Dana 35 Disaster After Rebuild

JEEP GC

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You guys have been extremely helpful on my journey with the TJ rebuild so far but NEED ADDITIONAL HELP

1997 TJ 5-Spd 4x4
Background: Recently installed a RC double cardan drive shaft and a drop spacer (to drop skid plate under trans).
33's with a RC 4" lift

Everything ran perfect....for about 60 miles then noise from diff. Opened the diff cover and found both spider gears torn up.

Purchased and installed RC SYE and a new open carrier with new spider gears. Was told by RC to remove the drop spacer as it was not needed with the SYE. Install of all items went perfect.

Everything ran perfect....for about 100 miles then noise from diff. Opened the diff cover and found both spider gears as well as planetary gears torn up with damage to the carrier.

When put in gear / 2wd the TJ would move slightly with loud noise from diff but when put in 4w-H and 2w-L the TJ moved with no noise.

I come up with two possibilities, 1. The gear install was not correct or the removal of the drop spacer was the issue. I need help guys! Any ideas or opinions / direction would be greatly appreciated.

Damaged CarrierI.jpg


Damaged Carrier.jpg


Damaged Spider & Planetary Gears.jpg


Rebuilt Before 2nd Damage20220315_153034_2.jpg


Rebuilt After Damage.jpg
 
I would check for any damage to the ring and pinion. IT looks as though the spider gear failed which is odd. The damage to the carrier may be from a chunk of gear getting caught between the pinion and carrier. If there is no damage to the pinion, I would clean up that damage to the carrier set the gears back up and install new spider gears. The sye and driveshaft angle not an issue here. The one gear that broke in half appears to have a rough spot and a shiny spot in the crack area and another crack halfway between the broken spots. Was this cracked halfway through during manufacturing? This could be lighting in the picture but it appears the gear may of been previously cracked.
 
I would check for any damage to the ring and pinion. IT looks as though the spider gear failed which is odd. The damage to the carrier may be from a chunk of gear getting caught between the pinion and carrier. If there is no damage to the pinion, I would clean up that damage to the carrier set the gears back up and install new spider gears. The sye and driveshaft angle not an issue here. The one gear that broke in half appears to have a rough spot and a shiny spot in the crack area and another crack halfway between the broken spots. Was this cracked halfway through during manufacturing? This could be lighting in the picture but it appears the gear may of been previously cracked.
Could it be that the 33's are just too big for the Dana 35 3.55 and the size is chewing up the spiders?
 
I ran 3.07 gears with a Dana 35 and 33s for years and 40k miles.

Is the pinion gear bearing holding fine?

Did someone install the diff carrier with just a BFH?

It also looks like your ring gear might be dinged up
 
Could it be that the 33's are just too big for the Dana 35 3.55 and the size is chewing up the spiders?
I doubt it just driving 60 miles. Look at the one broken in half gear in the break area. It may have been cracked on install.
 
Who did the rebuild? Could a chunk of metal of been left inside. It’s hard to say what happened first did the gear break causing the damage to the teeth or did the teeth damage cause the broken gear. I have seen a lot of damaged spider gears but broken in half not so many on an open diff. Is the pinion damaged? Notice the crack and the difference of textures at the break area this could indicate a previous crack. I also am suspect how the axle gears took all the damage and the idlers have none (or very little I can see) does this indicate a manufacturing issue?

4F1FF74A-A27B-488F-8719-4D9DD5C5B0F3.jpeg
 
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You guys have been extremely helpful on my journey with the TJ rebuild so far but NEED ADDITIONAL HELP

1997 TJ 5-Spd 4x4
Background: Recently installed a RC double cardan drive shaft and a drop spacer (to drop skid plate under trans).
33's with a RC 4" lift

Everything ran perfect....for about 60 miles then noise from diff. Opened the diff cover and found both spider gears torn up.

Purchased and installed RC SYE and a new open carrier with new spider gears. Was told by RC to remove the drop spacer as it was not needed with the SYE. Install of all items went perfect.

Everything ran perfect....for about 100 miles then noise from diff. Opened the diff cover and found both spider gears as well as planetary gears torn up with damage to the carrier.

When put in gear / 2wd the TJ would move slightly with loud noise from diff but when put in 4w-H and 2w-L the TJ moved with no noise.

I come up with two possibilities, 1. The gear install was not correct or the removal of the drop spacer was the issue. I need help guys! Any ideas or opinions / direction would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 318870

View attachment 318871

View attachment 318872

View attachment 318873

View attachment 318874
How did you install a double Cardan driveshaft before the SYE?
 
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ya what GPK03X says
sounds odd from the rip . the TC drop and DC shaft, no sye until later. @JEEP GC do you have adjustable control arms?
 
Did you have the Ring and Pinion changed since this problem started happening?
Are you sure the carrier is the correct one for the R&P installed ?
Did not change R&P as they were perfect the 1st. rebuild. On the 2nd. failure the ring is perfect but there is a small nick in one of the gears on the pinion. We did realize that one of the large spider gears were dropped on the floor prior to install which tells us that was the problem which caused the 2nd. failure. Most likely cracked and we didn't spot it. Assuming that was the issue which caused the 2nd. failure we will rebuild for the 3rd. time. Regarding the small nick on one of the top edges of on the pinion, would we just change that out to be sure? Is setting the pinion gear a major task? any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Who did the rebuild? Could a chunk of metal of been left inside. It’s hard to say what happened first did the gear break causing the damage to the teeth or did the teeth damage cause the broken gear. I have seen a lot of damaged spider gears but broken in half not so many on an open diff. Is the pinion damaged? Notice the crack and the difference of textures at the break area this could indicate a previous crack. I also am suspect how the axle gears took all the damage and the idlers have none (or very little I can see) does this indicate a manufacturing issue?

View attachment 318960
DIY install. see one of my other replies with what I think happened.
 
Did not change R&P as they were perfect the 1st. rebuild. On the 2nd. failure the ring is perfect but there is a small nick in one of the gears on the pinion. We did realize that one of the large spider gears were dropped on the floor prior to install which tells us that was the problem which caused the 2nd. failure. Most likely cracked and we didn't spot it. Assuming that was the issue which caused the 2nd. failure we will rebuild for the 3rd. time. Regarding the small nick on one of the top edges of on the pinion, would we just change that out to be sure? Is setting the pinion gear a major task? any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks
I believe the R&P are a set and changing only one is not advisable.
 
It’s a start from scratch set up since you are replacing the components instead of a seal or bearing.
There are numerous videos on YouTube, special tools are required and it is advisable to have an experienced tech watch you IF you decide to attempt this yourself.
 
I ran 3.07 gears with a Dana 35 and 33s for years and 40k miles.

Is the pinion gear bearing holding fine?

Did someone install the diff carrier with just a BFH?

It also looks like your ring gear might be dinged up
Wow, I have 3.07 gears with 31" tires and I HATE the way it drives. How did you manage 3.07 with 33"???
 
If your pinion gear is damaged, then you'll need a complete new set and install. It might be cheaper to find a used axle with the same gears.

I have a bunch of re-gear videos on my channel. The process of gear setting is the same whether you have a locker or open carrier.

 
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