Otis24's Otisbound Outdoors Bodonkadonk Supercharged Twin Locked Micro Camper Build (OOBSTLMC)

I’m cool with the leave it at the shop approach.
I figure I’ve done so much wrenching on my truck I’ve earned a break.
Also-

 

Cool. Just make sure it's a shop you trust and that has a great track record with diffs. I went with ECGS because the 5 year warranty was worth it to me. Their customer service is off the charts good. Like @betterbuckleup mentioned, it is probably at least worth a call to see what they would give you for a core knowing the spider and carrier are beat up.

 

I’ve only heard good things about ECGS.

The shop I went to has a solid reputation. All they do are differentials. In fact it’s called Rear End Specialties.

Either way might be too late for an ECGS rear third as Rear End Specialties has my truck on jack stands with the 3rd member removed and pulled apart.

They’d have to re-assemble it enough to get it into a tow truck and tow it to my house where I’m in the process of moving over the next 2 weeks and after the move I might be taking my car on a road trip to Kentucky and maybe Florida depending on how much time I’m out of work.

That’s awesome!

 

Sounds like you found a solid shop. Plus, let's face it, that fucking 3rd is heavy when your laying on your back.

Kentucky all week over Florida. Unless you dive then Florida wins.

 

As a matter fact I’m certified to Divemaster.

 

Then Key West is where you want to head. I haven't been diving in 20 years but I got my open water when I was 13. lol

 

I’d really like to do more warm water diving. I have about 175 dives mostly in cold water in Monterey.
I had a pretty nasty lung injury in 2018, had surgery to correct in 2019 and need one more chest X-ray to confirm it’s okay dive again. I just haven’t done it.
When were diving where did you like to go?

 

HOLY SHIT!
The quote from the shop to replace pretty much all the rear differential bits including the locker as well as rear wheel bearings and replace the front diff with 4.88 gears to match the rear plus install the ARB Air Locker I bought awhile ago is $4170.

I had a feeling it would be a lot. Luckily my emergency fund is pretty big. I braced my self for it to be as high as $5K as a worst case scenario.

 

Sounds about right for what I'd expect a shop to charge. Especially with all the stuff they have to replace in the rear end.
At least you already have the front ARB!

Were you 4.10 before?

 

Yup, previously 4.10.

Yeah, I was thinking it's pretty reasonable. Still sucks.

Also, when I was there the techs took their time to explain everything. Super nice guys.
They also showed me the ring gear of a Dodge Ram that just had a re-gear done where the guy didn't follow the break in period. The teeth were all worn down and polished. Everything needs to be replaced from the metal fragments.

Speaking of break in period. We were discussing break in for the new gears. There should be no towing or heavy throttle during the break in period, right?
However, with the weight of my fat ass truck this will be difficult to pull off.
They explained proper cooling of the diff is super important. Drive for 20 minutes, taking it super easy, and then take the diff temp with my IR thermometer and continue driving when the diff is cool enough. I'll need to ask what that temperature is. I think that should work.

 

When I got certified I spent the summers in Florida with my dad. Lots of diving in the Keys. By far my favorite. The rest of the time I spent in New Jersey. Cold water diving both fresh and ocean. If you've done a lot of cold water stuff treat yourself to a trip to the Keys. With your DM cert you could most likely catch a boat for free if you help keep an eye on the newbs.

 

That looks like some good stuff down there!
Somehow I have a lot of friends that ended up in Florida. I might have to schedule a trip down there for diving and visiting people.

I have so many places I want to dive. I've been to Baja a bunch. I really like Loreta on the sea of cortez. There are daily flights out of San Diego there so it would be super easy. Also, diving Cinotes in Cazumel, Thailand, the Caribbean and a bunch of other places.

 

We went to Playa del Carmen last year for my wife's birthday. Dove the reef off of PdC and a couple of cenotes inland. All of my previous diving experience was Monterey and north. It was amazing to be able to see 200+ feet and not wear a wetsuit in the ocean.

 

Check out Yukon's recommended break in procedure. It's more conservative than ECGS.

 

The Caymen Trench is the one thing I still really want to dive over. Being suspended above a 20000' drop off in the ocean floor would be rad. There's also an old radar instillation off the coast of Jersey called Texas Tower #4 that's always held a strange fascination with me. It's relatively deep at 145-185. I never got into deco dives so it never happened. Maybe when I retire I'll get back in the water.

 

Will do!

That's a deep trench. I think I've seen Texas Tower #4 on Modern Marvels or something. That's like diving the Oriskany in FL. I think the flight deck is at like 130 feet.
Speaking of New Jersey...have you ever read Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson?

For now I just really want to dive in the kelp in Monterey and see some Ling Cod, tiny octopus, seals, and decorator crabs. The really shitty thing is I bought a new to me used DUI dry suit right before I got hurt. I got a whole 2 dives on it. Super Lame. That thing is so warm and comfy compared to my old dry suit...and it didn't leak, it was actually dry!

 

I think my 2nd dive in Hawaii we were at 120 feet and I looked up and could see the boat. I was like HOLY SHIT that's really far away! Lol.
Yeah, shorts and a t-shirt diving sure is nice!

 

having just done this with my new Yukon gears, what Shaffers told me was basically keep it under 55mph for the first 500 miles. On the first drive, try to keep it under 20miles (my house was ~25 miles from their shop) so I took backroads home. After that, i mainly did city driving less than 20 minutes at a time but there were a few stretches of 40 minutes. I just did my rear diff oil change last weekend and the drain plug had a very minimal amount of shavings, overall pretty clean so hopefully I broke in the gears just right. Note: they told me I could wait on doing the front gear oil change so I'll just do it on the next oil change (~2k miles from now).

 

Nice, yeah I live at the top of 17 off summit. The truck won't be going up there until it's well broken in.
The first gear oil change is included with the work they're doing. I just have to call and make the appointment with them. I was like sweet!
I told them just leave the front skid plate and put it back on after the gear oil's been changed.