Cost for rebuilding axles

I don't want to mess with rebuilding the axles on my Jeep and was wondering what it would cost for a shop to take care of it. I have a quote for around $1500 for both axles. Does this sound about right. I'm not even sure if I need to have them rebuilt but have the Jeep down to the frame and figure now would be a good time to take care of this.

 

When you say rebuild them, are you just replacing the bearings and seals, or are planning on putting lockers and new gears in also?

 

I don't want to mess with mine either, but for 1500 zords I think I'll give it a try.

 

Just new bearings and seals after tear down and inspection for unknown problems. Would you recommend having anything else done. I'm not using this Jeep for any serious 4wheelin so I don't need lockers.

 

How hard is this rebuild. The Jeep Rebuilders manual makes it sound like the worst part of a rebuild. Is this something I can do myself?

 

I have the same questions/concerns. As far as the bearings & seals go, I'm not too worried about that. I'm more concerned about rasslin' the things around and cleaning them up, and getting that nasty stinkin' gear oil all over me and my garage. That, and how much skin & blood I'm going to lose. The possibility of special tools comes to mind too.

 

the only tricky part is setting up the gears. if your not comfortable with that, have a shop do that part. plus you bring a clean, disassembled axle out of a vehicle to a shop, they aren't going to charge you nearly as much to setup the gears as they would if it was still under a dirty jeep. the rest do yourself. i did it all myself with my axles. rebuilding axles is a rewarding experience - for me at least.

 

I had my rear axle done a few years ago for right around $500, that included hot tanking, painting, and new seals and bearings. The front should probably cost more than the rear so $1500 is probably reasonable. If I had to do it over again I would still pay someone to do it. It came back nice and clean, and I know I don't want to go through the learning curve of setting up an axle.

 

Sloth, what kind of a shop did you take them to?

 

Sounds pricey to me, depending on parts. My rear axle rebuild, bearings and seals was $400, and my front axle was $375, including a powerlock install (supplied by me and not included in the $375).

 

I took it here:

http://www.autospecialtyoflafayette.com/

Basically a full service auto shop with a in house machine shop. They also do a lot of restoration work on older vehicles.

 

Normally a days labor per axle($300) plus parts for gear set up is what I paid.This was stripped axle housing no axle shafts,just the diff and gears.They got hot tanked and new seals with the new gears and bearings(supplied).You can do this yourself.....if you got some kind of bearing press/puller,dial indicator and LOTS of patience.

 

I paid $2200 to have my front D30 and rear D44 rebuilt. This included new bearings, seals, 4.88 Dana/Spicer ring and pinions, a Detroit SofLocker in the rear, a TrueTrac in the front, and painting the axles. Excluding the Detroit and TrueTrac, it would have been about $1300 or so. This work was done by a local transmission/differential shop.

 

Yes Adam you can.

Do you have an engine hoist, floor jack or a friend with some extra time? If you do have means for supporting and lifting the axles you will have the hardest part licked. The only thing you have to worry about is what you don’t know and this is where the FSM comes in handy along with help from the members here. If you have the time give it a try I’m in the process of rebuilding mine for the first time.

 

I called Edgewater Jeep, a Denver 4wd shop that works on lots of Willys, and they quoted me $900-$1500 for my D25 & D44 together, "depending on what they need". That's with me dropping the axles off in my truck.

I have an engine hoist, a floor jack & jack stands, a full-size motorcycle lift table (not a jack, a regular pro mechanic type lift), a magnetic base dial indicator, and a FSM; so I'm inclined to try it myself. I can always come here whining for help.

 

Plus doing the hardest part of the job yourself, handling the axles.

 

I'd say do it yourself. I rebuilt a dana 30 when I was 17 using a shop manual and consulting a mechanic. I paid him a nominal fee to actually setup the gears after I had installed new bearings and seals. I used the parts schematic from the rear of a quadratec catalog to help with what parts go where(haynes manual didnt have good pics). It's actually quite fun.

 

OK, I guess I'm going to be doing this by myself. Get ready for some stupid questions.