ring gear bolt torque specs

specs:
89 xj, 4.5" lift, 5sp, 31" tires, 4.10 r&p, d 30 and d35c rear.

yesterday on my way home from work, i hear and feel a loud bang from the rear so i pull over. thought at first i dropped the driveshaft but after looking at everything there is no visual signs of anything loose or dragging.

to get off the side of the road i drive about 1/8 mile to a parking lot. the banging went away in the first couple of feet but i got a knocking sound when not under load and coasting. i got the knocking sound when i let of the gas and when coasting in or out of gear.

thinking i broke a spider gear, i jack up the rear tires and spin both wheels and they spin just fine with no binding. pull both wheel/tires to see if soemthing happened to the brakes, there fine. unscrew the drain plug and a small stream of blackish gear lube with glitter in it comes out. so i know i have problems and screw plug back in. dont feel like getting a tow so i drive around the parking lot a few times and i get the same thing. under load, no noise and evrything is fine. but if i let off the gas or coast with the clutch pushed in, i get...knock,knock,knock.. until i come to a stop.

so i drive 15 miles home. i get the same noises. pull the cover to find that 1 of the ring gear bolts came out and got chewed up. i found the shank/shaft but not the head. i also find that some of the other bolts were a little loose and some i loosened with very little effort.

i plan on replacing the rear axle with an 8.25 or a d44. i have off of work next week and should be able to get a junkyard axle, but in the mean time i would like to do a temp fix just in case i need the xj.

questions:
what are the torque specs for the ring gear bolts(d35) and should there be lock tight on them? the ones i pulled out did not seem to have any on there. had the gears installed about 3-4 years ago

i found no damage to any of the gears and the carrier did have a small nick on it. should i just get a new ring gear bolt and install it while torqueing down the others? i cleaned out the housing with parts cleaner and ran a magnet through it to get out all the shavings, is that enough or should i pull the carrier?

comments, input?

thanks

The d44 is 80 pounds don't know about the 35 but I have heard that it is good to replace those bolts after you take them out. I noticed that when I put my 44 back together they didn't tighten nearly as nice as when I replaced the bolts

definitely use red locktite on those bolts!

Knowing nothing about the subject... :gag:

I'd replace all the bolts, lock tight and torque, and drive it until it makes more noise, or until you are ready to replace the whole thing.

i dont expect the place that did the install to give me a warranty after 3-4 years, but i wonder if they used locktite. i guess i need to take a trip over to his shop and ask some questions.

torque settings on ring bolts?

muckleroy said:

Knowing nothing about the subject... :gag:

I'd replace all the bolts, lock tight and torque, and drive it until it makes more noise, or until you are ready to replace the whole thing.

Click to expand...

x2
and spec on the bolts is 55 ft lbs with red locktite
you should not reuse the bolts that are in there, especially if they were loose.
it's likely they are extremely fatigued.