'98 Ram Rear Axle Howl -Solutions??

From : curtis d

Q: is there a common problem with rear axle failure on these beasts i have a 1998 qc 1500 with the chrysler 9.25 rear axle and it started a howl about a month ago. i can only turn the radio up so far! took it to the tire shop and had the tiresbalanced and rotated for free thank you discount tire! and it still howls. jacked it up and ran it in the air with jackstands of course and it howls. removed wheels and brake drums and it howls. removed the drive shaft tried turning the pinion and it jerks. obviously a bad pinion bearing. no leaks though. fluid is full on flat surface checked it tonight. i replaced the rear speed sensor about 2-3 months ago that cant have caused this. anyone repaired these and successfully solved this issue my fear is the ring and pinion are shot also theyre 3.5 according to the tags. this truck only has 84k miles on it due to mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. any gotchas pointers source for good prices im in houston tx source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this thank you for your replies. curtis in houston with a howling ram would like it to be quiet .

Replies:

From : christopher thompson

is there a common problem with rear axle failure on these beasts i have a 1998 qc 1500 with the chrysler 9.25 rear axle and it started a howl about a month ago. i can only turn the radio up so far! took it to the tire shop and had the tiresbalanced and rotated for free thank you discount tire! and it still howls. jacked it up and ran it in the air with jackstands of course and it howls. removed wheels and brake drums and it howls. removed the drive shaft tried turning the pinion and it jerks. obviously a bad pinion bearing. no leaks though. fluid is full on flat surface checked it tonight. i replaced the rear speed sensor about 2-3 months ago that cant have caused this. anyone repaired these and successfully solved this issue my fear is the ring and pinion are shot also theyre 3.5 according to the tags. this truck only has 84k miles on it due to mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. any gotchas pointers source for good prices im in houston tx source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this thank you for your replies. curtis in houston with a howling ram would like it to be quiet yes its common for the rears to start howling. as far as prices maybe someone else who has rebuilt thiers can tell you. now as far as suprises i dont remember any on the last one i did. pritty standard rear i believe. --- -chris 05 ctd 06 liberty crd real trucks dont need spark plugs .

From : snoman

on wed 28 jun 2006 010949 -0400 christopher thompson kf4drr-nospam@alltel.net wrote yes its common for the rears to start howling. maybe if you never service them. a lot of rear axle suffer from neglect as few even check the lube level let alone change it. to late for this rear axle but do change it regulalry after you get it fixed and within the first 1500 miles or so after rebuild and ever 20 or 30k after that depending on usage. ----------------- the snoman www.thesnoman.com .

From : tom lawrence

mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. youll need one special tool - thats the rear adjuster tool. instead of shims the chrysler 9.25 uses a threaded adjuster nut on each side to set backlash and carrier bearing preload. i made mine from a 4 piece of 3/4 pipe a 1/2-drive socket and a spindle nut. the adjusters can be backed off with a punch they have holes in them that you can engage and lever against but you need the tool to tighten to specific torque values. if you have the means to make your own just need the listed components and a welder you can remove the diff remove an adjuster and find the proper-sized nut about 1.5 or so to fit in the hex opening of the adjuster. if not you can buy this tool from a decent r&p shop randys ring and pinion sells them for example. any gotchas pointers the 9.25 also uses a crush sleeve to set the pinion pre-load. youll need a pretty powerful impact gun or a big breaker bar to get the spacer to start collapsing. youll also need to hold the yoke still while you do this. a big pipe wrench and a length of pipe to fit over the wrench and wedge against the ground will suffice. once you overcome the initial torque and get the spacer to start collapsing go nice and slow with torquing the pinion nut down checking the rotational torque frequently. if you go too tight you have to start over with a new crush sleeve. make sure to get a few of these just in case. while you have the axle all apart you should get new axle bearings as well. youll need a slide hammer with internal puller legs to remove them. measure their depth inside the axle i seem to remember theyre set in ..600 and drive the new ones in with a socket to the same depth not super-critical on the depth - give or take .010 or so. some torque specs should really have the factory service manual though bearing cap bolts - 100ft.lbs. once backlash is set pinion nut - 210ft.lbs. starting torque - continue to torque until proper rotating torque is achieved pinion rotating torque new bearings - 15 - 35 in.lbs. ring gear bolts - 115 ft.lbs. backlash - .005 - .008 preload adjusters - 75ft.lbs. source for good prices im in houston tx ive done a few 9.25 axles for friends - randys r&p http//www.ring-pinion.com is where ive always ordered the stuff. decent prices but more importantly good quality gears and installation kits. source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this auburn. about $350 or so .

