Dana 35 Carrier Replacement

S

scarymoose

New Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2023
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Location
Oregon USA
Hey Guys,

I have a 1993 Wrangler and the rear diff totally blew up on me. LSD Carrier split into pieces and some of those pieces got chewed by some gears. The pinion has a slight gouge on one tooth but otherwise looks fine. Ring gear looks fine too. 3.55 ratio.

Looks like my options are rebuild or replace. the 3.55 ratio i dont think is stock so it may be hard to find a direct bolt up axle. I dont have a welder and do not want to fabricate anything.

For a rebuild, it seems the hardest thing is setting the pinion preload and shimming the carrier.

1. If i reuse the Ring and pinion, this should eliminate the hardest part correct? How bad is my pinion?

2. Could i use a used carrier + bearings (common on ebay) with the current ring gear and be ok?

3. How would i figure out the correct shim setup with new/used carrier + bearings

4. Would any of the metal shavings effect any other components in the system?

Anything would help thanks

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3.55 was stock, shows right on the tag.

I think what happened is you had a pinion bearing failure that let the pinion to work it's way down into the carrier which chewed the carrier and then eventually the whole thing blew up.

Personally, as much as it sucks, I would not want to reuse that gearset. I see multiple signs of damage on the pinion. Maybe it would work fine, maybe not.

If you did reuse, you would remove the pinion, remove the pressed on pinion bearing (reuse factory pinion shim), press on new inner pinion bearing, replace the inner and outer pinion races, install new crush sleeve, drop in a new outer bearing, new seal, then install the yoke and tighten the nut until the crush sleeve crushes enough for the rotational torque to be in spec when measured with a beam style torque wrench. 15-20 inch pounds.

Since the carrier blew, you would need to get a new carrier, move the ring gear over, try shimming it with the same amount of shim as you had before but would very possible need a shim kit to mess with it and get the backlash in spec and to get the pattern to where it should be - aka meshing at the old mesh point.

The difference between reusing old gears vs getting new will basically be setting up pinion depth. You're going to have to start with a whole new carrier and shim it appropriately, it would probably be easier to just get a new gearset. But, based on the questions I'm going to guess you don't have the tools to do this work, which includes a press, dial indicator, beam style torque wrench, a caliper, and ideally a clamshell bearing puller.

Probably would want to install some new wheel bearings and seals, they are cheap and theycould have gotten metallic debris in them.
 
Great reply,

Im guessing a quick way to check the pinion bearing is for axial/radial slop? I think it felt pretty solid in there, as for the chewing i thought i had a clutch issue and was driving the car back and forth a few feet and it could have gotten chewed up during that.

As for some of the tools i have access to some via my work.

I hear getting the pinion crush washer to start is a nightmare, like 150 ft lbs or something. Is this accurate?

Maybe a used replacement axle could work too?
 
Usually pinion bearing slop is measured as in and out. The reason I say usually pinion bearings are the cause for chewing of the carrier, is because the pinion can’t reach the carrier otherwise. The carrier is where it is and it’s pretty much impossible for it to move any closer to the pinion. The pinion however, could move down towards the carrier if the pinion nut came loose, if bearings wore out, etc. So that’s why I suggest that.

Typically the crush washer requires holding the yoke with a yoke wrench or pipe wrench, and then slowly tightening the nut a bit at a time, stopping to measure the rotational force required to turn the pinion. That’s what you use the beam torque wrench for. Yes, to get the sleeve to start crushing, it usually takes some significant effort. The process shouldn’t really be “hard” though, you just go until it’s right without going too far. If you go too far, buy another crush sleeve and seal and start over.
 
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