The cost to replace a rear differential ranges from $200 to $400. However, if repairs included changing the gears, the price can jump significantly up to $1500 to $4500.
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
Your vehicle's rear differential is responsible for controlling the rotation of your wheels. It ensures that every wheel rotates at the right round per a minute to prevent any premature damages to your wheels and tires.
Like any other component in your car, the rear differential can go bad at some point. While you can drive your vehicle with a bad rear differential, it's never recommended because it just complicates the problem and can result in significant damage to the surrounding components, increasing the overall repair costs.
Rear differential service costs depends on your vehicle's make, model, and year. It also is affected by which component in your rear differential you're trying to replace. For example, if you're replacing the entire rear differential, the price can be much higher than just replacing the rear differential gasket or pinion.
This article will highlight your vehicle's rear differential's main job, causes a bad rear differential, symptoms of a bad rear differential, and expected repair costs for each component in your rear differential. At the end of this article, we will cover whether it’s worth is fixing your vehicle's rear differential or not and we will highlight your possible other options.
What is a rear differential?
They were differential responsible for controlling the right round per minute at each wheel in your vehicle.
When your engine generates the power, the transmission sends this power to the wheels equally. However, if you're planning to turn, one of your wheels must rotate more than the other. Otherwise, your vehicle's wheels will slip.
That's where they we're differential comes in handy as it monitors and controls how many rounds per minute each wheel does.
What causes a rear differential to go bad?
Your vehicle's rear differential is not designed to last forever, and there will be some point in time where it will go bad.
However, some certain practices and causes for shortening the lifetime of your vehicle's rear differential. Some of these causes might be related to driving style, while others might be related to two vehicles type.
Let's take a look at these different causes of rear differential damages:
-
Rear differential oil leak
One of the fastest ways to destroy your vehicles we were differential when it loses oil. Oil is responsible for lubricating any moving components in your car. Without sufficient oil, your vehicle was suffered from grinding and pre-maturing, which causes significant damages to our vehicle's rear differential.
There are many ways where your rear differential can lose its oil, including issues with worn seals where you can see oil drips under your vehicle close to where the rear differential is located.
-
Pushing hard on the rear differential
Your driving style can also affect your rear differential lifetime. If you push too hard the rear differential during some drag racing or burnouts, you can easily damage the rear differential quickly.
Therefore, it circumvented that you be as gentle as possible in your car and only use vehicles designed specifically for racing if you would like to enjoy this style of driving.
-
Weak inside gear material
Sometimes your vehicle's rear differential comes with the wrong type of material. If the inside gear is designed out of a softer type of steel, it will not withstand your engine's huge torque and power. Therefore, don't be surprised to see that your vehicle's rear differential requires replacement early.
What are the symptoms of a bad rear differential?
Since your vehicle's rear differential is responsible for controlling the rounds per minute for each wheel, there are very common symptoms of a bad rear differential. You will mostly notice them in handling and your vehicle's tires or wheels.
If you notice any of these symptoms, it's recommended that you have to take your vehicle to a professional mechanic immediately to prevent any other complications that could affect the entire block, which can cost you thousands of dollars if not damaging your entire vehicle.
-
Premature tire damage
One of the fastest symptoms of a bad rear differential includes early damage in your vehicle's tire tread. When the differential components fail, both tires will be rotating at the same speed, although they might not necessarily need it. Thus, some of these wheels will slip and cause damages to the outer tread.
-
Difficulty handling
If your vehicle's rear differential goes bad, you will notice it immediately whenever you try to go around the corner. Unfortunately, this is one of the dangerous symptoms of a bad rear differential because you will not predict how bad the handling issues.
-
Obvious vibration
The more you read differential goes bad, the more you'll notice significant vibration in your vehicle's driveshaft, and it can be more noticeable as you accelerate.
-
Clear grinding noises
If your rear differential's main problem is due to low oil, you will notice some loud grinding noises coming from the gear due to insufficient lubrication to tear it. Once you hear these noises, it's recommended that you take your vehicle to a professional mechanic immediately because it can lead to significant damages to your gear, increasing the costs
Rear differential parts replacement cost
The average cost of rear differential service differs significantly depending on what you are trying to fix.
For example, many people only need to replace the rear differential seals. Others might be interested in replacing the rear differential bushing, etc.
Some of rear differential repairs might be related to oil leak issues like the gasket, pinion seal, and side seal replacement. Other repairs might not be related to oil leaks like bearing, gear, and complete replacements.
Therefore, let's look at how much it will cost you to replace the entire rear differential versus one separate component.
