what you guys paying to have 12 bolt put together?

[ChuckLee]

Can't believe local shop wants $550 to put together my 12 bolt (i supply rebuild kit, auburn posi, gear/pinion, and 1350 yoke).
That seem high?

I'm in Richmond, VA

I was expecting like $200 but what do I know!

I don't have any experience but wish I could just do this myself

[BR3W CITY]

$100/hr labor. Are they refinishing the housing (blast, powder)?

I doubt they would take it apart, clean it, and put it back together in under 2hrs, but then again I don't rebuild rear ends all day. $500 doesn't seem insane, but i think it'll really depend on what the actual scope of work is. I ran into the same issue with price swings on trans rebuilds, based on whats actually being done.

If it can come apart and go together in 2hrs, maybe just do it yourself and take a little longer? Rear ends aren't crazy hard, but the setup can be tedious.

[ChuckLee]

All good points. To be more clear:
I will bring housing to them with axles out. Old carrier needs removed, new seals and bearings installed, new posi installed, gear/pinion, and yoke. That’s me supplying all parts. For a diff shop you probably right, under 2 hours for them.

[kwmech]

Everything only takes 10 minutes. If they are doing a quality job....pulling it apart, inspecting everything properly, cleaning, reinstalling, checking pattern, readjust if necessary.(insert sarcasm here) Yup, 10 minutes. Slam bam get it out the door DGAF yeah under 2 hours. Seriously though, with brakes and shafts removed, blow apart, clean and a quality set up--- at least 3-4 hours without it giving them any problems.

[tdangle]

Plus you are paying for their experience, and special tools needed to set it up correct. I don't think $500 is that out of line.

[Clyde65]

I paid that and had all parts ready, housing steamed/blasted clean and painted, new brakes assembled off the diff and ready to go.

Total with posi and all, around $1400, 5 years ago.

[Mike C]

I charge $250 to do a rear and $350 to do a front from my home shop. In general, I charge $50 an hour and it's impossible for me to do front and rear in a 10 hour day unless everything goes absolutely perfectly. And we all know how often that happens...

But if you are just swapping in the carrier and NOT changing the ring and pinion setup that doesn't take as long. But if they are swapping bearings and you expect them to run a pattern using OEM gears you will have a hard time getting it done for less. Are you expecting them to replace pinion bearings? I assume you are having them put new bearings on the diff carrier or they removing your originals and re-using? I would expect them to completely assemble it back together for that money.

[mongocanfly]

Wish you was closer to here Mike...I'd put you to work....its hard finding anyone local to setup r&p...and I hate doing it....

[sweetk30]

i have done some and 2-3 check and good . then i did a vett rear center diff and that thing kicked my butt and still wasn't happy with b/l and it all looked good so i shipped it . the richmond gears he supplied wanted 11-12 tho b/l WOW i think that's crazy . most i could get was i think 13 tho b/l .

its experience / tools / and lots of patience .

and fyi : master ring and pinion kits do NOT come with axle bearings out at the ends of the tubes or the seals . there just ring and pinion parts . lots of people think they do .

[Mike C]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Wish you was closer to here Mike...I'd put you to work....its hard finding anyone local to setup r&p...and I hate doing it....

I agree with that all around!

[B. W.]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Everything only takes 10 minutes. If they are doing a quality job....pulling it apart, inspecting everything properly, cleaning, reinstalling, checking pattern, readjust if necessary.(insert sarcasm here) Yup, 10 minutes. Slam bam get it out the door DGAF yeah under 2 hours. Seriously though, with brakes and shafts removed, blow apart, clean and a quality set up--- at least 3-4 hours without it giving them any problems.

I've read a lot of your posts & it's obvious you very experienced. When you said "10 minutes" I almost spit out my coffee! But don't you love it when the first thing a customer says is "it's real easy, it'll only take ten minutes!"

I agree, 3-4 hours is legit. I've had them go together a lot quicker when everything sets up perfect. Or longer when things go south.

[Coley]

$500 is a good deal.

