I'm desperatly trying to find out information about my brother 94 4x4 ranger. He took it to a shop and they quoted him 1000$ and they keep bumping it up. NOw they are saying it needs new axels cause they are pitted. Thing is, the truck isn't worth 1800$ if they had told him that from the beginning I woulda told them to scrap it.
I guess what I wanna know is, what's in the rear diff of one of these? I can gutt the diff on a 2wd car and put it together for ALOT less then this. I don't trust these guys and I think they think they've found a sucker. Can anyone confirm 1800$ for this type of work as legit? I mean after labor charges it may be right. I dunno, but if this is the way things where gonna be I woulda had them get a whole axle from a salvage yard. I'm really feeling a rip off, and I wanted whatever info I could get before drive 30 min to check out the parts that are supposedly broken. I have enough mechanical knowlage to tell if the gears back there are as bad as they say.
thanks

 

Okay, i replaced both my axle seals /wheel bearings on my 85 f150 in about 1.5 hours, it had the same 8.8 axle as your ranger has. and i'm a stupid 17 year old kid. i'm guessing if i had a lift and better tools, it would have been less time. To replace the seals, you have to remove the axles, its really not that hard. I"m guessing you could get a whole new axle at a junkyard for 100-200 bucks maybe more maybe less. I'm not sure how much new axles cost, but so what if they are pitted, As long as they are not rusted all the way through. Or as long as they are not pitted where they ride on the bearings , it shouldnt really matter, as long as its not 1/4 inch into the metal. Mine were a little pitted from not having fluid in the diff for so long, so i just took some emery cloth and cleaned them up a little bit. Havent had any problems yet. I think they are trying to take your money. Exactly what was wrong that made you take it to a shop anyway?

 

Welcome to FTE!

Well, I have seen damaged axles and bearings. If it were me, I'd look on car-part.com and find a good used rear axle with the lowest miles possible. A 2WD rear end will work just fine; make sure the axle ration you get is the same at it had and is the same as the front. Odds are, the price is so high because they are using new parts, and at full retail price.

 

funny, I called them and asked if they could get a whole rear axel from a salvage yard and they said they could look and see, so I have them busy for now. But either way, we aren't talking a mecedes or some foreign car, it's a ford 8.8 for crying out loud. I'm gonna see what they find out about a salvaged part and take it from there. I'm not crying wolf as of yet, just trying to eliminate the possility that my ignorance is not factoring in all possibilities.
Thanks again

 

Why not just find one yourself? Then you can compare price. I'd expect them to do a mark up on whatever they find.

 

it's taken care of thanks guy. We won't be going back to this shop. They bluffed and we called em on it.

 

Good to hear things are working out for you. It's a shame that there are still many shops out there that try, and succeed in taking the public for their hard earned money. I'd also like to hear your story on what happened.