From : john kunkel

mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. youll need one special tool - thats the rear adjuster tool. instead of shims the chrysler 9.25 uses a threaded adjuster nut on each side to set backlash and carrier bearing preload. i made mine from a 4 piece of 3/4 pipe a 1/2-drive socket and a spindle nut. the torsion bar from a c body mopar works well as a tool for the carrier bearing adjusters. .

From : nosey

john kunkel wrote mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. youll need one special tool - thats the rear adjuster tool. instead of shims the chrysler 9.25 uses a threaded adjuster nut on each side to set backlash and carrier bearing preload. i made mine from a 4 piece of 3/4 pipe a 1/2-drive socket and a spindle nut. the torsion bar from a c body mopar works well as a tool for the carrier bearing adjusters. wouldnt the tool be cheaper to buy than a c body mopar ;^ -- ken .

From : bryan

mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. youll need one special tool - thats the rear adjuster tool. instead of shims the chrysler 9.25 uses a threaded adjuster nut on each side to set backlash and carrier bearing preload. i made mine from a 4 piece of 3/4 pipe a 1/2-drive socket and a spindle nut. the adjusters can be backed off with a punch they have holes in them that you can engage and lever against but you need the tool to tighten to specific torque values. if you have the means to make your own just need the listed components and a welder you can remove the diff remove an adjuster and find the proper-sized nut about 1.5 or so to fit in the hex opening of the adjuster. if not you can buy this tool from a decent r&p shop randys ring and pinion sells them for example. any gotchas pointers the 9.25 also uses a crush sleeve to set the pinion pre-load. youll need a pretty powerful impact gun or a big breaker bar to get the spacer to start collapsing. youll also need to hold the yoke still while you do this. a big pipe wrench and a length of pipe to fit over the wrench and wedge against the ground will suffice. once you overcome the initial torque and get the spacer to start collapsing go nice and slow with torquing the pinion nut down checking the rotational torque frequently. if you go too tight you have to start over with a new crush sleeve. make sure to get a few of these just in case. while you have the axle all apart you should get new axle bearings as well. youll need a slide hammer with internal puller legs to remove them. measure their depth inside the axle i seem to remember theyre set in .600 and drive the new ones in with a socket to the same depth not super-critical on the depth - give or take .010 or so. some torque specs should really have the factory service manual though bearing cap bolts - 100ft.lbs. once backlash is set pinion nut - 210ft.lbs. starting torque - continue to torque until proper rotating torque is achieved pinion rotating torque new bearings - 15 - 35 in.lbs. ring gear bolts - 115 ft.lbs. backlash - .005 - .008 preload adjusters - 75ft.lbs. source for good prices im in houston tx ive done a few 9.25 axles for friends - randys r&p http//www.ring-pinion.com is where ive always ordered the stuff. decent prices but more importantly good quality gears and installation kits. source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this auburn. about $350 or so what tom said plus... randys ring & pinion 10411 airport road se everett wa 98204-3540 hours m-f 530am - 500pm pacific time orders 1-800-819-6024 tech line 425-347-1199 sales fax 425-347-1440 the crush sleeve used to set the pinion bearing preload has always been an issue with the 8.75 tapered pinion gearset only and 9.25 assemblies. over time they lose their crush the nut holding the pinion flange loosens and then the pinion starts backing up toward the differential. this is *very* common. you cant just retighten the nut as the sleeve has already been crushed. but the good is theres a permanent fix. ratech makes a solid spacer that replaces the crush sleeve the pinion bearing preload is then set using shims. for the 9.25 axle its ratech pn 4109 summit racing handles it. bryan .

