04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

:mad: I was getting ready to leave for New Hampshire for 2 weeks so last night I decided to do major service and inspection on my 04 duramax w/41,500 miles. Everything was good until I pulled the cover off the rearend to change the fluid. I rebuild rearends as part of my business and have seen alot of the smaller 8.5" 1/2 ton rearends that break or blowup the crappy factory differential(infamous junk gov-lock). I was explaining this to my son and we were inspecting the rearend and guess what,the damn thing has teeth missing off the tiny ring gear in its Gov-lock posi and a crack in the that same ring gear!!!! :mad: This thing is 5000 miles out of warranty :mad: . This truck has made 15 passes down the drag strip in its life that were really no more abusive than just putting the pedal to the wood from a light,I never burn the tires purposely and it has been mildly stuck in the snow a couple times where i powered out of it.First thing i did this morning was call the local dealer and ask for my saleswoman and ask if she would talk to the service manager for me(it DOES pay sometimes to be loyal to one place). They said no problem they would replace it as soon as i get back at NO-CHARGE! :cool: . If you work your duramax hard and its ever spun the tires when you service the rearend LOOK HARD,it could save you thousands when its out of warranty! This thing drove fine and i never felt it acting up(it should have acted like a open differential). Now i just need to keep from runing it super hard while on my trip so i don't end up on the side of the road(they couldn't fix it until the end of next week-no-parts and i AM NOT canceling my vacation) Smitty

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Of course-heres your pics!

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

What do you think caused it????. Would that rear be the same in a 1 ton dually?

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Is it not covered by the 5 year/100k powertrain warranty?

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

I guess it depend on the dealer . I have heard of them doing what they call a good faith repair :eek:

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Good Will repairs....heard that before!! :rolleyes: :D It does pay to be loyal to your dealer. You've got to love it when somebody buys the car/truck and never comes in for any service work then when they are out of warranty and something happens........Waaaaa!! :D

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Dad used to say the "The squeekiest wheel gets the most grease" Keep us posted smitty....I have yet to do anything other than seals on the bigger rears. Now the front diffs on the Denali's.........bearings bearings and more bearings!! :rolleyes:

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

This is not an unheard of failure with the Eaton locker when you push it. My guess is the dealer will do a good faith repair given it is an '04. Just don't mention the drag racing!! :D My '04 DMax will wheel hop bad if you get on it hard from a stop light so I try to keep a light foot. I know of some DMax guys that are switching over to the Dodge Trac-Right diff as it will fit into the housing no problem and is a beefier unit. Good luck!!

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

A Dodge part in a Gm product.....Oh The Horror!!!! :D

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

That is the ENGINE only. NO transmission\t-case\differential\axle etc.

Sam

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

actually all of the big three by rears from dana/spicer for thier truck lines. just dogge specs out better parts to go in thier rear ends than gm does

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

I'm not familar with any dodge rearend part fitting a gm rear. The Duramax uses a hybrid rearend with a 11.5 inch ring and pinion made by american axle,it is a beefed up version of the 10.5 inch full floating corporate rearend they used from 1973 until 1999/2000 when the hd's came out. As far as I know the dodge uses and still uses a dana spicer 70 or dana 80 rear as they have always done and no parts are interchangeable whatsoever. Now i haven't worked on any 02 or newer dodges or chevy hd's yet so You may be right but i do rebuild rearends as part of my business and have rebuilt/re-geared many 10.5's and dana's. Gm calling the posi in the hd chevy's a eaton locker is a joke,it is a big copy of their infamous "gov-lock"posi which blows up on a regular basis in the 1/2 ton trucks,i have probably replaced at least 50 of them in past 10 years in the z-71's,ext cab 1/2 tons,tahoes, etc.As far as ny local dealer,they said the will replace the broken posi as a good faith measure,i babied this thing for past 2 wks on our trip to lake winni even though I'm pretty sure it must have broke last winter in the snow! I'll keep everyone posted as to what the dealer says when i take it in,Smitty

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

As far as the big three from my knowqlege sterling builds the ford rear axles,dana spicer builds the dodgefront and rear axles and american axle builds the gm stuff but things may have changed,the stuff that comes to my shop is usually a few years out of warranty so it may be true after02/03,Smitty

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

AF DODGE no longer uses dana they use aam, and have from 2003. the trac rite is aam and is petty good but is not a locker . if i had to pay for it it would get a elec locker likes in the power wagon. i have allready called aam right after i got my 2500 ctd . about axel and they told me it was stoung enought . i told them it better be becaus if i broke it , they would get it back on a pallet , and i would have one built they offer a 10.50 front axel also . :drink:

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

dana builds ford and nissian axels

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Thanks for the info. I'll check mine out. DMAN2

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Heres the straight scoop-I called rrp(I'm a distributer for them after doing a 3500$ buy in a few years ago) and YES,Dodge and Gm differentials are interchangeable between the 11.5 rears. The only thing offered is a factory replacement gm junk gov-lock,my cost 597$ plus s/h and a dodge true-track for 468$ plus s/h,the side bearings would have to be replaced also,18$ ea and probably not needed side races for7.76 ea. There is the straight skinny,i stand corrected but like I said earlier i haven't been into any rears in the hd diesel trucks yet. My truck goes to our local dealer monday and they have already told me they would cover it out of warranty(even though i rebuild rearends i would rather get them to buy the parts and fix it if its free),Smitty

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

Unbelievable: dropped truck off Yesterday at out local dealer at 12:30pm for the broken posi,told them not to fix it if warranty wouldn't cover it and if it couldn't be done by friday to pull cover inspect,order parts and refill with gear oil so i could have it this next weekend to tow my boat and that I'd pay for the oil and gasket and drive truck until they got the parts. They called today-(barely 24 hours) DONE-NO CHARGE-NEW POSI,SIDE BEARINGS,GRAPE STUFF OIL,THE WHOLE WORKS!!!!I'm embarrassed to say if someone brings a truck to my shop for a broken rearend,it takes us 2-3 days to get our parts after tearing truck down and a addittional day to put it together. GETTELS CHEVROLET, REESE MICHIGAN IS THE BEST,SMITTY

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

spinning tires when getting un-stuck in the snow,the dually uses exactly the same gears,posi,bearings,disc brakes, etc its just the width that's slightly different,Smitty

Re: 04 duramax with BROKEN posi
 

man thats great, you sure dont here that about dealers very often