What would you do?

[ChrisD]

That sucks! Ryan, I have a set of pinion setup bearings that I have used to setup my HP44, XJ44, and Rubi44. Please let me know if you decide to setup the gears yourself.

holly smokes dude, you're alive!

[ChrisD]

i think it's time to invest in one of these to set pinion preload properly: any other recommendations?

probably also need one of these to accurately set the pinion nut, mine only goes to 100 ft-lbs:

You are better off sending it to Lou.. Not only will he stand by his work (wheeled or not), but will save you a TON of time. IMO Gear setup for the backyard mechanic is not a 1-2 day thing.

[Baseshakers]

Thanks for all the advice and offers guys! I'll get a quote from Lou, but I think it's time to learn. I've done at lot of carrier setups, so it's really just getting the pinion figured out. Hopefully I read the markings on the old and new pinions, swap some shims and the pattern comes out great the first time. Even if it doesn't, I bet I can figure it out. I can do a carrier swap and backlash tuning in an afternoon, so if I plan a whole weekend I should be ok.

[mark2215]

I'm going up in tire size soon and will be swapping gears too. I'm also planning on doing it myself. I've done everything else myself so it's time to learn how to set gears. I have most of the tools needed just need to get the dial torque wrench. It's not my daily driver so if it takes me a week to get it correct that's fine by me. Maybe someone with previous experience can get together with us and guide us through the first setup.

[Baseshakers]

Sounds good to me. The only date that works for me is Saturday the 21st. This is all pending the result of my phone call on Monday of course, but I have a good idea what they're gonna say. Let you know!

[Baseshakers]

So they're taking another look at it on Thursday morning, let you know the outcome of that.

[norstar]

That sucks! Ryan, I have a set of pinion setup bearings that I have used to setup my HP44, XJ44, and Rubi44. Please let me know if you decide to setup the gears yourself.

holly smokes dude, you're alive!

I'm just spending more time with my boys. Hopefully I'll be able to do a couple of runs this year.

[norstar]

So they're taking another look at it on Thursday morning, let you know the outcome of that.

If they wouldn't back their work, see if you can get them to cover at least a set of new gears and do the installation yourself.

[DDewar53]

they won't cover anything that's been offroad, so the warranty isn't worth a thing.

the pinion has some play up and down and in and out, at least a few thousandths. the bearings are most likely shot. the ring gear is showing excessive wear in some locations as if it's worn through the hard outer section, so mitchell doesn't think it will last long and therefore it needs a new set of gears.

the DS was shortened and rebuilt by them at the same time as i got the axle. the theory is that the DS being out of balance cause excessive up and down stress/vibration on the pinion bearings, which over time wore them out. even in 2WD the DS is still spinning at speed, so the lack of balance can still cause the problem.

thanks doug! every little bit helps. (and that's more than a little bit!)

If their theory is that the out of balance driveshaft caused the problem, and THEY shortened and balanced the driveshaft, then it makes no difference whether you offroaded it or not. Their theory is that THEY caused the problem, and they're not going to cover the damage that THEY caused? That's wrong in so many ways I can't begin to find the words for it - especially in a family forum

[IronTortoise]

I am actually having a similar issue with my front diff right now. I have my guy at Pauls transmission in Hingham checking it out for me now. I also had some significant movement in my front pinion that I noticed in a post wheeling inspection I did after Raucsh. If you want to talk to my guy, Bob Tocchio, I can put you in touch with him. He has always treated me really well.

[Frank]

Just a question ? Are all D-30s in your front ends H.P. ? Dont they run on the back side of the ring (rotation) when going forward ? Can a rev. rotation gear set be installed ? Any one make them ? Maybe thats the issue with all the tall gearing and 4x1s we run, maybe thats the problem. Look into it ! J.M.O. FjR68

[ZAEDOCK]

Reverse spiral axles are slightly stronger than a standard axle when used up front. They run on the "drive" side, as opposed to the "coast" side on a standard low pinion.

All TJ's came with low pinion Dana 30's, but Ryan has a custom HP Dana 44.

[Baseshakers]

so i'm sitting here waiting at mitchell. just took a look at everything. ring gear has worn through the hardness on just a few teeth, and the pinion looks fine. that being said, since the hardness is worn through those teeth could blow easily, so a new gear set is recommended. "working out the numbers now" so we'll see. they could not figure out what happened, all the bearings look fine.

[DOUG]

so i'm sitting here waiting at mitchell. just took a look at everything. ring gear has worn through the hardness on just a few teeth, and the pinion looks fine. that being said, since the hardness is worn through those teeth could blow easily, so a new gear set is recommended. "working out the numbers now" so we'll see. they could not figure out what happened, all the bearings look fine.

Good luck Ryan!!!

[del_TJ]

ring gear has worn through the hardness on just a few teeth, and the pinion looks fine. that being said, since the hardness is worn through those teeth could blow easily, so a new gear set is recommended. "working out the numbers now" so we'll see. they could not figure out what happened, all the bearings look fine.

Could the wear in the teeth alone result in the that much pinion movement?

And can you get a new ring an pinion under warranty if those are the only things that look bad?