You have to look at it this way...what is your time worth? or what do you do for a living?....are you worth $500 for your skills and several hours and particularly, the responsibility of the result? the answer is probably: yes.

$500 is not a lot of money today for labor on anything....seriously.

Hard skills like those needed to do this properly are worth a few bucks...and this cost is probably only going to go up over time, given the limited amount of people learning this skill.

Or think of it this way....if you go into a new GM dealership to buy something....set of hubcaps? 1 or 2 rims....you will be dropping $500 in a heartbeat.
If you go to a German car dealership...that will probably get you an appointment

If you decide to do it yourself make sure you read up on what it takes skills wise and very importantly...'tool wise', let alone a good space to do it.
After spending a 1-2 days on it the $500 might not sound like such a bad thing, lol.

All good
Coley

[mongocanfly]

I know a buddy of mine bought a complete unassembled chunk for his 9in ...new carrier ,gears ,r&p....where he bought it they said they would assemble and set up for $250...after a long weekend he wishes he had spent that extra 250

[AZ 67 C10]

Do they warranty their labor/workmanship? If so, depending on their warranty $500 isn't a bad deal. I was going to do something similar to you and take an empty housing and a pile of parts and have a shop build my rear end. After talking to them it made more sense to let them buy all the parts and build it and give me a full warranty- parts and workmanship. This way there's no back and forth if something fails, its all on them to make it right.

[ChuckLee]

I bought a shop press and a decent dial indicator. Every time I pay someone else to work on my stuff I’m not impressed and I know I’m overpaying. This is a great example. What I do know is that any shop that specializes in this work, if they can’t do it in 3 hours they aren’t specialists. I’m not having them clean anything, just install all bearings and seals, ring pinion, and carrier. I’m not paying ANYONE $200/hr! Nope nu uh
(Watch my next thread title be, “help guys my rear end is making this really weird noise”)

[Mike C]

I don't blame you one bit. After I broke the 12 bolt in my Jimmy the 3rd time, it made good sense to buy the tools and do it myself. Over the years I have added to my tool collection and have paid for all of them by doing diff work for other people or additional installs for myself. I've probably done 20 for paying customers and another dozen for myself. At least.

You can get away with a minimum number of tools usually, but a carrier bearing puller and a good bearing separator are pretty much mandatory. Most likely, you will spend $500 on tools, but I never blink when it's time to buy a tool. It's hot rod parts that are complete dollar down the drain purchase.

[mongocanfly]

on my truck im definatly doing the front myself....more than likely itll never to hardly ever be used...so close will be good enough on it
on my rear 14b im torn between paying to have it done or do it myself
a buddy told me he'd help me on it..he's probably done 30-40 gear swaps..never had any issues until the last 2....but im thinking about all the issues he's had on the last 2 he's done...one truck he did whined when he finished...he blamed it on cheap Chinese gears..he redid it with U.S. gears and no problems..
his last one I think hes redone at least 4 times and it still whines...3 different brands of gears in it and nothing has changed...still whines...he's talked to the gear manufacture and they don't have a answer....ive seen his setup patterns on all these and they look perfect...
the last one he added a ladder bar/coilover suspension on when he did the 1st gear swap..and now a guy told him the ladder bar rod ends are why hes hearing the whine..sounds like b.s. but who knows

[Coley]

.....remember, don't try to open the 'cheap fart' garage.....those places don't last.

The trick to difficult, specific and high skill work is to recognize where your skills within it...start and stop, at least that is what I have learned.
I'm an extremely handy guy...and I'm essentially frugal in many areas...but I never have trouble paying for quality, specific work that is not in my immediate scope of ability.
This is particularly the case if the work is crucial and important and that if it doesn't go well....brings a boatload and days worth of annoyance, cost and effort to then redo it right.

