Dana 35 pinion end play, how deep is my trouble?

hear

hear

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Getting daughter's jeep buttoned back up and discovered this when I was connecting the rear drive shaft. Add this to the list of things to check when inspecting a potential purchase.

I'm guessing the pinion bearing is shot? This sort of play has GOT to be affecting the connection to the ring gear, although I never heard any noise while we were driving it, which admittedly was a couple months ago but we drove it quite a bit right after we got it. If it was that jacked I would have expected to hear/feel it.

 
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That's just a little worn out. =)

Crack open the diff cover and let's see how much time and money this is going to cost you!

Damn...

-Mac
 
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I know I need to open it up. Right now I need to complete the repairs I've been doing and get it on the road just to prove that I've fixed all those things before I tackle another sizable repair.

I'm hoping all that really needs to happen is to replace the bearings, which I realize amounts to an entire gear setup but it saves me the cost of new gears & the master install kit. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure she's on 3.73 now, so it would be a chance to go to 4.10. I could theoretically do it in phases, as she isn't going to need the 4WD pretty much ever, but definitely not within the next 6 months.
 
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I have a brand new set of 4.56's for my 97, but I'm not sure if I will need to go to 35's to make that bearable. I'm on 3.55's & 33's now, which really does suck.

I need to get this back on the road and remind myself what the performance is like. I don't remember it being bad, but if I have to do a whole setup anyway it's going to be hard to fight the urge to change ratio.
 
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It looks like the pinion nut is loose. Tighten the pinion nut a bit and see if the gets better. Do not use a lot of force. If you can get the play out of the pinion, remove the pinion nut, get the threads clean of gear oil, red loctite and tighten it to about 50 ft/lb.
 
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If it were me I would probably try two new pinion bearings, crush sleeve, nut and seal. Though with the pinion walking around like that you might have a pretty screwed up pattern on the teeth by now. But my first attempt would be to install new bearings and reset the preload again if it was mine.
 
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Brianj5600 said:
It looks like the pinion nut is loose. Tighten the pinion nut a bit and see if the gets better. Do not use a lot of force. If you can get the play out of the pinion, remove the pinion nut, get the threads clean of gear oil, red loctite and tighten it to about 50 ft/lb.
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I think this is the answer if you just need to drive it 50 miles or so to check all of your other work. After doing this you could also pull the driveshaft, put it in 4H and drive it around in front wheel drive for a bit.
 
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Good Hope said:
I think this is the answer if you just need to drive it 50 miles or so to check all of your other work. After doing this you could also pull the driveshaft, put it in 4H and drive it around in front wheel drive for a bit.
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I drove it 40 miles home on the highway at 75 & around town for several weeks before it went under the knife for other reasons. Unless it got loose on that trip, it's been like this for a while I would imagine.
machoheadgames said:
If it were me I would probably try two new pinion bearings, crush sleeve, nut and seal. Though with the pinion walking around like that you might have a pretty screwed up pattern on the teeth by now. But my first attempt would be to install new bearings and reset the preload again if it was mine.
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Do they make a crush sleeve eliminator for a Dana 35? @hosejockey61?
 
I changed the pinion bearings in an older XJ I had with slop like that without checking anything. I took out the ring gear, popped out the pinion shaft and replaced the bearings and races with store bought ones. Put it all back together without so much as even checking the wear pattern. Set the crush and drove on with no problem for years. Still drove fine when I sold it years later. You will need a press or a buddy with one and beam torque wrench. You can watch this video that describes the way to do it. Just skip to where he replaces the pinion gear bearings and then sets the pre load. He doesn't show it but I always put some RTV in the yoke before sliding it back on.

I'm not saying this is what you should do for a permanent fix, but you might find it a quick easy fix until your money is right. My TJ had this same issue with a Dana 35 LS after a trip through MOAB and California. I just swapped it out for a RUBI Dana 44 that already was re-geared to 4.56s I picked up for $900. Bolt and play that was.

Best wishes.

 
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hear said:
I drove it 40 miles home on the highway at 75 & around town for several weeks before it went under the knife for other reasons. Unless it got loose on that trip, it's been like this for a while I would imagine.


