Rearend (the axle that is) gurus.....A question

[CMNCHE]

I recently aquired a 91 Dodge Ramcharger with 4.56s and 35s. The rear axle is a Chrysler 9.25....I bought it knowing it need rear gears (along with a bunch of other things). I had parts and fixed most of the downfalls, but the rear axle howls quite a bit while on the gas (hardly at all coasting).......My question is how long do you think I can drive it like this. I have Dana 60s but I need 8 lug wheels and 16" tires which are not in the budget at the moment. I pulled the cover and the gears look ok (no chiped teeth) but are worn funny. The teeth are worn all over instead of in the usual pattern. I believe the diff was set up wrong and then re setup. I hate to spend $200 on new gears just to swap axles in a couple months. I searched other fourms but none are as good as naxja, so i figured Id ask here.

 

[MoparManiac]

Can't exactly give you a timeline of when the axle will die.

Sounds like the gears are worn in an odd pattern, or the pinion bearings are toasted.

Either way, I don't think anyone could tell you when it's going to blow.

You have two choices, replace the gears or bearings, or drive it til it blows.

 

[CMNCHE]

Yea there definatly worn in an odd pattern. Pinion and side bearings are new, didnt seem to change the noise. I guess I was wondering if its its just the funny wear pattern is it less likely to go than if its bearings? Thanks.

 

[dave92cherokee]

Sounds like it's running the risk of breaking teeth off and grenading inside the diff. I'd get a new set of gears for it for the peace of mind as i doubt it's got a couple of months left in it.

 

[tbburg]

Thanks for the clarification in the title, I was going to make a comment about Jennifer Lopez or Kim Kardasian.

On to the axle, is it making metal? If it's got new bearings in it, chances are(as you guessed) one of the bearings let go, it was driven around like that, causing a funky wear pattern, then re set-up with new bearings when it got so bad it couldn't be driven.
You end up wasting $ in gear oil and RTV, but if you really can't afford to re-build it now, do this:
Open it up, drain the oil, clean out the case really well, and slap it back together with a small magnet set in the bottom of the housing(it may already have one there) Fill it with fresh oil and drive it for a week. Take it back apart and check the magnet. If it hasn't picked up a bunch of filings, the bearings are holding up, and the noise is from the weird pattern mesh or because of a mis-setup gear(you can get some marking compound and check the pattern while you're in there)
If there are metal filings after only a week,... well, something in there is eating itself, and when it's going to go is a toss-up, but probably soon.

Good luck with it.

 

[Just Differentials]

If its noisy on the throttle than it is likely the gears were setup incorrectly. If they gears were setup incorrectly, they will most likely need replaced. There is no way to put a timeframe on how long it will last, I would just suggest to fix it.

I recently aquired a 91 Dodge Ramcharger with 4.56s and 35s. The rear axle is a Chrysler 9.25....I bought it knowing it need rear gears (along with a bunch of other things). I had parts and fixed most of the downfalls, but the rear axle howls quite a bit while on the gas (hardly at all coasting).......My question is how long do you think I can drive it like this. I have Dana 60s but I need 8 lug wheels and 16" tires which are not in the budget at the moment. I pulled the cover and the gears look ok (no chiped teeth) but are worn funny. The teeth are worn all over instead of in the usual pattern. I believe the diff was set up wrong and then re setup. I hate to spend $200 on new gears just to swap axles in a couple months. I searched other fourms but none are as good as naxja, so i figured Id ask here.

 

[CJ~Abuzer]

Thanks for the clarification in the title, I was going to make a comment about Jennifer Lopez or Kim Kardasian.

On to the axle, is it making metal? If it's got new bearings in it, chances are(as you guessed) one of the bearings let go, it was driven around like that, causing a funky wear pattern, then re set-up with new bearings when it got so bad it couldn't be driven.
You end up wasting $ in gear oil and RTV, but if you really can't afford to re-build it now, do this:
Open it up, drain the oil, clean out the case really well, and slap it back together with a small magnet set in the bottom of the housing(it may already have one there) Fill it with fresh oil and drive it for a week. Take it back apart and check the magnet. If it hasn't picked up a bunch of filings, the bearings are holding up, and the noise is from the weird pattern mesh or because of a mis-setup gear(you can get some marking compound and check the pattern while you're in there)
If there are metal filings after only a week,... well, something in there is eating itself, and when it's going to go is a toss-up, but probably soon.

Good luck with it.

VERY good advice given your situation. Thats what I would do.