Differentials by San Francisco Differential Service

Quality work, these guys do a great and quick job. A bit on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for. Thorough work. After the 3^rd time my rear axel broke on my van, this was first place across the USA that actually truly fixed the gears and pumpkin.. Thank you for getting me home safely.

SF Differential is THE place to be if you need your rear end fixed! The work is solid and the guys know their shit. You can tell they enjoy what they do which is refreshing compared to other sour-​faced auto guys I’ve dealt with in the past. To my hubby’s dismay, I basically know zero about cars — I failed Autos in high school — but Curtis was kind enough to humor my curiosity. He let me snap a few pics and even took some time to show me what they installed in our car. Hubs could not contain his eye rolls, but I’m a dork and I insisted on documenting for Unilocal purposes. Five stars for the service and fair prices. Keep up the good work, fellas!

I hate to have to write this review. My first experience at the shop was great. At that first experience John took a test drive in the car and helped me fix it quickly and cheaply and professionally. A year later my car started making the same noises. I decided to take it back into the shop and was met by John’s employees. John is on vacation so the employeesare who I had to work with. While they were very friendly my experience with them one on for weeks and was something of a nightmare.
First of all they did not test drive my truck they just told me that I needed a new differential. Unfortunately it’s next to impossible to get new parts for my old truck so I had to find the myself which was totally fine with me and the employees allowed me to store the truck there while I tracked down a new part. They installed the new par and told me that my truck was ready for pick up. When I arrived to get the truck I was told by the employees that I could only pay in cash as the card machine was down. That seemed very unprofessional and sketchy to me but I decided just to do it as that already done the work. I definitely regret that now. As I was driving the car away, yes the sound was gone, but the brakes do not work at all. This was not a problem before and I was a little shocked as I assumed that they would have test drove in the car before giving it to me.
I’m lucky I did not get in a crash as I was driving away. I turned around and went right back to the shop the employees told me that they have not bled my brake lines. They did it there and send me on my way. On the way home I noticed that my brakes were only working about 70% of the time. I got in touch with the employee, who at this point asked me only to contact him on his cell phone and not on the business phone, and he agreed to take the truck back andget the brakes working again. After being told that they would send a tow truck early in the morning on a Friday and waiting around it turned out that the truck would not arrive until Saturday morning.
The employees let me know that they would replace the master cylinder without charging me for labor. I did have to pay for the part. When I picked up the truck mechanic told me never to let his boss know as he would get in trouble for giving me such a good deal. As I drove away I realize that the breaks were still barely working but I was so frustrated that I just decided to try to fix the problem myself. Well it turned out the only problem was when they remove the axle and then reinstalled it they didn’t let the brake shoes out enough for tight braking. After teaching myself how to do this job I manage to get my brakes working just fine as they were before I brought them to this mechanic.
The employee was very nice, but the fact is that I paid hi hundreds of dollars in cash and was given a truck with non working brakes 3 times. He asked me to only contact him, and not the shop, money using his cell phone. The experience leaves me wondering if I even needed a new differential in the first place.
IM sorry to write this review as the owner seems very experienced and kind, but he left the shop to his employees who turned it into a cash only business where they don’t test drive, and ask you to only contact them and not John who is the only reason I went back there, and send you on your way without working brakes 3 times.

This place saved my ass! I need a hard to find pinion yoke for my 70 Blazer. John was so helpful and a real good dude. Another spot wanted to hit me for $ 120 and were in San Jose. John charged me $ 50, but I gave him $ 60. Saved me a trip and he’s local.

I purchased an 09 Infiniti G37 convertible with an open differential. The car came with a supercharger installed so naturally it needed to have the rear differential upgraded to a limited slip unit. I brought my car to another shop where I had a new Quaife LSD unit installed professionally and a week later the differential started making noise.
I contacted sf differential repair and they told me to bring my differential in for an inspection. They immediately identified the problem and suggested replacing the bearings, seals, and also recommended to properly set the backlash. They also mentioned there may still be some noise from the ring gear due to faulty previous work but we would wait and see because a new ring gear set was expensive.
The repaired differential did end up being louder than I had hoped so I brought the unit in again this time with a new gear set. Now everything is perfect!
Excellent quality, communication, and great overall customer service. Very professional.

Just got a 1968 GMC 2500 with a Dana-​60 rear end, gears too low for freeway and getting some freeway gears swapped in from SF Differential and was very happy to hear that the POSI can stay and I’ll be on the freeway! I’ve worked the naval shipyards of San Francisco and on major elevator (geared motors) installs and have seen many shops and this shop works on it ALL. I’m in good hands and hope you find the same comfort I have in finding San Francisco Differential Repair.

