• 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.

What causes ring gear teeth to chip off? Second time this has happened

9

90Pioneer

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
HP D30 with 4.56s and an ARB locker.

A year ago I started hearing a loud rotational noise from the front end. It started happening when I was driving fairly normally on a snowy road. Turns out two of the ring gear teeth had chipped off.

Cost me $650 in parts and labor to get it fixed.


Now less than 1500 miles later I discovered the same thing has happened again, only this time it was 3 teeth.

What could cause this?
 
Bent/flexible housing.
 
If you bent the carrier the first time the new gears are going to break too.
 
Weren't there problems with the ring gear bolts backing out of the ARBs? Can't remember how long ago that was.

I'd lean towards a faulty R&P install.
 
sounds like a problem with setting up the gears. if the pinion is too shallow on the ring gear (only touching the tip of the teeth and not the middle of the teeth) it puts a lot of extra stress on it and kaplooee. However, it can happen when gears are set up properly too. Dana 30s have a small ring gear and a lot of stress on them can make it go boom. faulty ring gear can be another problem.
 
What size tires you running?

The guy that setup my gears last time didn't check the backlash and I ended up stripping about 6 teeth off the ring gear from improper gear meshing. Pinion was probably way too shallow and one hard climb made it go pop-pop-pop.

But yeah, if your housing or something is bent, same deal. Gears seem setup correctly, but it flexes and starts breaking stuff. Mine was under quite a bit of stress with 4.56's, locked ARB, RCV axles and 35's trying to climb a steep rock. Your's shouldn't have just broken for no reason.
 
MoparManiac said:
Weren't there problems with the ring gear bolts backing out of the ARBs? Can't remember how long ago that was.

I'd lean towards a faulty R&P install.
Click to expand...

No,the early ARB carriers had issues with the actual case(2 piece carrier) bolts backing out.
 
Did you engage the ARB with the tires spinning maybe? That's the only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned already... I'd bet on lousy gear setup personally.
 
I run 33" tires....

Did not engage ARB with tires spinning.

The ARB has a small chunk out of it right behind the ring gear also.



Lets pretend the jeep rolled onto it's passenger side. When it flopped back over onto it's tires could that have broken the teeth??
 
90Pioneer said:
Lets pretend the jeep rolled onto it's passenger side. When it flopped back over onto it's tires could that have broken the teeth??
Click to expand...

Only thing i could think of in this scenario is if you were matting it when the tires landed back on the ground

another vote here for faulty R&P setup
 
CumminsJeep said:
sounds like a problem with setting up the gears. if the pinion is too shallow on the ring gear (only touching the tip of the teeth and not the middle of the teeth) it puts a lot of extra stress on it and kaplooee. However, it can happen when gears are set up properly too. Dana 30s have a small ring gear and a lot of stress on them can make it go boom. faulty ring gear can be another problem.
Click to expand...


This
 
sunburned said:
Are you not supposed to do that? I do it all the time.
Click to expand...

I can't even imagine!! Ive had my front ARB's for 10yrs now and would never even consider it.
 
Dunno, it was the only thing I could think of that might cause this other than housing flex or bad setup, my thinking was that the sudden lockup could put a decent amount of extra force on the gears. It's probably also not the best for the locker, figure the spiders are going like mad and suddenly you ram the lockeer sleeve/collar over them all at once, something will wear more than usual careful usage would.

I may misunderstand the inner workings of an arb locker but I'm reasonably certain I have it right... if not, correct me. In any case I'm betting on bad gear setup being at fault.

EDIT: arb says they test their lockers to withstand 20k lock/unlock cycles including harsh wheelspin tests. I still wouldn't do it, it's way harder on the locker than stopping, engaging, and getting on the gas again.
 
Last edited:
Improper break in is also a possible candidate. If the R&P are allowed to get too hot during break in the metal can become brittle. This could easily cause broken teeth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

bridgerx
dana 30 ring gear fail
Replies
8
Views
1K
89Mock
89Mock
C
1999 XJ 4 door lifted on 35s with Dana 44s & extras – under 76K miles
Replies
5
Views
5K
Gjeep
G
W
Rear End Frustration Thread: Chasing the Thump and Bang Gremlins
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
wavingpine11
W
L
blown up lockout and ring gear on a Dana 44?
2 3
Replies
45
Views
3K
jeeperjohn
jeeperjohn
Muddy Beast
Hard acceleration had intermittent bang, now 2nd gear issue
Replies
4
Views
438
BJsJeeps
B
Back
Top