Do they make a crush sleeve eliminator for a Dana 35? @hosejockey61?
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They do (Ratech brand) but it's not very good quality. I've received 3 of them and they come with like 5 shims and most of mine have been bent. I didn't have any troubles crushing the Dana Spicer crush sleeve, so I figured that was the best way to go. Got all the parts for mine from Denny's. If you spend over $100 you get free shipping and currently most of the parts are discounted so now is a good time to order.
 
PawPawKnows said:
I changed the pinion bearings in an older XJ I had with slop like that without checking anything. I took out the ring gear, popped out the pinion shaft and replaced the bearings and races with store bought ones. Put it all back together without so much as even checking the wear pattern. Set the crush and drove on with no problem for years. Still drove fine when I sold it years later.
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You raise an interesting point. Assuming everything isn't thrashed on the inside, shouldn't I just be able to replace the bearings? That would put everything right back where it was at the initial install.

I have done a re-gear before & have all the tools.


machoheadgames said:
They do but it's not very good quality. I've received 3 of them and they come with like 5 shims and most of mine have been bent. I didn't have any troubles crushing the Dana Spicer crush sleeve, so I figured that was the best way to go. Got all the parts for mine from Denny's. If you spend over $100 you get free shipping and currently most of the parts are discounted so now is a good time to order.
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Denny's? I could go for a Grand Slam breakfast for lunch thanks!
 
hear said:
I drove it 40 miles home on the highway at 75 & around town for several weeks before it went under the knife for other reasons. Unless it got loose on that trip, it's been like this for a while I would imagine.


Do they make a crush sleeve eliminator for a Dana 35? @hosejockey61?
Click to expand...

Yes they do. Look around the web and you'll find them.

I wouldn't drive that unless you have to. Weather the pinion nut is loose or the bearings are shot, that thing is just primed to fail right now. I would pull the cover and start with a good inspection. You might just need to replace the bearings and put it back together. You'll need a new pinion seal and crush sleeve unless you decide to go with an eliminator kit.
 
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hosejockey61 said:
Yes they do. Look around the web and you'll find them.

I wouldn't drive that unless you have to. Weather the pinion nut is loose or the bearings are shot, that thing is just primed to fail right now. I would pull the cover and start with a good inspection. You might just need to replace the bearings and put it back together. You'll need a new pinion seal and crush sleeve unless you decide to go with an eliminator kit.
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After buying 2 of the eliminators (and receiving a third because of more bent shims), I would definitely recommend avoiding them. The only brand I know of is Ratech. Ron’s Machining from eBay will send a Ratech kit.

For what it’s worth the Spicer crush sleeve crushed perfectly. Maybe it’s better than the ones in the master kits that you’ve had issues with.
 
machoheadgames said:
After buying 2 of the eliminators (and receiving a third because of more bent shims), I would definitely recommend avoiding them. The only brand I know of is Ratech. Ron’s Machining from eBay will send a Ratech kit.

For what it’s worth the Spicer crush sleeve crushed perfectly. Maybe it’s better than the ones in the master kits that you’ve had issues with.
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I just hate the guesswork that is the crush sleeve. The scientist in me is like “we set preload on the carrier with shims, why don’t we set the pinion preload with shims as well?” No guesswork. No fear of “aw crap I over crushed it.”

I’ve also only done one set of gears so I don’t have much comfort there.
 
hear said:
I just hate the guesswork that is the crush sleeve. The scientist in me is like “we set preload on the carrier with shims, why don’t we set the pinion preload with shims as well?” No guesswork. No fear of “aw crap I over crushed it.”

I’ve also only done one set of gears so I don’t have much comfort there.
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I haven’t done many gears either. Assuming you get a good quality crush sleeve that performs how it’s supposed to (meaning it actually crushes), and you check your bearing play and rotational torque often enough, it really shouldn’t be that bad. The hard part for me was doing it with the axle pipe stands by myself and the axle not moving around. It really wanted to move.

Some anti seize under the nut flange where it butts up against the nut can help with not fighting 350 ft lbs of torque. Helps the nut spin more smoothly. Doesn’t hurt anything either because it’s still a lock nut that ain’t coming off if it’s new.
 
I have recommended the Ratech 4114 for a long time but since they came out with their Smart Spacer they definitely have been skimping on the shims and packaging which is unfortunate.
 
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