WOW. (front diff carnage)

Bfaulken

Bfaulken

New member
So I blew both diffs right after thanksgiving. I got the front all fixed yesterday, so today I opened up the old one to check out the damage. One of the spider gears was in 3 pieces jammed under the pinion, there are numerous chipped teeth on the ring, and several chipped teeth on the side gears. Lots of tiny shrapnel all over the place as well.

2013-02-03_13-15-30_523_zps7e8b03a1.jpg~original


This is one of those "just wrap it in duct tape!" situations right?? :tinfoil3:
2013-02-03_13-16-21_703_zps9bbf43e4.jpg~original


2013-02-03_13-16-34_543_zps527d608f.jpg~original
 
Register to hide this ad
Here's a basic description:
Bfaulken said:
Went wheeling at Moody Hill today, and on one of the rocky sections, I heard a metal "pop/ping" noise, after trying about 20 different lines. So I pulled over, decided to just call it a day and let everyone pass. On the way to back down/turn around, I heard another "pop", then what sounded like a machine gun coming from somewhere underneath. Now it wont drive AT ALL. Tried 2wd, 4HI, 4LO...the wheels wont turn, and it makes the machine gun noise the more I rev it. Finally got a friend to tow me back down the trail in Neutral (SKETCHY) and parked it at the trailhead. And, it'll shift into D, N, R, 1 and L fine, but when I put it back into park, there's a grinding noise and a whine until it pops in.
Click to expand...

It was a weird spot in the trail where my front right tire and rear left tire were both in the air, so I only had traction on two opposite corners, trying to turn left up a rocky step. My back right tire was completely stuffed in the wheel well too. It doesn't look like that big of a step (front driver side), but it was just enough to keep my wheels from grabbing or popping over it.

In the pic, the rock basically pushed my momentum straight up and back when I got to this spot, so I came down pretty hard a few times.
DSC01246.jpg~original
 
Neither diff was locked? I bet that made the difference. Bad things happen when you spin one wheel and then come down hard and make it abruptly stop spinning.
 
KidVermicious said:
Neither diff was locked? I bet that made the difference. Bad things happen when you spin one wheel and then come down hard and make it abruptly stop spinning.
Click to expand...

Nope, no lockers unfortunately, & I just couldn't find the sweet spot to get up that section. I was with a few other guys who made it up, but once one diff went, there wasn't much hope I guess.
 
Bfaulken said:
Nope, no lockers unfortunately, & I just couldn't find the sweet spot to get up that section. I was with a few other guys who made it up, but once one diff went, there wasn't much hope I guess.
Click to expand...

In situation like that when you have no traction, it often help to use the brake a little about 25% to lock up the free spinning wheel, and let some of the power transfer to the wheels that are locked up. it works wonders when you just need a little extra push.
 
This is a prime example as to why I believe that having lockers front and rear will result in less drivetrain damage, unless you go balls to the walls...

Although it may result in more body damage! :biggrin2:
 
t4r4life said:
In situation like that when you have no traction, it often help to use the brake a little about 25% to lock up the free spinning wheel, and let some of the power transfer to the wheels that are locked up. it works wonders when you just need a little extra push.
Click to expand...

Good to know! It'll be a while before I do anything tough again (I can't afford any more repairs for a long time...) but when I get back out I'll remember this.
 
I knew something didnt sound right on a couple of those attempts :behindsofa:.

Good to know you got it fixed. Now you just gotta test those new diffs out at Sevenmile next weekend!
 
Dous said:
This is a prime example as to why I believe that having lockers front and rear will result in less drivetrain damage, unless you go balls to the walls...

Although it may result in more body damage! :biggrin2:
Click to expand...

Balls to the walls is the only way to go when you have open diffs! So much fun.
 
Singtoe said:
How many of them had diff drops?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that this one had anything to do with a diff drop...

If it was enough of a shock load to break the 8 inch rear end then the 7.5 clam had no chance no matter how it was run prior to this incident
 
Right, this was clearly just a catastrophic failure.

Sure the diff drop might mean the pinion bearings don't get as much oil, but they are still getting some. So the diff drop might mean premature failure, but not a failure like this
 
Confused as to how you didn't break a CV before the front diff?

The CVs are made to be the weak point in the system. If you didn't break them, then you either have some Herculean CVs, or something.

The rear, breaking one of those is tough. But good job doing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 324 (members: 3, guests: 321)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,305
Messages
3,554,041
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top