Major Issue and 1000 miles from home...

[kastein]

If it ends up being a real issue, my bet's on pinion bearing / nut like the rest of the crew. BUT! it might not be. I thought the turdy-five in the back of my MJ had blown pinion/carrier bearings on my way home from Pennsylvania a couple weekends ago (why is it always the long road trips that cause this?! lol) due to the fact that it was making some pretty hardcore growling/grinding when I got on the gas. It may still be mechanical but check your tire pressure. My rear right tire was obscenely low because it has a slow leak and I hadn't checked it in a few days when I left. As soon as I filled that tire up to the proper pressure and checked the other tire, the growling became much less of a problem, it went from growling loudly any time I put my foot on the gas at all to only growling when floored. I suspect that it was because the rear end has about 200k on it, the previous previous owner never changed the diff fluid scared: he wasn't much of a guy for maintenance, still fixing things he rigged up), and the spider gears don't have any bearings on them, they just ride directly on the crosspin. So if the rear wheels are moving at substantially different speeds under load, you'll hear growling in a well worn rear end.

 

[Nik]

Cracked the cover and my spider is blown apart..teeth every where.. ring and pinion look great though... why would this happen when driving straight for 1k miles...usually happens when cornering under hard accel....

hopefully it will be fixed today..thought about just putting a posi track in while being replaced...couldn't afford it...

 

[xcm]

put an aussie in instead, $300 'fix/upgrade'
edit: nevermind, your a snow person

 

[kastein]

At least it's a 15 dollar junkyard fix, eh? Glad to hear the R&P seem like they're in good shape.

When the wheel bound up, it probably was the spiders not meshing properly or a piece of spider gear getting into the ring and pinion. Might want to spin it a few more times and double check that it's all OK with a good bright light.

 

[Ghost]

put an aussie in instead, $300 'fix/upgrade'
edit: nevermind, your a snow person

On a turdy-5? Think man Think before you hit submit.

 

[kastein]

You might be confused, Nik never said what rear end he has. The turdy five is the one I was mentioning as an example that I was working with.

And yeah, I'll be junking it soon due to a blown wheel cylinder, a rusted cover, and a twisted off lug. One of the other NAC guys offered to sell me his 8.25 with new brake hardware and... well... I don't see myself putting any work into the 35 if I can help it, and I've been wanting to trash it for a while.

EDIT: vvv you got a good point there, I forgot that the 8.25 wasn't introduced till Chrysler bought AMC :dunce: vvv

 

[Ghost]

You might be confused, Nik never said what rear end he has. The turdy five is the one I was mentioning as an example that I was working with.

And yeah, I'll be junking it soon due to a blown wheel cylinder, a rusted cover, and a twisted off lug. One of the other NAC guys offered to sell me his 8.25 with new brake hardware and... well... I don't see myself putting any work into the 35 if I can help it, and I've been wanting to trash it for a while.

No but he is posting in OEM tech and listed it as a 90 xj. Only logical conclusion is a turdy-5.

 

[Nik]

Got it back today...looked at the ring and pinion a couple of days ago and they look completely fine. pinion bearing and tooth spacing were still dead on, but the damn thing still makes a really weird sound on decell...almost like a grinding and I can hear the gears almost seating.... doesn't sound any different than when I took it in... parts are fixed...just still sounds odd. They couldn't figure out why it was making the noise either since everything checked out fine.

I hope it holds together for the trip home, and I'm not even sure what to do about it besides a complete rebuild

The guys at the shop were stand up dudes and I wish there were shops around in Denver with the same integrity.

 

[Nik]

its a 35 for those wondering...

 

[joe_peters]

its a 35 for those wondering...

Time for an upgrade to a 8.25 from a salvage yard.

 

[garr]

Got it back today...looked at the ring and pinion a couple of days ago and they look completely fine. pinion bearing and tooth spacing were still dead on, but the damn thing still makes a really weird sound on decell...almost like a grinding and I can hear the gears almost seating.... doesn't sound any different than when I took it in... parts are fixed...just still sounds odd. They couldn't figure out why it was making the noise either since everything checked out fine.

I hope it holds together for the trip home, and I'm not even sure what to do about it besides a complete rebuild

The guys at the shop were stand up dudes and I wish there were shops around in Denver with the same integrity.

I would fill it with Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lube LS 75W-140, Before I started home, The reason being that gears that are not meshing correctly generate lots of heat, The M1 can better deal with the heat than most other gear oils. Plus I would keep it slow & steady (As much as possible).

PS: Don't even waste a nickel on the 35, Just Look for a 29Spline 8.25 (Or a D44 if you can find one) & ditch the 35!

