Tvan

My son a 1st Lieutenant U.S. Army - Newly commissioned, newly married - Needs help at Fort Lee Virgina. So I thought I would throw this out there on CO and see if anyone had some ideas.

He just graduated University of Houston, just got commissioned and is newly married (1yr) and now is TAD to his school at Ft. Lee Virgina - so Dad can't help much other than $$$.

He has my old 1992 Chevy C-1500 4x4 and the rear end just went out (according to the mechanic it looks like a gernade went off).

Anyway - The guy is quoting him $1600 to put in a used rear end with 70,000 miles on it.
Does that seem steep or about right?

I looked around a bit on line and a rebuilt one with no miles and a 1 year warranty and fee shipping is between $800 - $1200 + labor... but $1600 (including labor) seems pretty high to me for a used one with 70k on it.

Could they not just rebuild the guts and not replace the entire thing?

Thanks for any help, ideas, thoughts, etc...

Todd

rocketraider

$1600 is high for a used rear end with no warranty unless it's some special HD piece, and I don't think a 1500 4x4 used all that much HD. A 2500 or 3500 yes, but not the half-ton. I think your boy is falling victim to military base price gouging, though I don't hear of it as much at Ft. Lee and other VA installations as I do at LeJeune and Bragg.

Doesn't Lee have an on-base garage for the guys to tinker with their stuff? most miltary bases do. If they do get the RB unit and him and his buds installing it there is the way to go.

Tvan

thank you... that is what I was thinking.
There has to be a shop on base that he can use or ("rent") time at and either do it himself or get some help at.

I'll pass that along.

garys 68

No way, unless he needs it in a hurry and needs it now. The only problem is getting a used one with the right ratio. Even salvage yards wont charge more that a few hundred dollars. You might be able to find one on craigslist or at a pick and pull for under $200.They are about the most common out there.
It's a bolt in swap. If he has wrenches and a couple burly friend, and can swap and bleed brakes, it would take a few hours, on just jackstands.

slantflat

Very important. If the front and the back are different ratios, it will hop. Yes even in 2WD. Very annoying and bad for the driveline. Also it needs to be from the same genre of trucks, or the perches will be different.

joe_padavano

That seems like an outrageous amount of money. I recently replace the rear axle in an 86 Chevy 1 ton dually. I bought the axle (a GM 14 bolt axle, by the way) complete drum-to-drum from Crazy Rays in Mt. Airy, MD for $150 (I had to pull it myself). I also had to get new U-bolts from a spring shop in Sterling, VA because the old ones were too rusty and I cut them off. Even with bleeding the brakes, the swap took me an afternoon.

Tvan

Thank you guys!
That is what I thought.