apart. Anyone know of a source to get a 350D rear diff bearing kit? I normally use Boss but they don't show a diff bearing kit for the 350D.
Rear end #1 was from an 88 4x4 I picked up for $200. Got into it and the axle was shiny new under the tube. Rear diff was shiny new with a new pinion seal, zero play in the pinion, and like new splines. Only thing I can think of is the whole rearend was brand new not too long before this one was parked. I'm going to rebuild that 88, put this rear end back in it, and sell it to a friend of mine for his kid.
Rear end #2 came out of the super clean 98 tan 4x4 I picked up a few weeks ago. The inside of the diff is pictured. When I saw the pinion bearing my first thought was "It's dead Jim", but I wonder if I couldn't make it work. It doesn't appear that the pinion bearing has moved so as long as it stays put it should be good right? This diff was packed in grease, had a grease zerk on the tube, and the axle and ring gear splines were triangle'd a little. I'm not sure if this is worth fooling with, or just chunk it.
Which leads me to my 2nd question....The tan 98 came with a 350D rear end that at first glance looked ready to go. Spins over ok, but the pinion does have a little bit of play in it. I thought it was "good enough" but after seeing what a bad pinion bearing does, and seeing how tight the pinion bearing is in that 88 300 rear end, I thing I'm going to go ahead and go through it while I have it apart. Anyone know of a source to get a 350D rear diff bearing kit? I normally use Boss but they don't show a diff bearing kit for the 350D.