Very satisfied with the work done here at SF differential repair. I was hoping to see a Unilocal Elite or major reviewer’s comments before going, but there weren’t any, luckily I listened to the people and brought my car here to John.
I had a loud grinding sound coming from the front end of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I work on my own car whenever possible, so I pulled the differential cover and saw that the gears all looked OK, so I knew that I had an unknown problem.
I kind of drive down here on a whim one afternoon, and John was able to take a test drive with me in the car only a few minutes after arriving. The sound was easy to hear, and he guessed the hub bearing (wheel bearing). One thing I liked about John is that he said he’s not a «parts changer.» Meaning, he’ll use his knowledge to diagnose the actual problem. He found the problem and told me what it’d cost. I wasn’t in any money until that point.
I already knew I had a couple seals (t-​case & front diff) that were spewing fluid, so his techs noticed this and I decided to fix them too. They were able to look at my transmission linkage and clean up the rust and tighten it — I was having trouble getting it to shift nice and crisp without going halfway past the shift point. John correctly guessed that this wasn’t the transmission filter, although all signs online in the forums pointed towards this.
Doing both front wheel bearings and two seals ended up coming in under 1k, which was about how much I expected given the nature of the work. They are straightforward with the prices and based on their knowledge I wouldn’t have minded paying a slight premium, but I think they are actually on the cheaper side since they don’t hit you with stupid charges and actually fix your vehicle right the first time.
John also dropped me off at BART and picked me up at BART. He was a nice guy too so it felt like dealing with a friend. They don’t have a waiting room or any of that BS since they just do actual work there, there’s no frills (thankfully).
P. S. I strongly suggest against bringing a car with a drivetrain problem to someone that doesn’t know what they’re doing. I had an awful experience down in SD, and once I got it «fixed» the gears in the front diff howled. Funny story was that I said to John that I «don’t think» they got it right, and he quipped «I know they didn’t get it right!»

I feel compelled to write this as a warning to those who might not have money to just throw away. After reading the rave reviews, my husband decides to have his transmission transplant done here rather than the dealership. The owner seemed caring, responsible and quite competent. After installation, it didn’t run perfectly (little noises and such) but what does one expect from a rebuilt??? Approximately under 2yr later, very lite use, the transmission blows out? I suggest my husband call the nice guy who helped him and find the reason for this and some middle ground. The owner informs my husband the warranty is up at 1 year but he would look into this and call back. One month later, my husband has a new transmission courtesy of the dealer… No weird little noises and running perfectly! A bit more expensive, much better warranty! Lesson learned!!! Still no call from the «nice, caring, responsible owner». This is when you learn the REAL character and integrity of the one you are really dealing with…

I have been working on my own cars on and off for 35 years. No one does differentials — everyone defers, hems and haws… a mystery mechanism that requires experience, the correct tools, experience and, truthfully, a real strength in mechanical aptitude (not just an ability to read manuals and follow instructions). This shop is a reflection of the skilled men there; the entire spectrum of rear ends from busses to dragsters to your average persons pickup. Every part is there… every proper tool, shim is there orderly staged and ready to work. With my first step inside, I knew that I was in a place where pride was the standard and excellence was the product. Everyone there has been doing this for many many years and is singularly focused on doing the shop standard job.
In my case, I brought my differential in to be serviced. They serviced it (finding it in excellent shape… and were able to tell me exactly how good a shape) but found that my three U-​joints were bad — one frozen and two badly worn. They returned my vehicle to me fully functional and safe within the original quote originally cited.
I wish that there was a similarly skilled site for the times when I needed expert mechanics for engine cooling, suspension, electrical… but for now, I will settle for having this expert in my book.

If u have an fj cruiser with only 50k and the rear end is making noise you definitely want to take it here and get it fixed ASAP before something more expensive happens. These guys know how to align the gears properly which is not always done right from the factory. The guys fixed my diff perfectly. I had a whine from the rear end that got louder and louder. It is now silent! Great job!

These guys are the best. I’ve had both transmission and rear differential repairs done on multiple Jeep Grand Cherokees and have dealt with them for more than ten years. The best reference I can give them is that every time I am there, I see transmissions and differentials coming in from other shops for repair. In other words, other mechanics have them do the work, then mark up the bill and pass it off as if they did the job in house.
One of my repairs was covered by an after-​market warranty, and as soon as I told them the name of my shop, they approved the work, apparently cuz they knew the shop that well. They never even had me get a price quote.

As for their prices, let me put it this way. The first time, I went there after getting a quote of $ 1900. Their quote was $ 1,000 and that’s what I paid. For all I know, that other shop would have sent the work here anyway, but charged me almost twice as much. Now I don’t bother going elsewhere.

I had heard about this shop about three years ago (2007) from a parts guy who’s been in the game for a while. I always knew that one day, I was going to need to rebuild the rear end on my 68 Olds… and then Wham, the bearing go on my ride.
According to my parts Guru, the most relieable, trustworthy and experianced shop to work on the axle of the first car I ever owned, was going have to be John @ SF Differential.
All I can say is that when I showed up with my car, I knew I was in the right spot. The shop was well kept, and definiatley had the look of a real, nononsense, «All we do is rear-​ends» shop! (look @ the Pic)
John was very honest with me and I felt that he was sincerly interested in helping me out. He had the car ready for me the next day, and even arrainged to have me picked up at the nearest BART station.
I highly recommend SF Differential for all old muscle car rear-​end rebuilds. Oh and by the way, he works on Jeeps, 4×4 and even yes, Buses and big rigs too!

I’m sick of taking my jeep to the dealership where they charge so much! I was recommended by a friend to talk to John of SF Differential. John was so nice and took a look at my transmission. He gave me sound advice about what the issues were and I felt more than comfortable entrusting him with my car repairs. The old girl’s been fine ever since! I feel comfortable getting his opinion in the future for any repairs. Thanks, John!