I just went through a rear end rebuild because of similar noises on my 98
Dakota, 87k miles.  The dealership, Dallas Dodge, in McKinney, TX, rebuilt
the entire rear end when all it needed was a pinion bearing set.  That was
near $1400 worth of parts/labor and a whole week of down time.
I had them save the parts.  I next brought all the parts to two different
shops that do this sort of work and they both looked at it all.  They both
agreed that the pinion bearing replacement would have done the job and would
have cost me nearer to $250.  Beware of this particular dealership.  I will
be from now on.

I had a 2000 Dakota with 72,000 miles on it. Started to get a shimmy type of
squeek. Sound like something was in the bed moving around like something
loose. I pulled the shaft, one uni joint was half froze and other was going.
Hate those sealed joints, No grease fittings, all were pretty much dry and
rusted.  $32.00 bucks for the pair, and a afternoon it was done.

SCOTT

Dealership is replacing rear u joint, says tires that were moved from the
front were not making the noise, even though the noise went 95% away after
the tires were rotated & balanced.  Tireshop says tires in the front were
cupped badly and moved them to the rear.  They indicated an alignment would
help the cupping... dealership says no, but the shocks should be replaced
because that's what causes cupping...

Commnets?