Yesterday morning, wife and I were heading out to NYC for a concert. We got in the truck and headed toward the nearest train station 25 minutes away. 65 on the highway, loud clunk followed by something dragging. Immediately pulled over and saw the drive shaft hanging down. I did not want to get into anything dirty since we had the concert to attend. We wanted to get there early so that we could get good seats.
I pulled the drive shaft off, noticing it was broken at both crosses. Threw it into the trunk and figured I'd engage the front and just limp home and switch cars. Front won't engage. Again, didn't want to get dirty so I tried letting it roll downhill on the should, cutting wheel back and forth, hoping for the disco to engage... no good. Called a tow truck and got it towed home.
I've pretty much decided to use this downtime to upgrade my gears. Found a 4.10 front differential on car-part.com! Called a place locally that does axle work, they quoted me $400 in labor to regear the rear axle. Local shop has ring/pinion for $200, $100 for a Master Kit, and $70 for axle bearings and seals. So about $800 to rebuild my 8.6 rear and keep the aftermarket locker.
Well, today I got the truck on stands and started inspecting the situation fully.
Rear fork:
Transfer Case:
So I called the yard that had the front diff, got a price on transfer case as well. SOLD!
Guess I'm gonna be a little busy over the next couple of weeks. Luckily, my parents only live 40 minutes from us, and they are going overseas for a few weeks. Will be using their car until TB is back on the road...
