98 Dodge Ram 1500 Rear end
 

Hi every. I have a 98 dodge ram 1500 2 wd. I have a really bad grinding noise coming from the differential, the rear end has oil and has no leaks looks fine. It started doing it only when i turned and accelerated and now it does it when im slowing down, but i dosent sound like its grinding anymore, more like a meduim pitch rrrrrrr (lol) sound. Wanted to know if anyone now what it could be and how to fix it. Now i was thinking about swaping out the whole differential from a parts truck but they want $500. Does anyone know it an older dodge like 80s model differental will work. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

RE: 98 Dodge Ram 1500 Rear end
 

it souns to me like the input bearing has lost its bearing cage. It is a rather large bearing in the diff at the input from the drive shaft. It is replacible but can be an involved job. May be easier to swap rear ends.

RE: 98 Dodge Ram 1500 Rear end
 

My truck does the same thing, I have a '99 Ram 1500 4x4 that wass taken out in the mud alot when it was new and now only desert. I think I plugged up the vents and damaged the bearing. I know when I bought it I had the bearing replaced because it was doing the same thing. Any tips on the most cost affective way to remedy this would be appreciated.