-
Cost to replace rear differential fluid
Rear differential fluid replacement Is not very expensive compared to any other problem related to the rear differential.
It might cost you between $80.00 and $150 for almost every vehicle. However, the price does not include the labor costs, which can also add up from $50 to $70.00 depending on the place you get your rear differential fluid change.
-
Cost to replace the rear differential seal
Since replacing the rear differential seals is not always known and cannot be pinpointed, there is no clear information about how much it will cost to replace the rear differential seal.
Therefore, if you have significant rear differential seal problems, your best guess is that you will need to replace the entire rear differential, which costs you between $200 and $400.
-
Cost to replace the rear differential bushing
Replacing your vehicle's rear differential bushing is expected to cost you between only $5 and $150. Yes, the range is significantly wide because it depends heavily on your vehicle's make, model, and year.
If you want to add up the Labor price, expect something between $100 and $300.
Thus, the total cost for replacing your vehicle's bushing could be somewhere between $105 and $450.
-
Cost to replace rear differential bearings
Unfortunately, there are no clear, exact reported costs for replacing the rear differential viewings.
Thanks, if your vehicle's rear differential viewings go bad, you might need to replace the entire thing for somewhere between $200 and $400.
-
Cost to replace the rear differential pinion seal
Replacing your vehicle's rear differential pinion can easily cost you between $239 and $286. As you might notice, the pinion seal is almost the most costly component in your vehicle's rear differential, and if it gets worse, because usually a bad nose.
-
Cost to replace the rear differential gasket
Again, no available detailed information about how much will cover the rear differential gasket cost. Most available resources indicated that if the casket goes bad, you might need to replace the entire rear differential for about $200 to $400.
How hard is it to rebuild a rear differential?
Rear differential rebuild Should not take a long time if an experienced professional mechanic does it.
In general, rebuilding your vehicle's rear differential might take the mechanic up to five hours; however, the process might take longer if you selected an inexperienced mechanic at a small repair shop.
How long does it take to replace a rear differential?
Replacing your vehicle's rear differential is a lengthy process. Did you know that replacing takes about five hours of Labor?
Thus, replacing the entire rear differential might take at least a day of work. Therefore, it is recommended that you be wise about the location where you get this job done because labor costs can add up significantly and quickly.
Is it dangerous to drive with a bad rear differential?
If your vehicle's rear differential goes bad, you will not be prevented from driving your car. However, driving this vehicle more can complicate the problem, and therefore, it's never recommended to drive a car with a bad rear differential.
What if the cost to replace the rear differential is super high?
Great question. As we mentioned earlier, if your vehicle's rear differential problem builds up and affects the components around it, repair costs can build up very fast.
Does the question always remain what if repair costs are very high? Is it wise or worth fixing the rear differential?
Well, it all depends on a lot of factors. For example, if your car has any other problems that are considered major related to the engine or transmission, it might not be worth repairing this vehicle.
If your car has a lot of mileage indicating that there might be some major problems coming soon, it also might not be worth replacing this vehicle.
The rule of thumb here is to check how much repairs are getting cost compared to your vehicle's value. If you found that repair costs are getting close to 75% of your vehicle's worth or higher, you don't need to fix this car, and instead, you should sell it and use the payment as a down payment for a better vehicle.
A good place to sell your vehicle if it has major rear differential problems is Cash Cars Buyer.
How does our process work?
Cash Cars Buyer is one of the top-rated car removal companies in the nation. We accept your vehicle even if it has significant rear differential problems or other major problems related to the engine or transmission.
We guarantee to buy your vehicle and remove it within one to three days. We also have a same-day pickup service if you are interested and you are in a hurry. Our process is very straightforward and doesn't take more than the following three steps:
-
Provides details about your car
We would need to know any other major problems in your car besides the differential issues. A good description would include your vehicle's make, model, and year. Plus, a general idea about what are the other major issues in your vehicle.
-
Review and accept our instant offer
Our company uses the most advanced technology to generate offers within 30 seconds from receiving your vehicle information. These offers are fair and represent the maximum value your car can make around your area.
At this point, you can review the offer, accept it if it makes sense to you.
-
Schedule pick up time and receive your cash payment
Once you're happy with the offer and decided to move forward, we will work with you to schedule a pickup time and location that fits your busy schedule.
At the pickup time, we will inspect your car quickly and remove it safely. Once the inspection is completed, you will receive your cash payment immediately and on the spot!
To get more details about our process, give our team a call at 866-924-4608 or visit our home page and click on the free instant online offer. Our process is explained in detail in this link.