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!!!! This thing is 5000 miles out of warranty . 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! . 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

Of course-heres your pics!

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

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

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

Good Will repairs....heard that before!! 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!!

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!!

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!! 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!!

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

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

Sam