Used diff for $500 or have mine rebuilt for $600-1000?

[Vincent Brick]

I've been trying to find a 3.73 LSD for the better part of a year now, my car is in desperate need of a new rear end with its bad pinion bearing shaking and making a lot of noise on my long commutes. What do you guys think I would be better off with, a used diff that's been cleaned up and "checked" for $500 firm, or pay the $600-1000 I've been quoted to have mine rebuilt? I don't have a lot of money so I need to do this cheaply (I just had to put a motor in the car too), but its my daily driver that sees 300+ miles of stop/go traffic every week so I need to get it taken care of ASAP. Is $500 a reasonable price? $500 firm for a used rear with unknown miles just seems ridiculous to me, even if the seller did "fully check it out" and go to town on it in a parts washer. I just missed out on one with 140k for under $300.

The only other option I have found local is one from this zoomzooming guy that seems to have a very bad reputation on the forums. But the guy with the $500 diff was a real prick on the phone, so I'm not sure I want to deal with him either.

Should I even trust a used 150k+ diff or am I just asking to have the same problem in a year? The other downfall to a rebuild is having to borrow a car again, which I just recently had to do for a month when my engine perished.

Thanks guys, just not sure what to do, this is a lot of money for me so I want to make the right decision.




(I was just going to add this to a past diff thread I thought I made, but I can't find it now, so sorry if anyone is bothered.)

[ButtJuice]

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pts/4842880599.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/pts/4828564611.html

Hope these help

[IRON-E]

Dude!, pm me, I'll give you my buddy's number and you can deal with him. No more than like $350-400.
He has a few in stock.

[Vincent Brick]

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pts/4842880599.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/pts/4828564611.html

Hope these help

Thanks. The one in OC I think is sold. I was talking to him about it, then a couple days passed as I was hoping to combine it with a work-related trip up there I was supposed to take, and now he's just like "I have a 2.93 LSD..." I shouldn't have slept on it, shouldn't have counted on my boss.

The one in Seal Beach I'm pretty sure is the zoomzoomzoom-ing guy who sells a lot on Ebay. He apparently has a very bad reputation on the forums, but that was in the context of the recovered sport seats he sells, I'm not sure if that meant he shouldn't be trusted period.

Dude!, pm me, I'll give you my buddy's number and you can deal with him. No more than like $350-400.
He has a few in stock.

I'll PM you. $350-400 was kinda what I was expecting to pay, seems reasonable for a trusted unit.


I mean shit, I only had $200 into the strong, used B25 long block I put in my car recently, I know its a sought-after ratio but how much do these people really want? The guy asking $500 told me he gets that for them shipping them overseas, but is it necessary to have an attitude while explaining why you are asking so much above local market value when someone asks? It was on Ebay, I would have paid cash and he would save on Ebay fees and time packing it up for international shipping and still he was firm. Sorry it bugs me even more because I sell a lot of parts too and I would never speak like that to someone wanting to deal. /rant :hitler:

[Regnar75]

wow $500? i spent $150 on a 140k mile 3.73lsd with no rust and pretty clean, no noise, here in RI. sure prices vary place to place but 500 seems high. i could see 250-350 but then again i havent really SEEN the market lately. just know what i would pay. if it was clean as hell though i could see a little more.

[Vincent Brick]

I guess $500 is fair out here, because that is the only one I know of semi-local that I can buy at any price right now. Every time I think I found one, its its in LA or OC an hour plus away and someone buys it before I can make arrangements to get up there.

I'm not even sure what to do at this point, I guess I just have to pay to have mine rebuilt. I'm just not going to pay $500 for one with unknown mileage from a guy with an attitude problem. Maybe if he would have been nice I would.

[Vincent Brick]

Is a 3.73 to 4.10 that huge of a jump? I can get a 4.10 at a good price, but I commute 80 miles a day and can't really afford to spend more on gas (even though obviously prices are down right now). I know its not as big of a jump, but the difference between my 3.55 and 3.94 Neons felt huge.

Thanks