Tonight's lesson: diagnose your issues before spending your money

[Georgia Mike]

:anon:

I've been having an issue with a rumbling rear axle. All the things I'd read lead me to believe it was bad carrier bearings. I even had the cover off a while back to see if I could see any obvious signs of wear or massive backlash. I did see a fair amount of metal flakes in the gear oil, so my mind convinced me "it's ALL BAD! It needs a total rebuild!!!! The sky is falling!!!!" So I decided to hedge my bets, bought a master rebuild kit and figured I'd just try a bearing R&R on it and hope for the best. At the worst I'd still need to replace the R&P but I'd only be out one pinion bearing for my troubles if it didn't fix it. Today I pulled the cover off to get the job started. Guess what i found?




.









wait for it.....








.








Oooof!

Being the pessimist that I tend to be, I never would have believed that the issue could simply be a worn axle shaft. It appears that the bearing & seal had been replaced on that side before. I think I've also figured out WHY it failed. With the pinion angled upward, the fill plug on the cover sits right at, or just barely below the bottom of the axle tube so the bearings were most likely starved for oil :explosion Off to the parts store for new bearings and seals, and I'll go to Pull-A-Part tomorrow morning for a replacement shaft. Twice the money spent than needed, but I figure the rebuild kit prices will only go up in the future, and I'll most likely need it at some point. At least that's what the voices in my head say to console my damaged ego.

So remember kids....diagnose your problems before being a dumbass and wasting your money on unneeded parts like me!

 

[PacificEd]

You were just trying to be prepared for the task. I'm guilty of doing the same thing.

Like you said, the parts you bought won't go bad and you will use them someday down the road.

 

[Georgia Mike]

Thanks Ed. The voices in my head agree with you lol

I got it all put back together this afternoon and I'm happy to say that the replacement axle shaft and new bearings fixed the noise. I also took the time to tilt the axle forward to get more oil in there this time, at least enough to reach the bottoms of the axle tubes so the new bearings won't starve for oil. I wanted to relocate the fill plug but I was ready to wrap it up and talked myself into being lazy and saving that project for another day.

This pic shows the difference from the bottom of the oil fill plug and the bottom of the tube ID. I'm sure that with it sitting on its own weight the difference isn't quite as much, but I didn't catch it last time and just filled it as normal and called it good.

 

[PacificEd]

Looks like somebody has a lift. Nice.

I never noticed how low the fill plug is until seeing this picture. I have an 8.8 with the Solid diff cover. These covers seem to locate the fill plug much higher. I know mine holds a lot of fluid (and it's the high dollar synthetic since I have a LS diff).

 

[Georgia Mike]

That's over at my dad's place. I feel very fortunate that he has a fairly nice shop behind his house with nearly unlimited access when I need it. Most of my tools and equipment have migrated over there, and it's literally right around the corner from my house so that makes it even better! I've helped out a few guys with their Jeeps over there and it feels good to pass my limited knowledge on to others that are just getting started out in our hobby.

As for the fill plug, that pic is a tad bit misleading because the suspension was fully drooped out and I think that may tilt the pinion up a little more than normal. Nonetheless at static height the bottom of the plug is still below the bottom of the tube and I just wanted to show it to at least make guys think about taking a second look at it if they see the pic. It may save someone a huge headache down the road, or at least give a good laugh at my expense :laugh: I didn't catch that last time and I feel that if I hadn't gone back in there when I did I'd have ruined the other side's bearing and shaft as well.

 

[Ghost]

Got the column today. Thanks for handing that off to Andy. I might try and put it in tomorrow. Not sure yet. Got a new player on the field!

 

[Georgia Mike]

Great! I hope it gets you going. On a side note, it appears that you were right about that changeover year for the columns. I saw a '95 at the junkyard yesterday and it also had the newer style.

 

[94xjsport94]

Which yard did you go to, Mike? I need another shaft.

 

[Georgia Mike]

I got it over at Pull-A-Part in Norcross. There were quite a few XJ's out there. Two '98 models. Both missing the header panels but one did have the 8.25" rear. That one should be a 29 spline model. Unfortunately mine is a 27 spline. I just wish it were as easy to convert a Detroit to 29 spline as it is the factory carrier! :bawl:

 

[94xjsport94]

Did you post that in the FB group?

Norcross is across town from me. PaP south is about an hour from the house any way I go.

 

[Ghost]

Great! I hope it gets you going. On a side note, it appears that you were right about that changeover year for the columns. I saw a '95 at the junkyard yesterday and it also had the newer style.

I got it in today. I'm fairly certain the starter is dead. So I'll sit on this till the refund comes. Then I'll order everything I need for the green one and mine from rock auto all at once. Thanks for the new to me column. It is much smother and nicer. I think that tilt function will come in handy.

 

[Georgia Mike]

Did you post that in the FB group?

Norcross is across town from me. PaP south is about an hour from the house any way I go.

Yes, that was me