Welded diff replacement time

Hopefully final update:
All gears, bearings, seals, carrier, and axle shafts replaced. $1900 total with parts and labor. Definitely fixed the problem. Now the 2.5 seems to have way more power and acceleration. Could be that both wheels aren’t turning and that it was geared back up to 4.10 instead of 3.73. 5th gear has much push now.

Just got it back from shop and drove it for 20 minutes or so then checked everything underneath. The rear diff is really hot to the touch.

Is this normal for “break in” or a sign of something done wrong?
 
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Just got it back from shop and drove it for 20 minutes or so then checked everything underneath. The rear diff is really hot to the touch.

Is this normal for “break in” or a sign of something done wrong?
First the break in....
https://www.yukongear.com/help/faq/...he-break-in-proceedure-for-a-new-set-of-gears

Now the 2.5 seems to have way more power and acceleration. Could be that both wheels aren’t turning and that it was geared back up to 4.10 instead of 3.73. 5th gear has much push now.
Second...
Both wheels are always turning when you're driving.....
Welding the differential (spider and side gears) had nothing to do with slowing down or robbing power from your Jeep ....
If that were the case no one would ever use an auto locker or spool, which are both widely used. The differential gears (spider and sides) only allow one side to rotate at a different speed than the other during turns, or loss of traction on one side. When driving in a straight line the spider and side gears are not spinning inside the housing.

If you did have 3.73 gears it would definitely feel sluggish compared to the 4.10 gears...
 
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Hopefully final update:
All gears, bearings, seals, carrier, and axle shafts replaced. $1900 total with parts and labor. Definitely fixed the problem. Now the 2.5 seems to have way more power and acceleration. Could be that both wheels aren’t turning and that it was geared back up to 4.10 instead of 3.73. 5th gear has much push now.

Just got it back from shop and drove it for 20 minutes or so then checked everything underneath. The rear diff is really hot to the touch.

Is this normal for “break in” or a sign of something done wrong?

What did the shop that did the work tell you to do?
 
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The mechanic told me to bring it back by in a few weeks and he would open it back up to look and then replace the fluids. He knows that it is not my DD and wouldn’t be going on any long trips.

Thanks for the break-in info. I had an idea it would something like that.

Not sure why I thought both wheels didn’t spin all the time when going straight. All this welding, spider gears, lockers, pinion, ring, gear ratio, and whatever talk has my brain spinning.

I am just glad to have her back. Just placed an order for more stuff now that she is back where she belongs.
 
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