Bad day...

[Saints&Sailors]

We were on a trip up in far northern California and we started getting some clunking. Pulled over, thought it was the front drive shaft so I removed it. 50 feet later we still had clunking so I pulled the rear DS and reinstalled the front DS. It got better for a bit but would get some bad clanking when turning right on the freeway. Upon getting home, I was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. Finally, today, I cracked open the rear differential...

And boom goes the D35... One tooth sheared off in the first two photos, three more teeth sheared off in the bottom of the final one.

 

[Michael]

A

We were on a trip up in far northern California and we started getting some clunking. Pulled over, thought it was the front drive shaft so I removed it. 50 feet later we still had clunking so I pulled the rear DS and reinstalled the front DS. It got better for a bit but would get some bad clanking when turning right on the freeway. Upon getting home, I was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. Finally, today, I cracked open the rear differential...

And boom goes the D35... One tooth sheared off in the first two photos, three more teeth sheared off in the bottom of the final one.

View attachment 39307 View attachment 39308 View attachment 39309

Awe man! Sorry about that! At least you got home!

 

[Murphy Slaw]

Yep, getting home is a major PLUS...

 

[Saints&Sailors]

Yeah, we were super fortunate - especially that this didn't happen off-road in some remote area. Now I've gotta figure out what to do next. Part of me feels like this is the last straw in a series of problems I've been battling and it's time to sell and get something newer. Other part of me feels like I can maybe cobble this back together for just a new ring and pinion + master install kit. Although, diff work is far beyond my monkey wrenching abilities so labor will be pricey.

Anyone recommend any shops in the bay area that do good diff work? This was a set of 4.56 gears that I had professionally installed previously so I'm not terribly happy to have had them fail.

To top it all off, I hate the smell of gear oil. Ugh! Now I have this to associate with the smell too, haha.

 

[Saints&Sailors]

I also still can't find the four gears - my best guess is that they got obliterated by the R&P... I'll recheck the gear oil today. I'm going to patch it back together today (I park on the street so I'm pulling the rear DS so I can at least limp it around to avoid street sweeping tickets). FWD Jeeps are all the rage...

 

[jeepnjeff]

You probably have some small pieces in the oil. Who made the gears?

Since you're going to keep the same ratio it probably won't need shimming. You'll need a press and bearing pullers if you try it yourself. I'd call speed shops in the area and not 4wheel Parts Wholesale, they will really charge you an arm and a leg. Also you might want to see if they will give you a discount if you strip the axle and pull the shafts. It's easier for them to do the setup on a bench and not have to dedicate lift.

 

[4wheelspulling]

I would stop putting money into the D35. Find a Ford 8.8 in a 95'- up Explorer or Mountaineer, with disk brakes in a junk yard for cheap. Have it built up like you want, Yukon has a set of axle shafts that do away with c-clips. I had this done in my 95' Jeep Cherokee. With the Yukon axle kit, axle came out same length as stock d35. Without kit you can run 1-1/2" spacers to be at the same length. And did I say you can have disk brakes? Keep your YJ! Just fix one of the known weak points, and upgrade to disk brakes at the same time! Benz.

 

[Saints&Sailors]

They were Yukon gears. I don't think this is a job I'll be able to do myself since it is beyond my technical abilities to rebuild the axle/diff. Looking online, parts for a R&P + master install kit with bearings and seals are under $300. Labor will be the big hitter on this so any shops in the SF area that people recommend for differential work would be greatly appreciated.

Swapping axles when you park on the street isn't an easy task so, while I appreciate the suggestions of a Ford 8.8 (my brother went this route with his '98 TJ), it's not really a feasible option for me.

When I went to transfer the old gear oil in bottles for recycling, I couldn't find any large metal chunks. Just slivers and tiny shavings. The teeth must've been crushed into a fine dust which was then suspending in the gear oil. The gear oil only had a few thousand miles on it but it came out black and full of metal. Lovely...

 

[JDGreens]

I agree Ford 8.8 is a great up-grade and you can probably find one with the correct gearing limited slip disk brakes to boot!

 

[Overland California]

Install in the Bay Area will run you about $300. $600 is a lot cheaper than selling and buying a new vehicle.

As others have said, you can also go with a Ford 8.8 but chances are you’ll still need a refresh of seals and bearings, brakes, and c-clip eliminator. It’s a good time to decide what you want to sink your money into.

You’ll also probably need to fix that D35 before you sell it or you’ll take a bigger hit in the sale.

No matter which route you go, I’d highly recommend Rear End Specialties in Santa Clara. They specialize is off road and race rigs and can have you done in less than a day. http://www.rearendspecialties.com/

 

[jeepnjeff]

Maybe people aren't seeing the specs in the signature. The 8.8 discussion should have happened before investing in the D35. He's got a lot in it already. Fixing it is going to be cheaper and allow him to sell it if that's what he want to do. Or sell just the axle once it's fixed.

To get a 8.8 under a TJ isn't going to be cheap. A Detroit for a 8.8 is going to be $700 and a bracket set is around $350. Spacers $200, E-clip eliminators $150, new driveshaft, etc... and you haven't even priced the axle which would need gears as well. The lowest gears on the Explorer was 4.10's. The Ranger XLT has 4.56's but they were only available with drums.

I'd estimate fixing the D35c would cost around $500-700 depending on the gears and labor cost.

Getting back to the gears though. How old are they? Looks like the pattern is running off the heel on the drive side. I'd send an email to Yukon with the pics and see what they think.

 

[Saints&Sailors]

Maybe people aren't seeing the specs in the signature. The 8.8 discussion should have happened before investing in the D35. He's got a lot in it already. Fixing it is going to be cheaper and allow him to sell it if that's what he want to do. Or sell just the axle once it's fixed.

