Rear tire wobble

[kastein]

Left side: I tried a total of 3 tires. The original, the other side, and a spare tire I keep on the roof rack.

It does not happen on the right side at all, even with the break drum, tire from the left side.

I tried on a new brake drum I had in a box.

It is 100% not the drum or wheel/tire.

The axle physically wiggles up/down/left/right/in/out when you remove the breakdrum, grab the studs and start moving it. The in & out isn't huge, but probably 1/8" (which I'm told is normal since its a C-clip).

As you can see from the picture, its most noticable when you grab it from the bottom and twist.

If the bearing races have disintegrated in certain areas, it could allow the axle to start to move around. These bearings don't have an inner race, they only have an outside race and the inside touched the "rollers" directly: http://amzn.to/1nPuIqP

So, technically, it seems possible it could move around quite a bit couldn't it?

It could, but with the load of the vehicle on top of it, I don't think it's very likely. If the races or bearing rollers are worn to the point that it'd be an issue, there would be really, really horrible grinding and banging noises from that corner of the vehicle when rolling.

 

[spinaldex]

FYI:

Shaft is bent, pinion has teeth missing, one spider gear is in pieces. Axle is toast. Time to build something new! Going to try to source an XJ Dana 44 around here to make it a little easier (my welding sucks).

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[kastein]

Yikes! That sucks. Explains a lot though... and yep, you got dana 35'd.

IMO, the 44 and 8.25 are about equal strength wise, each has its strengths and weaknesses (8.25 tubes are bigger, 44 ring gear is a little bigger, 44 shafts are bigger by an almost inconsequential amount, 8.25s are everywhere, etc etc) and the only real weakness of an 8.25 is that they are c clip. Not much of a weakness in my book, since you should be replacing a broken shaft on the spot anyways, and 8.25 shafts are cheap as spares. And 8.25s are everywhere.

I might be biased, because I have an 8.25 in every jeep I own that I actually drive :gee:

 

[spinaldex]

Thanks! I'll look for 8.25's too.

 

[sidriptide]

Yikes! That sucks. Explains a lot though... and yep, you got dana 35'd.

IMO, the 44 and 8.25 are about equal strength wise, each has its strengths and weaknesses (8.25 tubes are bigger, 44 ring gear is a little bigger, 44 shafts are bigger by an almost inconsequential amount, 8.25s are everywhere, etc etc) and the only real weakness of an 8.25 is that they are c clip. Not much of a weakness in my book, since you should be replacing a broken shaft on the spot anyways, and 8.25 shafts are cheap as spares. And 8.25s are everywhere.

I might be biased, because I have an 8.25 in every jeep I own that I actually drive :gee:

slap a set of aftermarket shafts in the 8.25 and forget it's there. easy rear disc conversion while you are at it.

 

[spinaldex]

All the thread's I've read said the 8.25 is a weak axle and pushing it with 35's. People, even on this forum, say D44 or 8.8 should be the only consideration.

I'm considering scouting a Cherokee D44 from a yard if that's the case. I really want to avoid future issues if at all possible. My thought is complete tear down, yukon shafts, Detroit, and make it bullet-proof ...

 

[kastein]

That depends. IMO, the 8.8, 44, and 8.25 all have their strong points.

44: bolts in if you find an XJ one. Strong points: tons of aftermarket parts available, locker selection is great.
8.25: the 27 spline one has shafts only as strong as a d35, but the 29 spline one is significantly stronger. Great because you can find a 29 spline 8.25 literally anywhere. I have beat the shit out of them on 33s for years (in 29 spline flavor) on stock shafts. I know people who have done the same on 35s with no problems, but would probably either carry spare shafts (and a lubelocker gasket... and new lube... and a drain pan... etc) or put alloys in for 35" tires. You can find a limited slip carrier for these EASILY at the junkyard if that's all you want, else, run some sort of other locker.
8.8: comes with disc brakes, tubes are ginormous, comes with 4.10 gears, easy to find limited slip factory ones. Weak point is that the tubes need to be welded to the housing. Big freakin deal. Oh, and you have to weld new perches and shock mounts on.

8.25s can be pimped out pretty nicely with junkyard parts these days. You can find a limited slip for them in any number of 90s Durangos and Dakotas (both came with either the 8.25 or the 9.25 rear, LSD 8.25s are fairly common in Durangos), disc brakes are easily swapped off a ZJ d35/d44a, I believe you can find a companion flange to replace the pinion yoke on a late 90s or mid 00s Durango (I know I saw one on an 8.25 in a Durango, but unsure which generation it was or if it would fit an XJ 8.25... stay tuned) etc.

People love their 44 rears but I just don't really see the reason to blow 300 on one (forum price hovers around there, if you find a junkyard one for less, it's probably worth it) especially when 8.25s have larger tubes and almost equivalent axleshafts and ring gear size.

edit: oh, an 8.25 is a great first axle to set gears up in if you want to give it a shot yourself. Why? It uses a crush sleeve for pinion preload (so there's one less set of shims to fumble around with) and side adjusters instead of carrier bearing shims, so there's really only one set of shims, the pinion depth shims. This makes for a lot fewer setup bearings required and a lot less screwing around with a micrometer while setting up the gears. On the other hand, most dana/spicer axles use four sets of shims.

 

[sheepdog707]

Yep, sounds like bent shafts.... My turdy-five is doing the same g'damn thing.... Prepping an 8.8 as I type..... F'it

 

[spinaldex]

Quick question .. I'm getting my hands on an XJ 44 tomorrow morning. Is it worth upgrading the shafts right away for a mildly wheeled XJ on 35"s, or can I wait on that for a bit? I was hoping to avoid spending another $500 if it won't need it right now. I'm already dropping $900 between gears, locker & brakes.

Thanks.

 

[kastein]

You will be fine. MoparManiac ran stock shafts (iirc) in his XJ D44 on 35" MTZs for a couple years, I think he twisted the splines on one once but AFAIK he didn't break any. And he wasn't all that nice to it toward the end.

 

[spinaldex]

Sweet. I want to wait until my next tax return to buy chromoly shafts for front and rear, so this will work. Thanks!

 

[kastein]

Got this:

Ken, I twisted the splines on a stock shaft after two runs on the 35s. I bought chromos for it to get the bolt pattern to match the hp44 front.

For mild wheeling he should be fine.

So I didn't quite remember it fine. But I would say you will be fine as long as you aren't really romping on it.

 

[spinaldex]

$260 for Ten Factory's MG22135, shipped to my door. A lot cheaper than I was expecting. Sure I bet there's plenty of better/stronger shafts, but these should be fine for my wheeling.

Thanks everyone!

 

[spinaldex]

Follow-up:

Dana 44 Installed. From an '87, had chromoly shafts, a Yukon Grizzly full case locker, 4.56 gears, completely new brakes (drums, shoes, cylinders, adjusters, etc), yoke (old one was cracked), timken bearings, e-brake cable, Solid cover, etc. This thing is awesome =)