Rear axle grinding noise

[Scuba diver 71]

2019 Ram 1500 Limited 4x4 5.7L e-torque, 3.92 rear end. My first ever serious issue with this truck started happening at 110k miles. I started noticing a high pitched grinding/whining noises from the back sounding almost like badly worn brake pads. A mechanic at my dealership couldn’t pinpoint the issue saying the sound is normal so I bought a “chassis ears” tool on Amazon and quickly figured out the problem. Amazing tool btw. My right side carrier bearing at the diff is making the noise. I will most likely be dropping the truck off at the dealership to overhaul the differential. The quoted me around $1000 in parts (all new bearings and seals) and $1200 in labor (7 hours of work). Not sure if I can trust the dealer though to put it together to factory standards. The other option is to buy a slightly used rear end for between $2k - $3k and swap it out. I still love this truck though. So comfortable and well built. So much more reliable than my previous 2014 Ram eco-diesel which had to have the engine replaced at just under 100k miles and in 4 years I owned it collectively spent about 4 months at the dealership.

 

[Scuba diver 71]

2019 Ram 1500 Limited 4x4 5.7L e-torque, 3.92 rear end. My first ever serious issue with this truck started happening at 110k miles. I started noticing a high pitched grinding/whining noises from the back sounding almost like badly worn brake pads. A mechanic at my dealership couldn’t pinpoint the issue saying the sound is normal so I bought a “chassis ears” tool on Amazon and quickly figured out the problem. Amazing tool btw. My right side carrier bearing at the diff is making the noise. I will most likely be dropping the truck off at the dealership to overhaul the differential. The quoted me around $1000 in parts (all new bearings and seals) and $1200 in labor (7 hours of work). Not sure if I can trust the dealer though to put it together to factory standards. The other option is to buy a slightly used rear end for between $2k - $3k and swap it out. I still love this truck though. So comfortable and well built. So much more reliable than my previous 2014 Ram eco-diesel which had to have the engine replaced at just under 100k miles and in 4 years I owned it collectively spent about 4 months at the dealership.

Wound up buying a barely used rear end for $2300 and swapped it myself. Took me 8 hours to do but still better than paying for a new one at the dealership. I’m trying to give away the one with bad bearing.

 

[AllAmer1719]

Interesting. I’m at 115k miles and sounds like mine is gone now. 2020 3.21.