• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Little mishap causing major Headache!

R

RebelXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Montreal
Hi all,

I screwed up today! I had to change my front pinion seal on my 87 cherokee and noticed that I had a loose in my pinion so i wanted to change my bearing. I was running out of time and had to move the truck cause i couldnt close the garage, i went back 10 feet and forward 8 feet and crack it did!!
I forgot to put the pinion nut back on and it locked up, i was going really slow like crawling slow and didnt force it. I noticed the ring gear has 2 tiny pieces chipped off on the inner side of the ring gear, 1/8 X1/8 X 1/16 thick now can i buff these suckers out and be successful just to prevent wear. It dont look too bad so give me some feed back..thanks
 
You can try... and it should be fine (if noisy) in 2WD.

It may result in much faster gear wear and/or destruction if you get unlucky in 4WD however. But you don't have much to lose, in my opinion.

What gears do you have? If they are a standard gearing (3.07, 3.55, 3.73) it won't even cost you too badly if they do break, just get a new axle at the scrapyard.
 
I also have a front diff from my 85xj 2.8L which if im not mistaking it should have a 4.10 gear????? If that is the case can i use the gears from inside it, in the housing that im currently using?? then i will just need a 4.10 in the back. thanks
 
yes you can swap the gears in the front using the same carrier, the d30 doesnt use carrier shims but it uses pinion shims. my d30 had 3.55s stock and had the same amount of little thin shims in it as the 4.10s i pulled at the jy
 
also ive been running on my swapped gears in my other xj then swapped to this one with a power trax no slip in them for 5+ months and there dead quiet and always have been
 
RebelXJ said:
I also have a front diff from my 85xj 2.8L which if im not mistaking it should have a 4.10 gear????? If that is the case can i use the gears from inside it, in the housing that im currently using?? then i will just need a 4.10 in the back. thanks
Click to expand...
If you do decide on this swap,pull a pattern and check the backlash before you remove the gears from the donor axle,set-up the gears in your axle using that info.

1990heepxj said:
yes you can swap the gears in the front using the same carrier, the d30 doesnt use carrier shims but it uses pinion shims. my d30 had 3.55s stock and had the same amount of little thin shims in it as the 4.10s i pulled at the jy
Click to expand...

The D30 DOES use carrier shims to set backlash and carrier pre-load.
 
Last edited:
ya know i always forget but the shims on the 30 are to the inside of the bearing instead of outside the bearing race arent they? anyway ive had no problem at all swapping one set from the jy into 2 diff axles and no noise or wear on em even with the locker always spinning them
 
Did you check the pattern before running em?
 
RebelXJ said:
I also have a front diff from my 85xj 2.8L which if im not mistaking it should have a 4.10 gear????? If that is the case can i use the gears from inside it, in the housing that im currently using?? then i will just need a 4.10 in the back. thanks
Click to expand...

4.10:1 or 3.73:1 with the 2.8L-- you'll have to count and divide to be sure.
 
I havent really messed much with gears in a diff. I have changed the seals in the front which I have had to pull out all the gears out, i kept everything in order and put all back in the same place. Im not really sure about the shiming and backlash and really dont want to ruin everything if i do it wrong. Also i was thinking that if i got to change the gears in the back so that they are the same i just as well lock it. Should i get a lunch box locker and have it locked all the time?? I do live in snowy montreal and some have told me its kinda dangerous with it locked in the snow on the roads. Im not racing this thing and im aware of the fact the ass end will wanna kick out quiet a bit but will it be that bad???
 
kastein said:
Did you check the pattern before running em?
Click to expand...

other then visually looking to make sure nothing was obviously broken or worn i didnt check anything. havent had a problem yet and ive also done this same thing on 2 ford ranger 7.5 rear axles using the shims from the jy axle. and also on the 8.8 ive had in 6 months now i took the 4.10s off the open carrier at the jy, put them on the carrier i welded up and then i took them off that carrier and then put them on a lsd carrier and used the shims from the orig jy carrier the 4.10s came from. havent heard anything from them and the gear oil was still perfectly clean every time i reopened the axle. i dunno if someone can confirm or correct this but id assume the factory doesnt hand shim every axle so my guess is all factory 4.10s use the same size shims(one axle type i mean, EX: 8.8 only) and same with each other ratio assumingly

EDIT: both ford 7.5s have been almost 2 years with no issues at all. used no precision tools to put them in
 
Last edited:
Hi All, I have a few questions... Since i have ruined the front diff on my 87 xj, i have found a 95 xj with 131000km,with a good front diff. These are the parts that mainly interested me besides a few minor parts. Now my questions are: Will my current 87 renix injectors fit on a 95, the reason being is that i put mustang injectors on my 87. Can i keep my steering column from the 87 or do i have to put the ugly ass pillowcase steering wheel with airbag? Thanks guys.
 
I
RebelXJ said:
Hi All, I have a few questions... Since i have ruined the front diff on my 87 xj, i have found a 95 xj with 131000km,with a good front diff. These are the parts that mainly interested me besides a few minor parts. Now my questions are: Will my current 87 renix injectors fit on a 95, the reason being is that i put mustang injectors on my 87. Can i keep my steering column from the 87 or do i have to put the ugly ass pillowcase steering wheel with airbag? Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

In my opinion the steering wheel in the 95s and 96s is the best thing about them!!
 
X2... for some reason I like the 95/96 design. The 97-up ones are kinda cool too but I don't quite like the cruise control buttons.

If you want to disable the airbag for off road use it is pretty easy. Pop the little round plug out of the top of the center section of the wheel and unscrew the arming bolt under it (8mm) until it stops turning easily, this disarms the airbag. It will not come out all the way. If you want you can then remove the airbag/horn button/wheel cover with a 10mm ratchet and remove the airbag, then reinstall the cover and horn button.

Putting a 94-down column in a 95/96 or vice versa is non trivial as the turn signal / cruise control / headlight beam select / horn / emergency flasher / ignition switch wiring is all different, you will need to do some reading in the factory service manuals for both years and spend a lot of quality time with a wire stripper and crimping tool or soldering iron. I plan to install a 95/96 column in my 91 eventually, as the airbag will result in a significant savings on insurance...
 
The only thing i could foresee as being a problem is time taking all the crap out of the inside so it will work, i cant leave it in my driveway due to the white stuff mother nature gonna start throwing at us. Is it a BIG pain in the ass to make the switch and also the tranny configuration/ECU. If possible i would keep my tranny and just swap wire harness and motor and leave tranny but will the new ECU work with my tranny??
 
Okay I have bought the 95 and have started taking her apart. I have noticed that the front diff of my 87 (46/13) and the 95 (39/11) have different teeth counts. Both are 3.55 .Can i still use the gears from the 95 in my 87?? the only reason i dont want to transfer the diffs, is that my 87 has new bushings and ball joints. So the question is, can i transfer the other gears into my 87 diff housing???
 
pretty sure they should just swap right over, housing and carrier should be all the same size just different ring thickness and pinion diameter. the 2 diff sizes should scale down accordingly and still fit fine
 
You're probably going to have to reset the gears to do that.

I would just swap the whole axle... also check to make sure the gear teeth spiral the same direction if you are going to swap them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Renix TPS nightmare
Replies
19
Views
3K
Saudade
Saudade
O
2000 XJ Failed Colorado Emissions high CO
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
Ken M
K
M
NP 231 input shaft
Replies
3
Views
2K
RCP Phx
R
J
Running just fine then dies at idle on street
Replies
4
Views
2K
90xj06
9
O
0331 Strikes Again...?
Replies
11
Views
301
Ol Blue
O
Back
Top