New Viper Owner - already blew out rear end.

[Brian 95 RT]

Hello everyone, I purchased a red 1995 R/T-10 just over a month ago with 22,000 miles. Just joined the VCA and will post a picture soon.
I put a thousand miles on it the past month and babied it pretty good. But I had to finally see what the car would do and got on it from a dead stop. The tires spun and I got about 25 feet before I heard a loud snap, then coasted her down the road. Turns out the rear end gears are all tore up inside.

I know this is a high performance car, but there is no way the rear end should give out already, especially after getting on it hard only once. I'm not sure how hard the previous owner drove it, but it shouldn't matter much. From doing a search on previous posts and talking to the dealer, this looks like a fairly common problem with Vipers. I've had other cars with more horsepower than this and never had to worry about the rear end blowing out.

Oh well, enough about that. Really love the car though. It's amazing that a car made within the past 20 years has so much shock and awe value with crowds everywhere I go. A new Corvette convertible drives by and barely anyone looks. A Viper drives by and necks snap!!!

Brian

 

[Russ M]

Brian,

Sorry for you problem but you bought a used car, and unfortunatly that means you bought someone elses problem. Viper rear ends are typicaly very strong, so most likely it was either very poorly maintaned, or most likely severly abused by the former owner.

Have it rebuilt or check with any of the tuners about getting a used stock unit from them.

Good luck.

 

[ViperJoe]

Contact Jon at PartsRack for Unitrax replacement gears. They are cryohardened and micro-polished for quietness.

 

[MichaelP]

Hi Brian and welcome.

You sound like you have a really good attitude about the problem you have with the car.

Hope you keep posting here and let us know how all of this goes.

Michael

 

[Brian 95 RT]

Thanks for the compliment, MichaelP. I'm also a boat owner so I'm used to repair bills! ha ha ha

 

[99 R/T 10]

Hey Brian, this is a perfect time to upgrade to a better gear ratio, especially for the Gen I. I had a 96 I put 3.73's in and it ROCKED! Most suggest 3.45-3.55's, but depends on your mods. I have a buddy selling his 3.45's, if interested, PM me. I personally liked the 3.73's the best, but you must have the Kumho V700 for traction purposes. My best time with the car was an 11.8 at 118 and won the street competition at the V-10 Nationals with it

 

[MannyG]

I had the same problem when I bought my 95 four months ago. The rear end went to pieces two weeks after I bought it. I was not driving it hard. Rebuilt the rear end. I also think when the rear end went to pieces, it messed up my tranny. Rebuilt that also. Finally, I replaced old problem plagued head gaskets with new ones. My car now runs like a top. Could not be happier.

MannyG

 

[joe117]

I didn't know that rear gears were a big problem.
The guys with the big power sc cars are running the same rear gears as everyone else.

I'd say that you just had bad luck or you bought a car that someone had changed the rear ratio and done it improperly.
A poorly set up gear contact can cause weakness.

I don't see how the rear going out can hurt the transmission.

 

[[email protected]]

goodmorning brian..

as far as your rear end sorry for the failure but goodnews is we have used ones and new performance quaife differentials,call me at 817-877-1772
mark at viper speed, ft worth

 

[JGK95]

...Oh well, enough about that. Really love the car though. It's amazing that a car made within the past 20 years has so much shock and awe value with crowds everywhere I go. A new Corvette convertible drives by and barely anyone looks. A Viper drives by and necks snap!!!

Brian

I purposely blocked out a shiny new looking red C5 entering on to I-90 so I could tailgate an amazing Midnight Blue Carrera 4S!! I don't think I woulda done that with a Viper LOL!

Jay K.

 

[MannyG]

Joe

I'm not sure I'm correct but here is my explanation. If the rear end goes, it may cause the shaft to bind up. That could place a bind on the gear in the tranny, it may severely stress the gear.

Before the rear end went, my tranny was working OK. Afterwards, third gear was acting up. The rear end went out while in third gear.

Manny

 

[joe117]

I guess that might cause transmission damage. Chunks between the rear gears could cause quite a load.