About to sell it after this!

Well unless i can come up with a not to spendy fix..... this is it for the jeep.

I just replaced the motor this past summer, cooling system, water pump, alternator starter, battery pretty much every damn thing under the hood. I rebuilt the tranny and transfer case 10k miles ago. This past march I blew up the spider gears limping into Las Vegas where those were replaced.. 4k miles later..... I was making a u turn in my neighborhood the other evening when i heard a LOUD pop when i let the clutch out in first gear. since then a very prominent loud pop is coming from the rear end.... drove it home 45 miles expecting the rear end to blow out the cover getting a violent pop every 3 second and even more so under corners... in the lower gears coming away from a stop sign it sounds like the drive train is going to crack out from under the jeep....only happens under acceleration though.

My guess the spiders are blown again, might have came apart and jacked the ring and pinion up too. I have not had time to open it up yet, but this has put me over the edge with the Jeep. I love the thing but am so sick of it braking time and time again...I know it has about 300k on it, but has been maintained rigorously since i purchased it.

The axle is a open d35 with 4.56 gears on 33's. I no longer do much advanced trail driving but do go camping, and live in the mountains in 4wd almost all the time. However since the spiders were replaced i have not used 4wd once.

ANYWAYS: Here is my question.... If I sell it I won't get dick for it with a blown rear(90xj)...or even if it were fixed.....however i do not want to drop a ton into it to get her going again. I'd replace the gears myself but do not have experience with getting the lap correct and would leave it to someone who knew what they are doing. Thought about spooling it but that stupidity in a d35.

option one.... try to figure out where i can find a rear end that would be an easy swap with the same wheel lug pattern and 4.56's in it for cheap....and where in Colorado....and keep it

option two: sell it as is

option three: Pull the motor/wheels/ARB bumpers/winch and try to part sell that crap and tow it down to the scrap yard.



WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS DO???

HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT FIXING IT

find an 8.25 or 44, 8.25 will be probably be easier, get it geared and be done.

I knew that would be one of the first bits of advise I'd get.....R&P + install will be about 500 bucks locally around here...+ axle cost+ misc bearings/brakes..... I bet I could sell it for maybe 1500 fixed.... 500-800 broken here in CO in this economy.

I can't even give away a big screen tv for god sakes


If anyone on here is located in CO and has something like this sitting around please let me know or shoot an email at [email protected]

junkyards have been very unhelpful.

My last resort is FNJeep in the springs

Should never have put more money into the d35 the first time... but hey, gotta do what you gotta do.

I would put an 8.25 from a 97 or later into it, pull the front driveshaft till you have money to regear it. You won't blow up an 8.25 with 33s, especially open, hell I've been thrashing mine for some time on 33s and it's probably 27 spline and hasn't blown up yet.

There are a whole bunch of good guys in the Colorado Chapter. Check the classifieds forum there and see if anyone's selling anything.

i hear you there.... bought it with the gears in the 35 otherwise i would not have done it that way...did not think it would be an issue being a DD camping/snowboarding vehicle.

I take it the 8.25 has the same bolt patter/wheel...guess it comes down to finding one...

btw...its snowing right now...so no front DS is an option....and that brings up the fact the disco up front is going out, and the two pieceaxle needs to be replaced with a single solid front.... i

is it your DD?

if so I would pull the rear shaft and drive it in 4wd(or Front wheel drive)
untill you can find a new axle.

if u want the cheapest fix possible go to a jy and get the spider gears from another d35 and put them in yours its easy as all hell to do

EDIT: he cant just pull the rear shaft if hes still on the slip yoke all his t case fluid will come out on the road

just read you next post.

if your frint axle is going bad too then just swap in two axles from an auto. youll get 3.55s which is doable with 33s in a 5spd. I did it like that for a year or so.

it will be much cheaper

thanks for the help fellas.... i guess i need to open it up to see if its just the spiders or not first..... I won't be swapping two axles for the case of one though and getting rid of the current ratio. Its either back to the current setup for cheap or I'm selling it.... really leaning towards the selling portion The only downside of my truck is fuel economy...ten years newer and much more reliable.

X2. It'll suck a bit, hell, I'm running 3.55s 33s on an auto, but it'll keep you rolling.

An 8.25 out of an XJ is indeed the same bolt pattern - in fact all you need to swap it in is new U-bolts and maybe new U-bolt plates. Get one out of a 97 or later XJ with a 4.0 and an auto and it should have 3.55s, get the front axle at the same time and you will get a non disco high pinion d30 (if it's a 97-99 anyways) with 3.55s as well, with 297/760 size U-joints.

got yah.... i do tow sleds and bikes with it quite often, going up 70 usually require 4th gear pinned around 9000ft alt...can't imagine 3.55's and trying to do that....But to get me rolling again it is an easy swap.

I'm really trying weight the pros and cons to fixing this thing.... as well as the cost of fixing vs the cost of selling....

people bash these D35's, but the truth is, 33's are fine if you arent bouncing it off rock walls at moab.

