Rear axle/ring & pinion concerns...d44

So my rear axle (XJ D44) has been droning pretty loudly for some time now...finally just decided to pull the cover and get down to business...

the following video is with the jeep's tcase in neutral and all tires on the ground...im not sure what to make of this excess play. also note the locker doesnt always engage properly when off or onroad..not sure if that has anything to do with it. the gears are not new, were installed in July and wheeled and daily driven since then...not abused by any stretch of the word. the locker in there is a Powertrax No-slip.

http://heavymetal.arlojeep.com/pinionplay.wmv


also some pics, not sure if the wear pattern is apparent or not...the pics are left big for a reason.

Looks toasted.

Pattern is horrible.

Pinion Bearings went out and killed your gear set.:explosion



Rebuild!

To me it looks like your rear diff is set-up wrong. Wrong pinion depth and backlash. It looks like it is time for new gears and it to be properly set-up this time. The bearings should definitely be replaced also.

XJRubicon said:

Looks toasted.

Pattern is horrible.

Pinion Bearings went out and killed your gear set.:explosion



Rebuild!

Click to expand...

If the pinion bearings fail it causes the pinipn to be pulled into the carrier. It looks like the pinnin wasn't shimmed out far enough and was riding on the outer parts of the ring gear.

TNT said:

The bearings should DEFINITELY be replaced also.

Click to expand...

fixed it for ya.

definitely looks like a bad pattern and like it was either setup incorrectly, or one of the bearings went out on ya.

I have been talking to heavy about this and i thought that the pinion nut backed off somehow and made the pinion dig into the ring gear. Im reading the pattern that its to the heel of the ring gear but it doesnt look too deep or shallow to me.

scorpio_vette said:

fixed it for ya.

definitely looks like a bad pattern and like it was either setup incorrectly, or one of the bearings went out on ya.

Click to expand...

Correction made.:cheers:

CROSBIKE said:

I have been talking to heavy about this and i thought that the pinion nut backed off somehow and made the pinion dig into the ring gear. Im reading the pattern that its to the heel of the ring gear but it doesnt look too deep or shallow to me.

Click to expand...

Too shallow with too much backlash will cause heel wear.

I just enjoy the fact that you caught the grey drop of oil mid-fall in the second picture.

did you have a shop install the gears??? if so, i would remove the axle (or drive it there if it's only a couple miles) and take it in to show them. if it's a bearing failure, then they probably won't cover parts warranty. but if it was setup failure, then they "should" owe you big time.

it wasnt a shop unfortunatly...it was a friend in my club

thanks everyone for the input thus far