Would that also explain the rythmic sound I'm hearing from the rear. I've had a devil of a time trying to figure out what it is. It doesn't really sound like a grinding noise like a bad bearing. It sounds more like a vibration, but it's really hard to tell. It gets faster as I go faster and if I get off the accelerator, it tends to get better, but not totally go away.

 

I've seen a guy who advertises on ebay who will build new rears. New case, any gears you want, locker,moser axles, disc brakes, I think even the calipers on it for about 1300. Not bad in my book especially for any gears u want and disk

 

I just went out there and jacked up the rearend and spun the drive shaft. The u joints seem pretty solid. I didn't hear any grinding and there isn't much play in the driveshaft in neutral. When the car is sitting on the ground you can't move the driveshaft at all. There's no rust on the u joints that I could see.

 

if you're getting a rhytmic noise it may be that your gears are ground a bit, that's exactly what happened to mine. After I got the new gear and pinion (i went with 3.00, you probably dont't want to go any higher that 3.55 for the highway) the noise gone, and me=happy camper!

 

What you need to do is put the car on jackstands, get under it with the selector in neutral. Then while holding the driveshaft, roll the shaft left to right then back again and make sure the yoke in front and the rear end both move EXACTLY like the driveshaft does. Be vigorous about it not limp wristed, shake that sucker untill dirt falls off the car. When it is on the ground in park, the driveshaft is under load and wont move unless you rock the car forward and back.

U joints are alot cheaper than building a rear end. But while under there you can check the rear too. Hold the rear tires, a helper works nice for that, or if you are positioned right and tall enough, you can hold them with your feet wedged against the ground under the tires. whatever works, just hold the tires from moving. Mark the yoke and differential housing with a chalk mark, with the driveshaft turned as far to the right it will go. Now turn it left and using the mark that was on the yoke as a guide, mark the diff housing. If its much more than 1/4" it would be a good idea to add some bearings, check for wear, and possibly replace the gears.

 

sorry thumpin but I got some funny images in my head of a guy trying to do the rear end inspection himself[sm=icon_rofl.gif]

 

Since you're not planning on racing or heavy driving, a straight rebuild would be all you would need at the most. A set of 3.25 gears are nice for around town, and aren't too bad on the highway. You likely have 2.73's in there now, so you would notice a nice power pickup as well. If you don't mind a little work, you could remove the center section and take it to a shop for some savings (may do the rear seals and bearings at the same time). That would pretty much wrap up the rear end. You could also purchase a complete 3rd member from a place like Currie Enterprises, Jeg's, or Summit. This would be a very quick turn around from old rear to new rear.

 

What should it cost to have a rear end rebuilt if I need to go that route and do like you suggest with 3.25 gears. I'd have to take the whole car in and let them do all the labor since I don't really have the space to take a rear end out.

 

R&R for the 3rd member should be about $150. Gears about the same. Labor about $300 or so to set up the gears. Bearings and seals another $100 or so. I'd guess somewhere south of $1k.

 

if you don't get a new pumpkin check my post on the first page, I just had the sucker rebuilt last year.