The weak link seems to be those spiders. You might consider getting a detroit truetrak for 4-500 new and keep your gears. they are on CL for about 300 used.

You'll be into it 500-800, and be set up pretty well.

I went the detroit route on a D35, never had an issue again. I ran 33's on it pulling tandem axle trailers full of firewood from the mountains.

Its a fine rear end, but like anything, it has limitations. 8.25 shafts are marginally larger than a D35, and gears/lockers for them are insanely expensive. easily twice what D35 and D44 parts cost.


theres always more than 1 way to skin a cat...

why would you swap out both axles and go from 4.56s to 3.55s, that is just stupid

Thanks for that info... I do tow a 16x8x8 trailer during the summer locally to the track with two race bikes in it. Use the truck for long hauls and out of state races.... If the 4.56's were not in it towing the trailer would be unfeasible. I will look into the locker.... How hard is the install? Something I can do myself?

I will know more when i open the cover and find the damage.... if the R&P are still good i might go that route...

Like I said earlier I do all my own mechanical work but do not have any experience with the diffs. I had a spool in the front 44 on my old jeep and left the 60 open in the rear.

I want to say thanks for all the quick replies...this is an awesome site!

1990heepxj said:

why would you swap out both axles and go from 4.56s to 3.55s, that is just stupid

Click to expand...

I agree

gears are a funnny thing. how difficult the install is, really depends on your housing.

to truly do them correctly, you'll need expensive tools that you dont have.
I would take it in and spend the 300 bucks to have a pro shop set them up, then you also have a warranty if they start howling.

theres lots of axles out there with gears in them, but if they werent set up correctly, you'll be looking for new axles within 20k miles.

another thing to consider, Ive got a D35 lockright that was in for about 5k miles.
I could get it to you for 150+ shipping, but new ones can be had for about $260.

Ive never run a lockright in a D35, but I would imagine it'd be fine because you were losing the spider/sun gears.

Cool thing about lockrights, you dont need to remove anything other than you spiders to install it.

I'm going to keep that in mind might be giving you a call here after I open it up and see what the damage is.... if its just the spiders, then I may go that route.

the rear end is out of a 90 xj.... are lock rights compatible with all year d35's. Not too familiar with axle combos but I remember the shop saying it was a c clip rear

moneypit_k5 said:

people bash these D35's, but the truth is, 33's are fine if you arent bouncing it off rock walls at moab.

The weak link seems to be those spiders. You might consider getting a detroit truetrak for 4-500 new and keep your gears. they are on CL for about 300 used.

You'll be into it 500-800, and be set up pretty well.

I went the detroit route on a D35, never had an issue again. I ran 33's on it pulling tandem axle trailers full of firewood from the mountains.

Its a fine rear end, but like anything, it has limitations. 8.25 shafts are marginally larger than a D35, and gears/lockers for them are insanely expensive. easily twice what D35 and D44 parts cost.


theres always more than 1 way to skin a cat...

Click to expand...

Another d35 lover... :sure:

He's already blown up the d35 *twice* now, not wheeling, as I recall. I.e. on the street.

Here's a budget for swapping in a 29 spline 8.25 with 4.56s:
* 50-100 bucks - axle with stock gears, brakes, everything. Colorado Chapter Classifieds.
* 50 bucks - brake fluid, random hand tools you might not own yet
* 50 bucks - U-bolts (heck, I have a spare set of 8.25 bolts. I will mail them to you for 20 including shipping. I got them free brand new with a jeep I bought a while ago that is not going to have an 8.25 in it.)
* Nitro 4.56 R&P, $245
* Master Install Kit, $85
* install - depending on who you know, will cost anywhere from a case of beer to 500 dollars

I count $530 plus install costs, shop around on gear setup. I'm fairly certain there is a place near me that charges $150 if you bring them the axle not in the vehicle.

Again, you are already blowing up spiders in the d35 open. Locking it is a death warrant. On the d35 EVERYTHING is weak - housing, tubes, spiders, shafts, ring and pinion, you name it. On an 8.25, the sturdier housing keeps the R&P from dying as much even with the 27 spline shafts.

1990heepxj said:

why would you swap out both axles and go from 4.56s to 3.55s, that is just stupid

Click to expand...

Only reason would be to limp along till money is available to regear.

PS - if you take a pattern before pulling the gears out of the old d30, you can set them back up in the new d30 (as long as it's a high pinion one) with only new bearings and shims. Also, you can convert the disco front to a non disco front using 1 seal, a block-off plate, and a stock non disco passenger side shaft that you can get for 30 bucks with the outer shaft and unit bearing at a junkyard, so if you don't want to, you don't have to think about swapping front axles.

once again thanks for the advise! This seems to be a much larger issue with the 35 than I expected... I did not have any of these issues with my old trail jeep axle combo I had.