New plan of attack of this little problem, wouldn't be it cheaper to have a shop swap axles? I'm thinking about getting the axles from a sport with 4.10s..
If this is a cheaper solution than ripping the rear end apart to change the bearing.. and probably the innfer axle itself because the wear is too much. I'll get 4.10s outta the deal.
Question though is, would an axle still even be good if it has sat around in a junk yard?
Are these axles cheap since they're so easy to find? (Talkin about the 8.8 LS and front dana 35)
I paid $200 or $250 for a rear w/4.10's, plus an additional $100 core charge. It was a rusted-to-hell axle housing, that had been sitting for God knows how long. I then replaced the axle bearings, since I have no clue how good/bad they were, and might as well do it when the gear lube needed changed anyway.
I then paid another ~$200 for a 4.10 D35 SLA axle housing, that came out of a 2004 (I think it was?) Ranger that had less than 50k miles on it.
as for a shop swapping the axle housings.. well, if I were to say, not too cheap, especially compared to the axle-shaft bearings.
let's just say $80/hr shop rate.
Rear axle takes, oh, 2 hours. Front takes another, what, 2.
There's $320 in labor.
add $200+$100 core charge for rear axle. That comes to $620.
Add another $200 for a front axle housing.
That's $820.
looks like MSI Auto Parts in Fairbanks has a 97 rear axle w/ 4.10's, but no listed price.
they range from $300-$695 in the Anchorage-area.
car-part.com does not find any front axle housings.
of course, you may be able to cheaply find what you need on craigslist.
but I'm not sure how "common" a 4.10 with a limited-slip is.
3.73 w/limited slip was the only option in a couple model years of the 5.0 Explorer, iirc.
edit: ok, I see you already have your eyes on a set of axles? or that's just what you're looking for?
I'd say, a rough guesstimate, would be about 4hrs labor for swapping axles. Maybe less, depending on how rusted the bolts are.
