grenaded rear diff on Saturday..

M

Mosi

Guest
2000 DII with GBR 4.11s, ARB Lockers, GBR HD rear shaft, and GBR HD axles. The R&P only had 10 months on them with new bearings and aside from a week long trip to Moab in April, the truck really hasn't seen very hard wheeling.

Anyway, I was up at Moon Rocks in the Manastash area of Washington over the weekend and was on an obstacle that was maybe 25 degrees of an incline... maybe 6 feet tall until it crested to level ground. Engaged the rear locker and gave it a go with about 2k RPM and started up smoothly with no hopping or spinning and BOOM! Got winched up and over to a flat spot where we started to go to work and made a hasty camp spot for the night.

Pulled the drive shaft, pulled the axles and dropped the third member. There were about 12 teeth sheared off the ring and the locker had some allen bolts that snapped. We removed the diff from the housing, slapped the housing back on the axle casing and taped up the hole where the pinion goes to keep dust out. Then reinstalled the axles with no fluid since the axles are pressed onto a sealed hub. Made the 200 mile drive home with the CDL locked in front wheel drive.

Took the mess to my wrench guy today and the ARB is warped so I get to replace that too. YAY! An expensive sport we indulge in to say the least!

I know what's done is done and moving forward is the only thing I can do, but I can't help but think WHY? I am a finesse wheeler and have never really "gotten on it like it's stolen", and the whole Moab trip wasn't an issue at all. Besides, the wear on the R&P (what teeth were left) was perfect. Maybe I got one of those "it's Friday at the plant and happy hour starts at noon" gears. Ultimately though, it?s my responsibility since I was the one driving it, trying to blame anyone is senseless? so I won?t.
 
J

johnnyx

Active member
Jul 15, 2004
28
0
Scottsdale, AZ
www.running-realtor.com
Bummer, Marc! I remember when you first got your LR while on the XOC board. Sweet ride you've got.


I'm "johnnyx/areuin/NCCXJohn/etc" from the Xterra world. I just traded in my Xterra for a white DII. I had to make the jump! :D No more IFS!....unfortunately (or fortunately!), the build-up begins. I just need to convince the wife that my "client carrying vehicle" needs to be lifted, armored, etc. :D

Anyway, let me know if you make it out to the PHX area in the future.
 
M

Mosi

Guest
Oh yeah, you got an X around the same time as I did if memory serves.. Wasn't it you that was buddies with someone in PDX?
 
M

marc olivares

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,535
0
marc,

glad you made it back without incident,
post up some photos of the gear set, i'm curious what your pattern looks like.
have you talked to Bill yet?
bummer about the arb, too... i know you were hoping it could be overhauled on the cheap.
keep me updated on what happens.
 
M

Mosi

Guest
I left the pile with the diff guy and all parts are shipping to him. I should get it all back at the end of the week and can post some pics then. 3 of the guys that work there commented on how perfect the pattern was so it must have been done right.
 
C

curtis

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,545
0
Salt Lake City, UT
Mosi said:
3 of the guys that work there commented on how perfect the pattern was so it must have been done right.
Click to expand...

"Done right" sounds appropiate. Like Marc O said, O am very curious to see the gears. If it was an even wear pattern then some major slop must have developed in one of the bearings? I am thinking pinion, but one of the carrier bearings could also be a culprit. Either way, I am a person of little knowledge who is curious as to why this would happen. How many miles on these gears?

Thanks,
 
MUSKYMAN

MUSKYMAN

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
8,277
0
OverBarrington IL
my bet is that the allens on the split of the ARB let go first then the pieces found there way into the ring and pinion and that caused the ring gear teeth to stack up.

thats what happened to a dana 44 ARB that I had back about a dozen years ago.

call ARB and talk to Timm Lund...they are awsome about standing behind there products

Thom
 
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B

bri

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
6,184
155
US
Shouldn't Bill do that legwork? Just curious. Maybe Bill did not do the original setup?
 
MUSKYMAN

MUSKYMAN

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
8,277
0
OverBarrington IL
I am not saying to bump Bill out in any way shape or form, making a couple phone calls can speed the process and get the parts in front of the correct person.

Thom
 
M

Mosi

Guest
MUSKYMAN said:
yes timm is with ARB USA

wish the video was closer up of the allens in the diff case

I still think the allens came loose first
Click to expand...

I think the gears let loose first because I heard and felt the boom a second before the internal locker line lost pressure causing the compressor to cycle.
 
MUSKYMAN

MUSKYMAN

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
8,277
0
OverBarrington IL
well...there is no reason that the gears going would cause the allens to fail where the allens coming out is a known cause of the gears going bad.

if you get all the parts to ARB they will be able to tell you the chain of events

Good luck

Thom
 
M

marc olivares

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,535
0
hey Marc,

after watching your vid. a few times, i tend to agree with Thom.
cap bolts, gear set then the rest of the locker?
i'd see if Arb would foot some of the bill?
 
M

Mosi

Guest
I will ask my mechanic who installs hundreds of ARBs a year if he thinks I have a case. He seems to think that the shock of the R&P letting go caused the locker to torque up hard enough that it warped it and shot the cap bolts off. I think he is right... if the cap bolts had fallen out or broken prior to the "BOOM", that would have caused the locker to lose pressure way before everything broke since the allens hold the pressure cap on... plus, there is no way that a tiny allen bolt could have dropped into the fluid and got pulled in by the pinion in less than a second, especially since the cap is on the opposite end of the ring gear. I guess if I was turning high rpm and it sucked around like a vacum it's possible, but you can see the rear end barely even turns when it let's go.

For what it's worth, I have heard of a lot more ring gears destruct than I have ARB lockers.

I am already saving a significant amount on the locker since I bought the truck from the ARB North America prez and get a break on ARB related parts as long as I keep the beast.
 
M

Mosi

Guest
MUSKYMAN said:
jim jacksons truck?...thought he had a cruiser :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what he is driving now, but he had the Rover for about a year before I snagged it from him in November of 01.
 
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