Well I finally took it in and the shop to which I took the runner for repair (Northwest Frame & Alignment, located in Zionsville, IND) was about spot on with the quote. I will add some photos of the repair work in the next couple of days
He originally quoted me ~$800. The welding job itself for the frame repair was $750 and I had him do an alignment while working on it, for which he charged $63. All tolled I was out the door for $813.
The vehicle has 157,5xx miles on it.
Now that it's out I need the right rear wheel bearing replaced, I've been quoted $553 from Indianapolis Rack & Axle. This sounds reasonable given, the work I now know is required (not just a simple repack of the bearing), however I'm hesitant to get the work done, because I:
a. don't know if the left side will need it (I'd guess it would in the near future, and seeing as I'm doing the right side I would like the wear to be even and do both sides.
b. If this is the case I'm not sure I want to do both sides due to the fact that my rear differential still leaks diff. fluid (slowly - top it off about once every 3k during the oil change, it's usually about a pint low) ever since the rebuild. This is due to the fact that when I had it rebuilt, the guy who did the work somehow didn't realize that the pumpkin leaks...I was pretty livid when I found this out.
Therefore I'm looking for suggestions/advice on what to do. What I would like to do is completely replace the axle and rear differential with either a new one (which i'm not sure are available at this juncture) or one from another vehicle. Am I correct in thinking that this would solve not only the diff. problem, but my wheel bearing issues as well? I've not had a chance to break into my Haines Manual yet.
This is probably getting into the $2k+ range for work done and parts (which I'm not adverse to paying if it completely solves all my rear end issues. I believe I've found one from carmonkeys.com with what I believe is the proper ratio
4.10 (i'm doing further research and am most likely just going to do the spin-test to confirm.)
This seems like in the long run it would make the most sense, although it will be the most expensive right now, out of the gate. - takes care of my wheel bearing issues, the differential leaking/pumpkin issue and comes with a 5 year warranty on the parts.
The "cheap" (being that I'd have to put the work on a credit card atm) part of me wants to just spend the $550 to get back on the road, but then I enter the unknown as far as the left wheel bearing and haven't solved the leaky diff. pumpkin issue either.
So thoughts, advice, and suggestions on where to locate parts (axle and diff housing as close to 'new' as feasible for a reasonable price) welcome, Please and Thanks!