Dana 35 Gear Rebuild Advice?

[BathiasRei]

Hope the new year is finding everyone well and any input to my predicament is appreciated.

This past week I swapped in a set of 100$ axles (Dana 30 and 35) with 3.73 gears to replace my old 3.07 ones. I was foolish and probably didn't do a thorough enough check over the inside of the axles before installing them since the seller said he didn't have any issues with them and his jeep was now on D44s. After test driving, I am getting a pretty loud whirring noise under load and deceleration from my rear axle, guessing its from a bad pinion bearing.

After taking the cover off it seems that the pinion is scraping the carrier and some of the spider gears are forming a bit of a lip, but the ring and pinion still look great (pictures below). My question is if I should throw new pinion/carrier bearings at this axle would it fix my issues and if there is a recommended kit for this job vs getting parts off Rockauto? Will getting a good gear pattern still be a headache when I tackle this and should I also replace my spider gears while I'm at it?

Edit: Would the spider gears from my old axle fit onto these new ones despite the gear ratio difference?

Thanks again and Happy New Year
- Rei

 

[Oneslowtj]

Rock auto sells rebuild kits. Seals &Bearings. Not sure if spider gears are included with the kit

 

[hosejockey61]

Did you check the pinion by hand? It's ok to have rotational movement, but not in/out or side to side. If it does, then you'll have to come up with a plan of how far you want to get into this thing.

Because the pinion appears to be loose, then new bearings, spider gears, pinion seal, pinion nut, and a crush sleeve would be the minimum you would need for a minor overhaul. Since you wouldn't be changing depth, there is no need to replace shims. The exception to that is if any are damaged. It really would be as simple as removing everything, press on new bearings, put it back together. Easier said than done though.

Because your pinion is loose, running a pattern or checking backlash does you no good. At this point, the hope is that it re-establishes everything back to the original setting. Again, keep the shims in their exact spot. No need to move them around. Re-read that to make sure you are clear.

The spiders in your old Dana 35 would fit, however, it is unlikely they don't have their own wear and tear.

In the end, it's a Dana 35, be prepared for anything up to and including a full rebuild. You might get by with bearings, but if the ring and pinion gear don't like the new setup, you'll be back to square one. If this is your daily driver, you should be prepared to be without it for a bit just in case.

 

[BathiasRei]

Did you check the pinion by hand? It's ok to have rotational movement, but not in/out or side to side. If it does, then you'll have to come up with a plan of how far you want to get into this thing.

When checking by hand there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable play in the pinion in/out or side to side… Hopefully I get lucky on this.

no worries about putting the jeep out of commission, my motorcycle has been my daily while I’ve been gettin the jeep solid

Thank you for the wisdom sir,
- Rei

 

[connor grimes]

Sorry to hear that! I can't help but think that you'd be better off looking for another pair of axles with a better gear ratio...i see them all the time on marketplace dana 30/35 with 4.10 and 4.56 gears most often. You're only out $100 and some time with the current axles , i would either look for another set with proper gears (check inside) or buy new gears for your existing set up

 

[BathiasRei]

Sorry to hear that! I can't help but think that you'd be better off looking for another pair of axles with a better gear ratio...i see them all the time on marketplace dana 30/35 with 4.10 and 4.56 gears most often

I was strongly considering picking up new axles but it seems that there’s nothing too promising near my location at a reasonable price… I also am not sure if 4.10 or higher is too much gear since I will likely not have tires bigger than 30’s on my rig but I could definitely be mistaken

 

[macleanflood]

This is for sale right around the corner from me...I literally just drove to the bay area twice to see my parents...but I could ship this down...

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DXdgSzztW/

-Mac

 

[BathiasRei]

This is for sale right around the corner from me...I literally just drove to the bay area twice to see my parents...but I could ship this down...

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DXdgSzztW/

-Mac

Thank you Mr Mac…. I ended up pulling the trigger on a rebuild kit for my current gears. Hopefully I won’t need to get any new gears, but I suppose we’ll see what things look like after I install the new bearings

 

[macleanflood]

Definitely run a pattern before you take anything apart and pay attention to the shims!

-Mac

 

[hosejockey61]

Definitely run a pattern before you take anything apart and pay attention to the shims!

-Mac

His pinion is loose. A pattern does him no good.