I got the news that I indeed need a new rear end or need mine rebuilt. The shop seems to be leaning towards picking one up from a salvage yard, if I do this, I'm still stuck with stock gears with 37" tires. I figure if I need new now, I should do it right and do the correct ratio. I'm thinking either 4.10 or 4.56. What exactly do I need? Do I need to replace the axles in the rear since he rear end is basically shot anyhow? If I want basically a brand new rear end internally with the ratio mentioned above, how much am I looking at spending?

 

The other thing you need to remember is, if you change the ratio in the rear, you also need to change the front. Now, all of this in cost really depends on what you do as far as used vs. new, and how much of the work you do yourself.

Are you planning on having someone else do all of the work? The easiest solution would be to find a junk yard truck with 4.10's and take the entire rear end and front end. Locally, that would run me about 200 dollars.

 

Someone else will do the work, I don't want to mess anything up. When you say change the front end as well, are you meaning in the transfer case or the actual front end of the truck? Would you actually swap front and rear housings and all or just swap the guts? I'm sorry for the noob questions, but this is the first drive issue I've had with any vehicle.

 

No need to do anything with the transfer case. I would just swap the entire housing. The front end isn't too difficult to swap. Everything you need is what is in the pic below. Also, it would be easier and cheaper to swap out the entire rear end with a used unit as well.

 

If you put in 4.10 or 4.56 in the rear, you have to put matching gears in the front or else you'll be spinning the tires at different speeds which just won't work.

 

Yep, with different gears in the diffs you would bind up your T-case.

Why are they leaning towards getting a junk yard axle? The only reason I'd want a different axle if mine was in good condition (besides the gears) would be to go to the 10.25" (I think that's what came with the heavy duty F-150's?), and / or to get disc brakes in the rear. With that you need to change a couple other things though.

 

They either think that's the cheaper route or they want off easy. They don't want to go through rebuilding it.

If I decide to regear, what's the breakdown for the front parts and rear parts, and approximate man hours for labor? The only charge $40 per hour, so labor their is cheap, I'm concerned about parts.

 

To go to 4.56's I got quoted 2k, 2200, and 2600 (three different shops). I didn't ask about their shop rates, but just to swap gears is expensive.

 

Holy s**t.. I was thinking $1000-1500 at the most.. Yeah, it's getting a stock rear end thrown back under it. Now I guess we'll just have to see the difference between a new rebuild and a used swap.

 

Make sure they get the same gears in the new rear end as whats in your front diff or you will destroy crucial parts if you try and use 4x4.