Whole New Rear Axle
03-29-2021, 04:21 PM
#1
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
Whole New Rear Axle
My '12 JK wouldn't go into gear so it was towed to a mechanic. Shop said the rear diff assembly is shot and the best thing to do is replace it with a whole new rear axle. He's going to order one from Jasper and it'll be about $3300 OTD. The shop is Dowdy's in downtown Boise and they came highly recommended, so I'm not going to question it because my kid is in school there and I'm in So Cal so I don't really have a way to get other opinions. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had this and is this about the right $ amount.
03-29-2021, 04:51 PM
#2
JK Jedi
wth, if the gears blew up a simple regear of that one axle would be ~$750 +/-. "not going into gear" sounds more like a tranny issue though vs. is in gear but won't move without making terrible noises. $3300 is a lot of jack.....i wouldn't just blindly go with that without asking questions. Installing a new axle is something a dealer would do out of lack of installing gears.
The following 2 users liked this post by resharp001:
Jay2013jk (03-30-2021),
Travis Patton (03-29-2021)
03-29-2021, 06:18 PM
#3
Super Moderator
You can have an axle shipped to your door for that price or cheaper. They're taking you to the cleaners IMO.
03-29-2021, 06:22 PM
#4
JK Newbie
I'm not sure what you mean by "wouldn't go into gear" but there's a lot of stuff between the gear shifter and the wheels.
Doesn't sound right to me, but hard to know without seeing what he's looking at. I'm curious what his cost is on a Jasper axle...
Doesn't sound right to me, but hard to know without seeing what he's looking at. I'm curious what his cost is on a Jasper axle...
03-30-2021, 07:50 AM
#5
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
The Jasper axle is 2300 but he doesn't think he'll get the full core amount so it'll be 500 on top of that, plus the labor.
03-30-2021, 07:51 AM
#6
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
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03-30-2021, 08:01 AM
#8
JK Jedi
Maybe you can explain to us what landed the jeep in this situation? Maybe you don't know I guess....sounds like maybe the kid has it off at school. If that is the case I can understand how it's hard to get accurate information from "young adults" for various reasons 
In general though, outside of an accident that bends the housing, there is rarely reason to replace the full axle.
In general though, outside of an accident that bends the housing, there is rarely reason to replace the full axle.
03-30-2021, 08:11 AM
#9
Super Moderator
I'm with Travis here. "Your JK won't go into gear"? What has that got to do with the diff? Unless I misunderstand not going into gear is to do with the transmission (manual or auto), if the Jeep won't move fore or aft with transmission in gear then yes it could be a locked diff requiring a new one. But even then it only needs a guts of the diff not the entire housing assembly. They don't know how to set up a diff? I understand the frustration though being so far from home and needing to be back there.
Last edited by Sixty4x4; 03-30-2021 at 08:14 AM.
03-30-2021, 11:14 AM
#10
Super Moderator
Definitely sounds like the shop is trying to rip you off either way. Even if the diff gears are bad, there’s no reason to not get a core refund. The shop is taking advantage of you there. The core refund isn’t for a functional core, otherwise you’d have no reason to swap in a new unit. The core basically means that the housing is in good shape and I highly doubt that the housing is bent or broken in any way.
I may see there being a way for the tranny not going into gear if the rear axle gears are blown, locking up the axle, creating a drivetrain bind, and thus not allowing the tranny to shift. But I think that’s a super unlikely thing for the rear axle to not move at all.
I may see there being a way for the tranny not going into gear if the rear axle gears are blown, locking up the axle, creating a drivetrain bind, and thus not allowing the tranny to shift. But I think that’s a super unlikely thing for the rear axle to not move at all.