One immediate example of this is the wiring of my basement. I'm not an electrician but I meticulously follow the local wiring codes and I did all the wiring...right up to 'almost' terminating the plugs and switches.
(Note; normally I do this on all my electrical work....but in this specific renovation, I wanted approved paperwork and the permits associated with it)
At this point...when it came to finalizing it and terminating everything at the plug/switch and in the sub-panel...I got an electrician to pull a permit, check it out and finalize it.
Easy peasy, good paperwork for insurance purposes....took a total of about 2-3 hrs not too expensive at all and it was the easiest, fastest, cleanest job the electrician had all week. Oh and did I say, I have the paperwork for insurance purposes in case there is a fire or whatever...this is important around these parts.

Anyhow, remember if its done wrong you might be buying everything involved twice....and I doubt a differential is a blast to work on and set up in the driveway, lol.

[cdub2010]

You got that axle done yet?

[GASoline71]

I dropped off a 12 bolt to my local Offroad shop that I had already cleaned and painted the empty housing, and I had installed the outer axle bearings and new axle seals. I supplied the new Limited Slip carrier, R&P, and new seal and bearing and shim kit. They charged my $250 bucks to set everything up.

Gary

[PGSigns]

I have done a bunch of them over the years between mud racing and drag racing. I get $250 if its all clean when I get it. Thats for a 12 bolt or a dana. I will not put new stuff in a dirty housing. I also want all the parts including the backing plates and the axles. so I can put new axle bearings in and check the axle bearing surface. Nothing like getting blamed for a whinny gear when its got bad axle bearings in it. I also have been using the spacer kits that go in place of the crush sleeve. I think its a better way of getting bearing preload.
Jimmy

[YoungPup1977]

I often wonder why people don’t do the diffs themselves. They are so simple to do.

Also think of the guys who put out the money to buy the building, all the tools, and the experience to do a quality job. They didn’t get all this by setting up diffs for 200 bucks. Plus they have to pay the electric bill every month. I think most people don’t understand that but again they think most people should work as a hobby since it’s their hobby to say they are restoring their vehicle which in fact they are not. Plus complain they have to much money in their restoration. I hear it all the time. Shop fees 50 an hour if you help it’s 75 and dumb looks are still FREE !!!!

[sweetk30]

i also prefer to ditch the crush sleeve and go solid pinion spacer kit .

[burnin oil]

Another vote for do the research and buy the tools. I have always been afraid to do axle gears because of the horror stories and I am very mechanically minded. I have rebuilt transmissions from 3 to 13 speeds, transfer cases, and more motors than I want to admit. Six months ago I did an 8.8 explorer swap into a jeep for the wife. It took me less than one day to pull the rear posi and rebuilt it and then regear the stock front axle. I got sick of pulling the chunk but it is really easy once you get the hang of it. My only regret is not going with 4.56 gears instead of the 4.10s. Actually getting the frozen ball joint out was worse than doing the regear.

[BossHogg69]

Originally Posted by Coley

.....remember, don't try to open the 'cheap fart' garage.....those places don't last.

The trick to difficult, specific and high skill work is to recognize where your skills within it...start and stop, at least that is what I have learned.
I'm an extremely handy guy...and I'm essentially frugal in many areas...but I never have trouble paying for quality, specific work that is not in my immediate scope of ability.
This is particularly the case if the work is crucial and important and that if it doesn't go well....brings a boatload and days worth of annoyance, cost and effort to then redo it right.

One immediate example of this is the wiring of my basement. I'm not an electrician but I meticulously follow the local wiring codes and I did all the wiring...right up to 'almost' terminating the plugs and switches.
(Note; normally I do this on all my electrical work....but in this specific renovation, I wanted approved paperwork and the permits associated with it)
At this point...when it came to finalizing it and terminating everything at the plug/switch and in the sub-panel...I got an electrician to pull a permit, check it out and finalize it.
Easy peasy, good paperwork for insurance purposes....took a total of about 2-3 hrs not too expensive at all and it was the easiest, fastest, cleanest job the electrician had all week. Oh and did I say, I have the paperwork for insurance purposes in case there is a fire or whatever...this is important around these parts.

Anyhow, remember if its done wrong you might be buying everything involved twice....and I doubt a differential is a blast to work on and set up in the driveway, lol.

Great post. A man has to know his limits sometimes.

And $500 isn't a bad price if they are known for quality work and will back it up.