Irb Digital
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Florida
I have a Ford 9 inch out of a old Bronco. It had a slow leak around the pinion seal area. I decided to take it apart and noticed that the ring and pinion had a lot of wear and the "detroit" locker was really just a terrible weld job that was starting to crack. So I removed it from My XJ and then took it to a local Trans/Driveshaft shop and told them to fix it. They told me the only thing left that was good was the housing. Which is when I decided, instead of just an overhaul, lets make it strong for offroading. So he suggested Grizzly Locker, Yukon 31 spline axles, new ring/pinion gear (4.86), new case, etc.... basically everything except the housing itself. They complete the overhaul and I pay them ~$2100 for the job. Before I take it home, we inspect it. It was all sealed up and I let him know I'm happy with the way it looks. So I load it up in my trailer and take it home for install. Only showstopper during the install was the shop removed the brake lines and forgot to re-install them. Since he's not open on saturdays, I just dropped by the local auto shop and bought some new brake lines and install them myself. So finally the moment of truth. I take the XJ for a spin and its riding awesome. It's quiet, smooth and riding better than I could ever remember. Well after driving about 5 miles, I notice a sudden loss of power. I thought it was the engine, since it's been a few months since its been driven. So I let off at about 60mph and coast down to 40 ish, to try to assess whats going on and then BOOM, rear locks up. It was a scary situation as it fishtailed pretty wildly before it came to a stop, but I managed to get it just out of the lane. For a moment I was thinking brakes since I just put on those new lines, but after seeing smoke coming out of the case, I knew what it was. I had a buddy come drage me off the shoulder into the grass and I had a tow truck drop the truck and I off back home. Later on I unscrewed the fill plug and confirmed there was no fluid in there. Only good news is, nothing appeared broken from the small fill hole, but I'd wager that I won't be so lucky when it's all said and done. First and foremost, I know I should've checked first. I would've saved myself a lot of heartache and (assuming at this point) money, if I would've checked for fluid, instead of assuming it was already filled. However am I wrong for thinking they should've filled the unit with the proper fluid, or at least mentioned to me that it needs fluid? I'm certain they are going to try to put it all on me, but is it standard practice not to put the proper fluid in an overhauled rear end thats been torqued down and sealed? I don't understand why this wouldn't be any different if I took it to them installed on a vehicle. I'm going to leave it all together because I'm sure they are going to want to inspect it, only thing I touched was the fill plug. I'll be calling them on Monday to tell them the news. I feel at a minimum they should give me the replacement parts at there cost, and I shouldn't have to pay for labor. It sucks knowing that I probably just threw $2k down the drain and with my luck it won't be just something simple like bearings welded to the pinion shaft. So, how do you guys think I should go about handling this?
Edit. I was able to remove the carrier and verified the pinion bearings were the problem. They got too hot and fused with the pinion. I saw very little shavings mixed in with a small amount of oil in the housing. Only visual damage I see is some wear on the pinion gear. Everything else looks and operates as normal. It still smells like hell
Edit. I was able to remove the carrier and verified the pinion bearings were the problem. They got too hot and fused with the pinion. I saw very little shavings mixed in with a small amount of oil in the housing. Only visual damage I see is some wear on the pinion gear. Everything else looks and operates as normal. It still smells like hell
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