 

[kastein]

X3. Ditch the 35, it'll cost less to buy a junkyard 97+ 8.25 + U-bolts than it will to put new bearings and/or new gears in the 35. It's also something you can do with no special tools rather than a few hundred bucks worth of gear setup tools and skills I wish I had...

 

[themangeraaad]

x4 on losing the 35. Buy a 29 spline 8.25 and call it a day.

Not only is it easier but the 8.25 is also stronger and I have also heard that stock gears are stronger than any aftermarket option. IDK the legitimacy of that statement, but I will make that reference and someone can correct me if I am wrong.

aka just spend the time and money and drop an 8.25 in.... make sure the new axle is a 29 spline before you buy it (aka 97+ as was already mentioned). You will be better off.

 

[Nik]

I appreciate all the help fellas but being my DD I don't want this damn thing to turn into a large project... The end of the story goes that we made it home on the replaced parts I tore everything apart minus taking the ring and pinion out and can't find a damn thing wrong anywhere... the spacing looks fine and there is no abnormal wear on the teeth after 1000 mile trip home...... Drive checks fine and same with the bearings...taking it in to my buddies shop to have it figured out and fixed correctly.


For those opting out of the 35.... I'm really not in the mood to pull it put a different model in and have to pay for another aftermarket gear set(4.10) again plus install.... the cost is not worth it!


Any other thought on what it may be.....before I take it in?

 

[themangeraaad]

For those opting out of the 35.... I'm really not in the mood to pull it put a different model in and have to pay for another aftermarket gear set(4.10) again plus install.... the cost is not worth it!

You can get an axle that will direct swap in with 4.10s if you shop around a bit... car-part.com, search for an XJ rear axle assembly, and do a search based on distance (at least I always do distance). After you do a search it will ask what axle/gear ratio you want.

I just did a quick search up here in MA and found a 29 spline 8.25 with 4.10s pulled for me for $250. Could get it cheaper if you took the time to find one that you could pull yourself (harder to find though)

 

[kastein]

haha, car-part.com.

Half the idiots listing the fact that they have an XJ rearend with 4.10s in it have NO idea if they are right or not. Responses I got ranged from "yeah it probably has 4.10s because it's got a 4.0L engine in it" rolleyes: riiight) to "yeah we'll call you back tomorrow once we check" (never called back, I called them, they had forgotten entirely to check it, said they'd call back again, never did, gave up) to "yeah it turns out it has 3.07s in it, how does 150 bucks sound" to "yeah we have one, 500 bucks"

Unless you count the ring/pinion teeth yourself (or use the shaft turning trick), don't believe a thing a junkyard says about the gear ratio the axle has in it.

 

[themangeraaad]

well yeah, always check yourself... but doesn't change the fact that they can be found at a resonable price, probably cheaper than repairing the 35

 

[kastein]

Oh, definitely. I never advocate fixing a d35, but I understand the issues around major work on a DD... really really glad I don't have to worry about that as much anymore.

That being said, swapping a rear axle is WAY easier than swapping a front axle. I'm pretty sure I could do a rear in 3 hours even including snags, unexpected issues, and bleeding the brakes.

EDIT: btw I wasn't yelling at you or anything, I'm just extremely jaded about car-part and its accuracy after trying to go that route for a few weeks

 

[themangeraaad]

Oh, definitely. I never advocate fixing a d35, but I understand the issues around major work on a DD... really really glad I don't have to worry about that as much anymore.

That being said, swapping a rear axle is WAY easier than swapping a front axle. I'm pretty sure I could do a rear in 3 hours even including snags, unexpected issues, and bleeding the brakes.

EDIT: btw I wasn't yelling at you or anything, I'm just extremely jaded about car-part and its accuracy after trying to go that route for a few weeks

Yup. rear axle is super easy esp if you have a sawzall to just cut the old axle bolts off.

And Iknow you weren't yelling at me :laugh3: I would be skeptical of them too if they screwed me over for a couple weeks.

 

[Nik]

Update....noise is still there after diagnosing again.... I opened up the cover again and on ce again there was no visibly alarming wear. Spun the rear with the DS off and no noise with and open cover. Put the DS back on and went about 50 mph with it up on stands and both of my balsy buddies under the jeep tracked the noise up towards the T-case...I got out and confirmed the thunking to be what I thought was the upper U joint connecting to the T-case... Pulling both U joints apart they didn't look too bad... Put new ones in and the groan is still there on decell.... I guess the last fing thing it could be it the OP shaft bearing or something in the case...this entire ordeal has pissed me off though..... Damn Jeeps...Love them and hate them.

Don't have the funds or time to work that project yet. I have done a few t case rebuilds with SYE/4-1 mods on buddies jeeps but have never come across this issue.