Help with 3/4 ton rear axle
 

I just fried my rear axle in my 68 C-20, (4 bolts holding the pumpkin in were missing!) Ran it dry, and ate the pinion gear. Can someone tell me if it is a Dana or Eaton, and what should I do to get it rebuilt or should I hit the junkyards? I just put this in 4 months ago after losing my 4.56, this one is a 4.10, and I would like to go higher, maybe 3.73. I think the bearings are still good. What is the typical cost to have one rebuilt?

Because you can drop it out like that it is an Eaton. 4.10 is the best you can do unless you buy new gears. They make a 3.90 for it. Somebody on the board did this. If I remember right, it was over a $1000 to do! It would be worth the time to find a 14 bolt and change it over to fit your truck. I think 3.73's are pretty common.

Cobalt is the one who put 3.90s in his Eaton. And it was pretty expensive. Parts for these rear ends aren't cheap. Might I suggest you hit the junkyards in search of a Dana 60? You could find them with 3.54s, and if you really want 3.73s you can buy those for a D60, too. (But that ratio didn't come in D60s in these trucks.)

The Eaton is a far tougher rear end, and might be worth a rebuild if you need it, but the Dana is no slouch. Good luck. :)

Yep, that was me.

I had 4.10 gears with a perfect ring and pinion, but the spiders were destroyed and the carrier bearings were shot. I got new 3.90s, and had a detroit locker put in (spiders and eaton posi aren't made any more unless you can find them used and in good shape).

Here's the break-down:

Carrier Bearings - $500 (they're monsters)
Detroit locker - $550
3.90s - $300 new
Labor - $250
------------------
Total - $1600

There's no point in replacing the ring and pinion without replacing the carrier bearings. Chances are they're in bad shape anyway, so you're looking at least $800 + however much you want to spend on a ring and pinion set.

My 4.10 gears are still in good shape with a good wear pattern and no chipping, and are sitting on my shelf since I had this done over a year ago. I'll give them to you for $75 if you want them.