some rear end advice please...

[Jeepguy97]

I have a 97 TJ which would mean I'm dealing with a dana 35. I was wheeling a few weeks back and the rubber fill plug somehow fell out... water and debris went in and now the pinion bearings are shot...

I love working on my Jeep and usually do all the maintenance, grew up on a farm and can fix about anything. I thought I'd have to wait till I could save up about 800 to get the job done because I dont have the experience or tools to set preload and backlash. (im a college student and 800 is hard to come by) anyway some guy i talked to yesterday said that as long as i reinstall the same pinion and ring gears with the EXACT same shim arrangement i should not have to set backlash. in fact he said that changing the shims would only move the used gear set out of its wear pattern and make things worse. As for pinion preload, he said i could figure that out with a in-lb torque wrench.

i can afford a bearing seal kit and could get to work on it right away. if i have to have a garage do it, my transportation will be laid up for a while till i can get the money

I'm just looking for a little encouragement and maybe a few tips or things to watch out for... Thanks in advance!!!

 

[SteelHeadz]

Without seeing the condition of the gears, assuming that it's not pitted or damaged from the water and debris intrusion, then yes you can get away with replacing just the pinion bearing. The in-lb torque wrench is cheap enough from a local parts store to find. The only thing i could forsee that will make this difficult is not having a special tool called a "spreader". This facilitates an easier removal and installation of the differential without DAMAGING the side bearing shims. Here's the specs..
216 RBI AXLE

DESCRIPTIONSPEC: TypeSemi-floating Hypoid Axle Ratios3.07/3.55/4.10 Ring Gear Diameter216 mm (8.5 in.) Gear Backlash0.13 - 0.20 mm (0.005 - 0.008 in.) Pinion Depth109.52 mm (4.312 in.) Brg. Preload, Pinion (New)2.26 - 4.52 N·m (20 - 40 in. lbs.) Brg. Preload, Pinion (Used)1 - 3 N·m (10 - 20 in. lbs.) Maximum Carrier Spread0.51 mm (0.020 in.

216 RBI TORQUE

DESCRIPTIONTORQUE lug, Fill34 N·m (25 ft. lbs.) Bolts, Diff. Cover41 N·m (30 ft. lbs.) Bolts, Diff. Bearing Cap108 N·m (80 ft. lbs.) Bolts, Ring Gear108 N·m (80 ft. lbs.) Nuts, Brake Backing Plate61 N·m (45 ft. lbs.) Nut, Pinion Gear - Minimum217 N·m (160 ft. lbs.)

 

[Jeepguy97]

thanks for the super quick response, steelheadz! I did have the cover off a few days ago and the gears seemed ok but everything in there will need a good cleaning... i was planning to use gasoline to clean it out. any problem with that?

I guess the smart thing to do would be to replace all the bearings and seals back there...

 

[SteelHeadz]

I would rather use a break part cleaner. It's a non chlorinated parts cleaner and is safer to use than gasoline. Wear eye protection and rubber gloves when you use solvents and cleaners.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Brake cleaner, and easy enough to change pinion bearings yourself without messing up the gear mesh.

 

[xjmarc]

Only problem I see is that the D35 has a crush sleeve and you need a pretty powerful impact to crush it to get your preload. If I recall it takes around 250 ft. lbs. and the cheap impacts most places sell won't cut it. If you are replacing the pinion bearing I would consider the crush sleeve a must.

 

[Jeepguy97]

thanks xjmarc, ill be sure to find a pipe to put on the end of the breaker bar...

 

[SteelHeadz]

If i remember correctly, i think it uses shims, not crush sleeves.

 

[xjmarc]

If it's a 35 it uses a crush sleeve and unless that breaker bar is like ten feet long it ain't gonna help. A good impact is a must.

 

[Ggg]

x2- the D35 uses a crush sleeve, it requires about 300 ft lb to initiate the crush.

 

[Jeepguy97]

thanks for all the input guys! i dont know if i can get my hands on a good impact... (all good tools are at home, i live in NY but am now at school in South Carolina) some friends are loaning garage space and some tools but not sure about the impact. what i know about physics though tells me that if the crush needs 300ft-lb i should be able to generate that with a 3ft bar and 100lbs of force. I think that is possible...

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

You DO NOT need to use that kind of force if only replacing the pinion bearings, simply follow the same procedure used as if replacing the pinion seal to obtain the proper yoke tightness without compressing the crush sleeve any further.

 

[Jeepguy97]

You DO NOT need to use that kind of force if only replacing the pinion bearings, simply follow the same procedure used as if replacing the pinion seal to obtain the proper yoke tightness without compressing the crush sleeve any further.

so you're saying not to use a new crush sleeve? Just keep the old one and don't crush it any further when it is reinstalled?