pinion bearings for Dana 35c

[west747]

Frist question is..how can i tell if a pinion bearing is bad? i know one of the two is bad but i cant tell which one it is ( the pressed on one or the bearing closer to the yoke. Also is a little bit of play in the pinion going to have grave consequences? i only need these axles to last for about 4 or 5 months. any info or diagrams would be greatly appreciated as i would like to have that peice of crap 35c back under my jeep for this upcoming weekend.. thanks west747.

 

[Snitty]

if you are going to replace one... its probably best to replace both... if one goes bad, it allows play to damage the other...

 

[west747]

so what can i expect to happen as a result of bad pinion bearings? faster ring wear or something worse?

 

[jhiggins]

A little of both faster wear of your gears and more of a chance of breaking something..

 

[west747]

Two Problems I am having with my '95 YJ!

hmmmmm...i only need to get about 4 months out of emmm....lol

 

[jhiggins]

It might freeze up completely though,.....

 

[Utah_jeepster]

hmmmmm...i only need to get about 4 months out of emmm....lol

With a pinion bearing going you can expect to wear gears out in the matter of weeks. What happens is the the spacing between the gears is now compermised and you can get root to root gear engament. With this much gear engament to can break off a gear tooth and lock up the whole diff. At high speeds or out in the wilderness this is not something your freinds want to hear about over the phone when you call for help. With the spacing getting too shallow you can shear the weaker outter portion of the pinion gear or the spur and loose the whole diff. Plus the floating metal shavings will destroy the locker/limed slip ect ect with premature wear.
Replacing both bearings will give you that 4-5 months and some plus having a good working diff to sell.

 

[west747]

Utah_jeepster- that was the answer i was waiting for...thank you. very good point about replacing both pioions as i would like to sell the axles after i get a set of beefier ones...i was also concerned about the diff locking up as i do not want to put flat spots on my 1200 tires. thanks again i will be replacing both bearing now most defintitly

 

[jhiggins]

Well I am glad you got the answer you were looking for good luck with it...