Grenaded the Diff....

[EMSJEEP]

ugh....2001XJ on 33's, 4.5" lift and SYE...more or less I have everything important except the rear axel of my choice. I've gone through 3 U-Joints since this happened last time at about 60k miles (warranty covered it for $300), they replaced the whole rear end, new axel housing and all. It is, unfortunately a D-35c....any thoughts on WTF I'm doing wrong here? I'm at about 108k now.

 

[kastein]

33s on a d35c? Sounds like that's the problem right there...

I'd swap in a 97+ 29sp 8.25. $100 at your pull-a-part, $50 for U-bolts, maybe $20 for the driveshaft that goes with the 8.25 and you're on your way.

 

[xcm]

what are you doing wrong? rebuilding a d-35.
you have an excuse for last time (even $300 is too much to spend on the d35 though)

THIS IS WHAT D-35's DO! common knowledge around here... people dont curse random axle's for no reason.


Let me guess, you want to keep ABS?

 

[01xjkiller]

id go with the 8.25 easy to find and they take the abuse but i dont see why you just dont weld it up and put er back together

 

[kastein]

Yeah, if you want to keep ABS, you can do it... grab the brake hardware off a Grand Cherokee at the JY with ABS so it has the right mount points (I think the sensors are the same size, right?) and bolt it onto your new axle. I know of a thread by fyrfytr17 about putting ABS on a d44, I'm sure it's doable somehow on an 8.25 as well, the hardware from a d35 on a Grand with ABS will bolt onto an 8.25 once you widen the hole for the axle tube out just a tiny bit, leaving you with an 8.25 with ABS and possibly even disc brakes. Really no downside.

Heck, if you really felt like being stingy, they usually don't charge you for brake hardware if you take the whole axle at the JY, you could swap the disc brakes onto the 8.25 before even leaving. It's an axle with brakes, all the same to their pricing scheme.

EDIT:

id go with the 8.25 easy to find and they take the abuse but i dont see why you just dont weld it up and put er back together

Ummm, what exactly are you thinking? Did you look at the pics? Carrier's trashed, pinion's trashed, hell it even chewed up the oil slinger. That axle is not a "just weld it up" project.

 

[yossarian19]

xWhatever.
The D35 is famous for explosions. Hell, a buddy of mine had one in his TJ, it blew up catastrophically on stock tires - 5" smaller than what you are running. I was in Utah at the time but he claims it was bad enough to total the jeep, apparently it locked up and the trans took a dump...
Anyway, point is, the D35 is your problem. They are "the suck"

 

[MrShaft696]

D35 oops

 

[RCman]

Everyone else already mentioned the D35 so I won't harp on you there.
Yet, your three u-joint failures might be solved if you used better joints. I see a 297 in that box. Get some 760s.

 

[foxwar71]

I see a 297 in that box. Get some Brute Force ones.

FIFY:gee:


760's kick butt, run 'em (bonus points for full circle clips)

 

[Coastie]

id go with the 8.25 easy to find and they take the abuse but i dont see why you just dont weld it up and put er back together

My first nomination!

 

[EMSJEEP]

Everyone else already mentioned the D35 so I won't harp on you there.
Yet, your three u-joint failures might be solved if you used better joints. I see a 297 in that box. Get some 760s.

Wow, a helpful comment, THANKS!

The mechanic did the repair before consulting me. Unfortunately, in my area axels aren't available for less than $8-900 or believe me, I would have done it years ago.

As to the modifications. It did this to me in the STOCK setup at 60k miles, same situation. I have heard suggestions that it may be a "driving style" issue.

 

[EMSJEEP]

what are you doing wrong? rebuilding a d-35.
you have an excuse for last time (even $300 is too much to spend on the d35 though)

THIS IS WHAT D-35's DO! common knowledge around here... people dont curse random axle's for no reason.


Let me guess, you want to keep ABS?

No ABS on this vehicle. Ihave rear discs though.

 

[kastein]

Wow, a helpful comment, THANKS!

The mechanic did the repair before consulting me. Unfortunately, in my area axels aren't available for less than $8-900 or believe me, I would have done it years ago.

As to the modifications. It did this to me in the STOCK setup at 60k miles, same situation. I have heard suggestions that it may be a "driving style" issue.

Want me to grab one? Roll up here some weekend and I'll help you pull any rear you want at the pull-a-part, won't take us more than 2-3 hours and won't cost more than $110. And I know for a fact that if you put the back seat down and throw about 4 layers of cardboard down, you can fit an axle in an XJ no sweat.

EDIT: yeah, driving style counts too, I believe Cal said he blew up a d35 doing a U-turn on 30s or 31s.

 

[EMSJEEP]

Want me to grab one? Roll up here some weekend and I'll help you pull any rear you want at the pull-a-part, won't take us more than 2-3 hours and won't cost more than $110. And I know for a fact that if you put the back seat down and throw about 4 layers of cardboard down, you can fit an axle in an XJ no sweat.

EDIT: yeah, driving style counts too, I believe Cal said he blew up a d35 doing a U-turn on 30s or 31s.

You obviously havent seen the back of my XJ, I have a rack back there. When I get some other stuff squared away, I may take you up on that.

 

[GSequoia]

won't take us more than 2-3 hours

Noob.


You should be able to pull an axle in fourteen minutes with only hand tools.

(I'll give you an extra ten minutes for dealing with that "rust" stuff.)

 

[kastein]

OK, let me know if/when that happens, usually can be reached via pm or you can probably get my cell number off a thread here. I generally go to the junkyard every saturday morning whether I need anything or not.

EDIT: haha GSequoia, I like to leave extra time just in case - blame my engineering habits. Took me an hour to pull a d30 once even including the time I spent fighting the bolt for the track bar, my 8.8 took 2 hours because I ran out of sawzall batteries and didn't have a 12pt metric socket set yet so I had to go to sears halfway through. I've pulled 8.25s for people on here before though and it took me maybe 30min including jacking the junker up.

 

[foxwar71]

You should be able to pull an axle in fourteen minutes with only hand tools.

(I'll give you an extra ten minutes for dealing with that "rust" stuff.)

hahaha, the real way to take stuff off here in the rust belt would only take 2 minutes.


...Torches...

 

[kastein]

hahaha, the real way to take stuff off here in the rust belt would only take 2 minutes.


...Torches...

:roflmao:

My usual trick is to make believe I want to keep the bolts I am removing entirely intact, and then go at them very gently with a breaker bar. They snap right off within a half turn!

Gotta love abusing Murphy's Law.

 

[GSequoia]

hahaha, the real way to take stuff off here in the rust belt would only take 2 minutes.


...Torches...

A full 10lb CO2 tank, an impact wrench, and a die grinder make bone yard hunting a lot easier.

 

[xcm]

...OR a 18v dewalt sawzall. 2 or 3 batteries just in case!
i didnt mean to be 'unhelpfull' in my posts, but it sounded like you wanted to fix the d35... and thats just a bad idea!

i also know nothing about new york