02 Camaro SS rear end rebuild
09-10-2014, 08:00 PM
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02 Camaro SS rear end rebuild Hello, I am new to the forum and excited to be part of it. I am looking for find out if I am getting ripped off by a shop in town. I have a 02 Camaro SS, and the rear was getting noisy at 79k miles. Had a high pitch whinning above 60mph, and sounded like I was on train tracks when making turns or coming to a stop.
The solution from this shop was the rear needed to be rebuilt with new gears (ring & pinion), 1 axel saver bearings, all the shims & seals etc.. Everything except for the posi torsen unit. So after the initial fix, the high pitch noise was gone, but still had the train track noise going around corners or stopping. That was about $1300 in February.
Brought it back a second time, he said it needed another axel saver bearing (on other side), paid for that plus labor and new fluid again. $200 in July
Now its making the high pitch sound again between 55-65mph, train track noise is worse (only got a little better with last axel saver bearing), and when backing up the rear pops. So here I am again, and he had a guy from Chevy drive the car and said it's the posi unit. He also said the noise from the rear at high speeds is normal due to the poor insulation of these cars. I completely disagree since I have had 4 of these, this is the first time. So seems like the solution is to bang me for a posi ($$), new bearing and shim kit ($170), fluid ($30), labor ($$), and whatever else. Car has been sitting there for a week still waiting to get a price on the posi unit, and not looking forward to it.
So just to recap, so far have $1500 in the rear. Who know's whats next with the posi being bad. What do you think?
The solution from this shop was the rear needed to be rebuilt with new gears (ring & pinion), 1 axel saver bearings, all the shims & seals etc.. Everything except for the posi torsen unit. So after the initial fix, the high pitch noise was gone, but still had the train track noise going around corners or stopping. That was about $1300 in February.
Brought it back a second time, he said it needed another axel saver bearing (on other side), paid for that plus labor and new fluid again. $200 in July
Now its making the high pitch sound again between 55-65mph, train track noise is worse (only got a little better with last axel saver bearing), and when backing up the rear pops. So here I am again, and he had a guy from Chevy drive the car and said it's the posi unit. He also said the noise from the rear at high speeds is normal due to the poor insulation of these cars. I completely disagree since I have had 4 of these, this is the first time. So seems like the solution is to bang me for a posi ($$), new bearing and shim kit ($170), fluid ($30), labor ($$), and whatever else. Car has been sitting there for a week still waiting to get a price on the posi unit, and not looking forward to it.
So just to recap, so far have $1500 in the rear. Who know's whats next with the posi being bad. What do you think?
09-11-2014, 11:43 AM
#2
"noise from the rear at high speeds is normal due to the poor insulation of these cars"
if that were true, then from day one off the dealer lot with zero miles on the car you would hear what you're hearing now.
hopefully the shop is providing some kind of warranty on the work they did. i would negotiate for you paying the parts cost of a new differential since that is what's needed, but have them pick up the labor cost under warranty plus the cost of another ring & pinion since it's noisy. from your description of noises the torsen differential should've been torn apart and inspected, i'm betting it wasn't and was assumed to be good and they did a simple ring & pinion first time around. they probably did that to help keep parts cost down but unfortunately now you are back to square one.
the other thing not to overlook is the pinion yoke, consider getting a new one because re-using your existing one is asking for a pinion seal leak... get a new pinion seal and new pinion yoke. these rears are notorious for pinion seal leaks.
as for axle saver bearings i'm not familiar with them and why to use those vs the regular axle end bearing. i don't know why they would only do one on one side and not the other, seems like very bad judgement on a rebuild.
for a new differential you have some options. the oem torsen unit has been known to be problematic especially if it was abused, you may have a broken spider gear in there causing much of your problems. depending on how you use the car, you don't require a limited slip diff, you can save some $ by putting in a regular open differential. what is true is these rears are notorious for being noisy after ring & pinion replacement, it seems like nobody can set them up right to be quiet. or they are so finicky or special tools are required like a pinion depth tool that nobody has that odds are it's going to be noisy. rumor has it that the genuine gm ring/pinion gear set is the quietest vs other brands, they are generally the most expensive too. concensus seems to be rinchmond gears are always noisy, so stay away from them if you're requirement is quiet operation on the highway.
