Broke a Spider Gear!!!

[BIG DUTY]

I noticed a dent and hole in my rear diff cover on my 2000 f-250. Pulled the cover and found 2 large pieces of gear. Each piece has 2 gears on it. Im almost positive it is a spider gear as the teeth are straight cut and on a small diameter. How do i identify my exact axle? I believe its a 3.73 ratio. Also is it cheaper to get a junk yard axle? The truck currently drives with no noise but i know it will self distruct. Please help!!!

 

[MBRPCrazyford]

Yeah, 99% of the time, Junkyard axles will be cheaper.

 

[dpantazis]

d00d, that sux! what were you doing?

there are 2 stamped sheet metal tags on the cover bolts on the housing. the codes are on there. i can't remember right offhand which is which, but one will say something like 373LS for the 3.73 limited slip diff.

 

[BIG DUTY]

Well i had a hard time finding an axle locally. They were all open and i wanted to keep a limited slip. I found the tag and identified my axle. The truck now sits at a local trans shop that is familiar with diesels. It drove to the shop just fine so im hoping all it needs is a new spider kit. Ill let you know what they find on Monday.

 

[BIG DUTY]

Oh and I took the truck to the dunes a couple of weeks ago so it could have happened there. I noticed the hole in the diff cover yesterday. The truck has been parked mostly since the dunes cause i was in Tennessee for a week. I wasnt even hard on it in the dunes it was just a support truck for my quads.

 

[BIG DUTY]

Well the truck will be done on thursday morning. Its a full axle overhaul. New ring and pinion, bearings, seals, and a Detroit tru trac. It will be about $1300. Seem high?

 

[MBRPCrazyford]

I don't think. Sounds about on par. Some one else with more experience on the subject will probably chime in.

 

[JLDickmon]

Well the truck will be done on thursday morning. Its a full axle overhaul. New ring and pinion, bearings, seals, and a Detroit tru trac. It will be about $1300. Seem high?

No, that sounds about right..
someone is gonna chime in here that you got raped, because you could have bought the parts through XYZ.com "...for $50. plus shipping...", but repair shops hate that, because if the part fails, was it a junk part or was it installed improperly?

so my advice is: If you feel comfortable paying a fair price and not buying/renting a bunch of tools you don't have, and doing a job you're not familiar with (and having it hopefully covered under a warranty), then you did OK.

 

[BIG DUTY]

Thanks guys. Hearing a couple honest answers helps ease the pain of a huge repair. I had to use the money i saved up for tires Now i may need to wait for next summer on my college budget.