Can I just replace my spider gears?

[BoPaul]

My spider gears are toast. I don't have thousands to throw at it, would I be able to change just the spider gears or is there more problems going on. Its not a daily driver and when I do drive it, it's only about 20 miles round trip

 

[tr21triton]

mine were the same. i just replaced the spider gears with a yukon kit. plan on draining it after a year and rechecking them. ordered kit from amazon it was around $100 and took about 3 hours to swap out IIRC, not real hard to do !

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Easy, no gear setup required for the spider gears. I'd run a conventional GL-5 gear lube for the new gears and for the it next gear lube change too to help reduce the heat while they work harden together.

 

[CharlesHS]

While changing the spider gears would be easy process; you will need to THOROUGHLY clean (spray out) the inside of the housing, the gear set and bearing/races with BrakeKleen or similar product to ensure more damage does not occur.
You need to do a thorough examination of the axles splines and carrier housing since there is a question you need to ask yourself;
WHAT caused this to happen ?

 

[BoPaul]

While changing the spider gears would be easy process; you will need to THOROUGHLY clean (spray out) the inside of the housing, the gear set and bearing/races with BrakeKleen or similar product to ensure more damage does not occur.
You need to do a thorough examination of the axles splines and carrier housing since there is a question you need to ask yourself;
WHAT caused this to happen ?

I'm not really sure how this happened. They're original and the jeep has 215,670 miles so I'm hoping that it's from wear but not likely. I don't beat on it (even the clutch is original) and it's not a daily driver anymore. I just started noticing a chattering noise when taking off to a turn. No noises while driving straight or when it's cold. As soon as the rear got hot I'd hear them. I did find a couple chunks on the bottom and mostly metal flake everywhere. I do have a Zone 4 inch lift and I used the kit to pitch the axle like they instructed to, so I'm hoping that's not the cause. Thanks for you help guys, much appreciated

 

[Vtx531]

WHAT caused this to happen ?

Maybe too much wheel spinning offroad with an unlocked axle? Spinning in the air, bouncing and catching traction?