if that were true, then from day one off the dealer lot with zero miles on the car you would hear what you're hearing now.
hopefully the shop is providing some kind of warranty on the work they did. i would negotiate for you paying the parts cost of a new differential since that is what's needed, but have them pick up the labor cost under warranty plus the cost of another ring & pinion since it's noisy. from your description of noises the torsen differential should've been torn apart and inspected, i'm betting it wasn't and was assumed to be good and they did a simple ring & pinion first time around. they probably did that to help keep parts cost down but unfortunately now you are back to square one.
the other thing not to overlook is the pinion yoke, consider getting a new one because re-using your existing one is asking for a pinion seal leak... get a new pinion seal and new pinion yoke. these rears are notorious for pinion seal leaks.
as for axle saver bearings i'm not familiar with them and why to use those vs the regular axle end bearing. i don't know why they would only do one on one side and not the other, seems like very bad judgement on a rebuild.
for a new differential you have some options. the oem torsen unit has been known to be problematic especially if it was abused, you may have a broken spider gear in there causing much of your problems. depending on how you use the car, you don't require a limited slip diff, you can save some $ by putting in a regular open differential. what is true is these rears are notorious for being noisy after ring & pinion replacement, it seems like nobody can set them up right to be quiet. or they are so finicky or special tools are required like a pinion depth tool that nobody has that odds are it's going to be noisy. rumor has it that the genuine gm ring/pinion gear set is the quietest vs other brands, they are generally the most expensive too. concensus seems to be rinchmond gears are always noisy, so stay away from them if you're requirement is quiet operation on the highway.
09-11-2014, 12:25 PM
#3
Torsens don't have spider gears,Auburns and Eaton posi's do.
Axle saver bearings are used to avoid axle replacement. They move the axle outward(slightly) so the bearing rides on part of the axle that the previous bearing wasn't riding on. The seal part of the axle saver bearing assembly sticks out from the housing where-as the original seal was flush with the housing. Since the axles are shifted outward,c-clip installation/insertion is difficult and c-clip removal is impossible most of the time.
Axle saver bearings are used to avoid axle replacement. They move the axle outward(slightly) so the bearing rides on part of the axle that the previous bearing wasn't riding on. The seal part of the axle saver bearing assembly sticks out from the housing where-as the original seal was flush with the housing. Since the axles are shifted outward,c-clip installation/insertion is difficult and c-clip removal is impossible most of the time.
09-15-2014, 09:26 PM
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Thanks, I actually pulled the car from the shop. I agree, they should have inspected the posi when they did the gears which is why I am mad at them for wanting to charge me $900 now to pull it all apart & put in a new posi (not rebuilt). They did say they would need new bearings & seals again, after only 1k miles? I figure at this point I might as well find something better instead of putting more money into this rear. If I did this fix, I would be $2400 into this fix and I don't trust this shop would still get it right. I have heard about the gears being tedious to adjust properly, so I was aware of that. It was fine when they initially did it, but the high pitch noise is coming back again which tells me something is not right. From what I was told, they had to search high & low for stock GM gears (which was about $400 worth of the original bill), and they said Richmond actually makes the gears for GM? I didn't think that sounded right, but they said they were GM parts. I know for a fact it's the rear posi unit, since backing up and slightly turning the wheel sounds like something is going to explode back there until the wheels are straightened. So I look at it as $900, might as well find a decent built used ford 9" and pay a little more? SMH
09-16-2014, 07:47 PM
#5
thats completely false glad you took your car out of there. Real GM gears are AAM and can be bought for around 250 anywhere online Yukon also makes a set that will almost be as quiet and have a really good rep. Richmond gears are known to be among the nosiest.
Take your car to a real shop and get it sorted, or imo just pick up a good salvage rear. With the amount of money you've spent you could have been well on your way to a built 12 bolts or 9 inch
Take your car to a real shop and get it sorted, or imo just pick up a good salvage rear. With the amount of money you've spent you could have been well on your way to a built 12 bolts or 9 inch
09-19-2014, 02:40 PM
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I know people who've paid more than that for JUST labor, and it STILL whined!