To get a 8.8 under a TJ isn't going to be cheap. A Detroit for a 8.8 is going to be $700 and a bracket set is around $350. Spacers $200, E-clip eliminators $150, new driveshaft, etc... and you haven't even priced the axle which would need gears as well. The lowest gears on the Explorer was 4.10's. The Ranger XLT has 4.56's but they were only available with drums.

I'd estimate fixing the D35c would cost around $500-700 depending on the gears and labor cost.

Getting back to the gears though. How old are they? Looks like the pattern is running off the heel on the drive side. I'd send an email to Yukon with the pics and see what they think.

Normally, I would've reached out the part manufacturer but I've had these gears in there for over a decade now (maybe 60k miles) so I'm sure they're not under warranty anymore. At this point, I'll probably end up fixing it. I've heard other people mention Rearend Specialties in Santa Clara before so I might give them a call in a week or so and see what my options are.

I priced out getting a Ford 8.8 built by East Coast Gear Supply and it was going to be over two grand before installation. Not worth it at this point, in my opinion. If there were only 30k miles on my Jeep, I'd consider it, but I'd still have to figure out where I'd be able to do the work since I don't have the space to tear apart the rear end. Not an ideal scenario.

 

[Sparky]

I second Rearend Specialties, only place I'd go.

 

[shwane]

I'd estimate fixing the D35c would cost around $500-700 depending on the gears and labor cost.

Spot on

Looks like the pattern is running off the heel on the drive side

Agreed. It doesn't look like the pinion depth was set correctly.

This was a set of 4.56 gears that I had professionally installed previously so I'm not terribly happy to have had them fail.

How long ago? Warranty? I would at the very least call them and alert them to suspicions of shallow pinion depth.

 

[4wheelspulling]

Maybe people aren't seeing the specs in the signature. The 8.8 discussion should have happened before investing in the D35. He's got a lot in it already. Fixing it is going to be cheaper and allow him to sell it if that's what he want to do. Or sell just the axle once it's fixed.

To get a 8.8 under a TJ isn't going to be cheap. A Detroit for a 8.8 is going to be $700 and a bracket set is around $350. Spacers $200, E-clip eliminators $150, new driveshaft, etc... and you haven't even priced the axle which would need gears as well. The lowest gears on the Explorer was 4.10's. The Ranger XLT has 4.56's but they were only available with drums.

I'd estimate fixing the D35c would cost around $500-700 depending on the gears and labor cost.

Getting back to the gears though. How old are they? Looks like the pattern is running off the heel on the drive side. I'd send an email to Yukon with the pics and see what they think.

The 8.8 axle I bought for $200. New Ox air locker, $775. Yukon rebuild kit with bearing seals the works, $175. New forged Yukon gears, $245.Yukon chromoly axle shafts with c-clip eliminator $495. Spicer yoke $45. Did not have to anything to drive shaft with new yoke. Install complete road ready, $495. That's just a little over $2000. All said and done, for basically a new axle. Yes, I did read what the OP wrote. Fixing what he has right is cheaper than buying a new Jeep! He asked for ideas and options, that is what I gave him. I bet you he will find more wrong then just gears and locker. I bet it will be bearings too. He will have close to half or more by the time he pays someone to fix it, parts and everything trying to fix a d35 than going with a permanent fix that will last. Even resale on the Jeep if it is fixed right, the Jeep will sell better and he can recouped the money spent to fix it right. Benz.

 

[jeepnjeff]

Hey, sorry if it sounded like I was singling you out. It wasn’t my intention at all. I was making a more general statement while not quoting anyone. The OP did say,

while I appreciate the suggestions of a Ford 8.8 (my brother went this route with his '98 TJ), it's not really a feasible option for me.

Hopefully, the OP will be able to get his Jeep back on the road though.

 

[Saints&Sailors]

Closing the loop on this. I ended up going down to Rearend Specialties in Santa Clara, CA and had a new ring and pinion installed. They had it done in a day. The manager there informed me that whoever setup my gears had no idea what they were doing (I paid an off-road shop in Chicago named "Attitude Performance" to setup my 4.56 Yukon gears). Apparently they used the wrong shims so the whole carrier was moving around inside the housing. Rearend Specialities couldn't believe the gears lasted as long as they did. My brother had his gears crap out on him about 18 months ago too which he also had installed at Attitude Performance which was also the result of shoddy work. So that's swell.

Ultimately, the repair option was far cheaper and faster than the replace option given my constraints and timeline. As much as I would've loved to change out to something better than the Dana 35, it works for me and sticking with it saved me well over a grand which tipped the cost-benefit analysis given the circumstances.

Thanks to everyone for the input. Once I'm through the break-in period, I hope to see everyone out on the trails.

 

[jeepnjeff]

Congrats on getting it fixed.

If I may ask, how much did it cost?

 

[Saints&Sailors]

Congrats on getting it fixed.

If I may ask, how much did it cost?

I don't mind at all. $854 out the door with taxes and everything. Labor was $375 (they originally quoted me $450), parts were $440 (includes OEM 4.56 R&P for $280, $100 for diff bearings, $30 for new axle bearing/seal, and $20 for two quarts of gear oil). Turned out one of my axles were bent so it was causing the seal to leak on the driver's side. I had spare shafts sitting in my garage so they were free - luckily I remembered to throw them in the Jeep before heading to the shop. The axles should be under warranty though. The leaking axle seal was a separate issue I had been meaning to get around to but it was intermittent.

 

[jeepnjeff]

That's not too bad. Spicer gears are more money but are good quality.