My jeep is out of comission
02-15-2009, 10:10 PM
#12
JK Enthusiast
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: on the banks of the ocmulgee , GA
Posts: 436
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I remember when I was a kid, we used to take our parents' cars and get a wheel goin around a turn. Thought it was cool Those right rears would just go up in smoke. Especially my friend's father's 1970 Chevy Impala with that 300 horse 350. Little did we know then, but learned later on what damage we could have been in the differential area. A standard open differential is designed to let one wheel spin if it looses traction. It's just nuts, I know, but that's how it works. Let that wheel get in some mud or ice and there she goes. What happens inside the differential is another story. The side gears on the axles are twice as large as the little pinion gears that they engage with. When one axle is allowed to spin while the other is held still, those pinion gears spin twice as fast as the side gears on the axles. Although the differential IS designed to do this.....it's not supposed to do it long term. Such as burning tires around turns, or being stuck in the mud trying to get out. Imagine the heat buildup between those pinion gears and pinion shaft. It's tremendous. Piss one of them off, and it locks itself onto the pinion shaft. Now, you have the entire pinion shaft spinning in the carrier. Hardened steel spinning at high speed against cast iron.....with NO type of bearing or bushing. Ouch. Yup, sooner or later, the pinion shaft gets pissed off, too and locks to the carrier. Then, snapperoonty. You need to think back to before you heard any noise. Chances are that when you were "wheeling hard" you wheeled a little too hard with just one wheel spinnin. Hell, if it was mine, I'd try to warranty it and hope their gear man ain't as experienced as I am. LOL He might not know what caused it.
02-15-2009, 11:53 PM
#14
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Oklahoma City,OK
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not really,i will have it back on the road here in a week or so with Rubi 44's front and rear 4.88 gears and C2 gussets,reinforced track bar brackets. i just had to do it sooner than planed. Which works out good for me but not so much for the wife.I do think she's over it by now though.she's to the point she just shakes her head at me now instead of calling me names.
02-15-2009, 11:57 PM
#15
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Oklahoma City,OK
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
02-19-2009, 11:09 AM
#16
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Oklahoma City,OK
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
02-27-2009, 01:23 PM
#17
JK Super Freak
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: NYC, NY
Posts: 1,153
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
03-05-2009, 05:28 PM
#18
JK Enthusiast
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: WATERFORD, PA
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I got that wire today it cost me 
03-05-2009, 06:04 PM
#19
JK Super Freak
I remember when I was a kid, we used to take our parents' cars and get a wheel goin around a turn. Thought it was cool Those right rears would just go up in smoke. Especially my friend's father's 1970 Chevy Impala with that 300 horse 350. Little did we know then, but learned later on what damage we could have been in the differential area. A standard open differential is designed to let one wheel spin if it looses traction. It's just nuts, I know, but that's how it works. Let that wheel get in some mud or ice and there she goes. What happens inside the differential is another story. The side gears on the axles are twice as large as the little pinion gears that they engage with. When one axle is allowed to spin while the other is held still, those pinion gears spin twice as fast as the side gears on the axles. Although the differential IS designed to do this.....it's not supposed to do it long term. Such as burning tires around turns, or being stuck in the mud trying to get out. Imagine the heat buildup between those pinion gears and pinion shaft. It's tremendous. Piss one of them off, and it locks itself onto the pinion shaft. Now, you have the entire pinion shaft spinning in the carrier. Hardened steel spinning at high speed against cast iron.....with NO type of bearing or bushing. Ouch. Yup, sooner or later, the pinion shaft gets pissed off, too and locks to the carrier. Then, snapperoonty. You need to think back to before you heard any noise. Chances are that when you were "wheeling hard" you wheeled a little too hard with just one wheel spinnin. Hell, if it was mine, I'd try to warranty it and hope their gear man ain't as experienced as I am. LOL He might not know what caused it.
question...could this have began with the initial problem as well, getting water in the diff? If it fried a bearing, maybe it started seizing the pinion shaft then too and just took a little time to go? Good case in point though for everyone to follow their owners manuals and change diff fluid if you've forded recently with potential for water to have gotten in there.
03-05-2009, 06:07 PM
#20
wow...nice answer question...could this have began with the initial problem as well, getting water in the diff? If it fried a bearing, maybe it started seizing the pinion shaft then too and just took a little time to go?
Good case in point though for everyone to follow their owners manuals and change diff fluid if you've forded recently with potential for water to have gotten in there.
question...could this have began with the initial problem as well, getting water in the diff? If it fried a bearing, maybe it started seizing the pinion shaft then too and just took a little time to go? Good case in point though for everyone to follow their owners manuals and change diff fluid if you've forded recently with potential for water to have gotten in there.