From : curtis d

thanks to all that replied.. ive ordered the complete bearing set and am going to tackle it this weekend. i pulled the cover and checked the pattern on the gears and so far they appear fine. thanks to tom lawrence for the detailed instructions. ill build the tool also to make the job easier. thanks again.... curtis two things #1 - check everything. i swore my 9.25 was dead once the howl was so unbearable. ended up being a trashed u-joint - was jammed up tight enough the crawl-under-and-shake test didnt work the only way i could find it was jacking the truck up and watching the drive shaft. #2 - houston is one big junkyard. you should be able to find a used axle dirt cheap and theyre not that hard to swap if its a dud. i was able to get a 21k mile flood-damage-total nv3500 for about the same as the dealer quoted for just the base overhaul parts. if you plan to keep the truck forever id say overhaul it with the best parts you can afford but otherwise imo its just not worth it... js curtis d wrote is there a common problem with rear axle failure on these beasts i have a 1998 qc 1500 with the chrysler 9.25 rear axle and it started a howl about a month ago. i can only turn the radio up so far! took it to the tire shop and had the tiresbalanced and rotated for free thank you discount tire! and it still howls. jacked it up and ran it in the air with jackstands of course and it howls. removed wheels and brake drums and it howls. removed the drive shaft tried turning the pinion and it jerks. obviously a bad pinion bearing. no leaks though. fluid is full on flat surface checked it tonight. i replaced the rear speed sensor about 2-3 months ago that cant have caused this. anyone repaired these and successfully solved this issue my fear is the ring and pinion are shot also theyre 3.5 according to the tags. this truck only has 84k miles on it due to mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. any gotchas pointers source for good prices im in houston tx source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this thank you for your replies. curtis in houston with a howling ram would like it to be quiet .

From : big al

mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. no one mentioned this lots of these rear axles have bearing failures. may be your only problem. dont let it go. get into it quick. the old stitch in time thing al .

From : js

two things #1 - check everything. i swore my 9.25 was dead once the howl was so unbearable. ended up being a trashed u-joint - was jammed up tight enough the crawl-under-and-shake test didnt work the only way i could find it was jacking the truck up and watching the drive shaft. #2 - houston is one big junkyard. you should be able to find a used axle dirt cheap and theyre not that hard to swap if its a dud. i was able to get a 21k mile flood-damage-total nv3500 for about the same as the dealer quoted for just the base overhaul parts. if you plan to keep the truck forever id say overhaul it with the best parts you can afford but otherwise imo its just not worth it... js curtis d wrote is there a common problem with rear axle failure on these beasts i have a 1998 qc 1500 with the chrysler 9.25 rear axle and it started a howl about a month ago. i can only turn the radio up so far! took it to the tire shop and had the tiresbalanced and rotated for free thank you discount tire! and it still howls. jacked it up and ran it in the air with jackstands of course and it howls. removed wheels and brake drums and it howls. removed the drive shaft tried turning the pinion and it jerks. obviously a bad pinion bearing. no leaks though. fluid is full on flat surface checked it tonight. i replaced the rear speed sensor about 2-3 months ago that cant have caused this. anyone repaired these and successfully solved this issue my fear is the ring and pinion are shot also theyre 3.5 according to the tags. this truck only has 84k miles on it due to mostly city driving. i am competent at rebuilding axle assemblies as i have an inch pound torque wrenchregular torque wrench bearing press and pullers. ive built quite a few ford 8.8 and 9 carrier assemblies but not a dodge. any gotchas pointers source for good prices im in houston tx source for a good moderate priced lsd unit to swap in while im doing this thank you for your replies. curtis in houston with a howling ram would like it to be quiet .