- Thread starter
- #21
So now that we are pretty sure on what the problem is. Do I just gut and rebuild the axles all but the diff. I see a large Cruiser Outfitters bill in my future...
Tranny Issues
- Thread starter Lexonroids
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You have not determined the actual problem. Pull grease caps on outside of hub to see if a drive flange is stripped or if it is interior. If it is further interior, could be birf problems.
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- #23
Yeah... I know, I know. Just trying to prepare for the worse case scenario. Didn't get a chance to pull grease caps last night. Got everything in the go-Rage and prepared for dis-assembly tonight. Getting this 7'4" beast through a 7' door opening was a bit of a task. I had to turn the house on it's side and drive it in that way.
If it was me, I'd go ahead and plan on a full front axle service. That way you can inspect everything, and replace as needed. And yep, Kurt's the guy! I always go with oem on the seals though, and the koyo bearings.
If one of your drive flanges is toast, and their super pricey from your dealer, check with Cdan or Beno, or PM me...I've got an extra I'll toss in a UPS envelope for ya.
If one of your drive flanges is toast, and their super pricey from your dealer, check with Cdan or Beno, or PM me...I've got an extra I'll toss in a UPS envelope for ya.
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- #25
Awesome. I am ripping into it tonight. I will let you know. I love this forum.
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- #26
Well s***! Tore into the axle last night. Looks like it is my front DIFF. Not sure what happened in there but as soon as I drained the fluid. I got chunks and what looked like Wolverines fingernail clippings. This is never a good sign.
After draining that I pulled the front passenger side knuckle and axle. Just to make sure that it was okay. It was in pristine condition. No issue with anything brand new seals and bearings and the birfield joint itself looked great. There was not any weeping past the axle seal or anything.
This truck has ARB air lockers front and rear. I am not familiar enough with the ARB system to say that it is the cause, but it makes me nervous. I have not used the air lockers on this truck other than engaging and disengaging them when I first got it to confirm they worked. I did this on nice slick mud when it was raining. And I know they disengaged after confirming they worked.
I never got any feed back from the truck like the locker had engaged while I was driving. And as soon as I started having issues I double and triple checked the system.
I have had the factory e-lockers in my other 97 LX and have never had any DIFF issues with it.
I am thinking that maybe the gears in the diff have been nuked. Anyone here have any ideas?
How bad has this s*** the bed?
After draining that I pulled the front passenger side knuckle and axle. Just to make sure that it was okay. It was in pristine condition. No issue with anything brand new seals and bearings and the birfield joint itself looked great. There was not any weeping past the axle seal or anything.
This truck has ARB air lockers front and rear. I am not familiar enough with the ARB system to say that it is the cause, but it makes me nervous. I have not used the air lockers on this truck other than engaging and disengaging them when I first got it to confirm they worked. I did this on nice slick mud when it was raining. And I know they disengaged after confirming they worked.
I never got any feed back from the truck like the locker had engaged while I was driving. And as soon as I started having issues I double and triple checked the system.
I have had the factory e-lockers in my other 97 LX and have never had any DIFF issues with it.
I am thinking that maybe the gears in the diff have been nuked. Anyone here have any ideas?
How bad has this s*** the bed?
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- #28
Possibly. I am not sure. I have a good feeling that the guy that built this rig and had the 4:88's put in it originally, made sure it was done right. He spent a butt ton of money on this rig, which is a lot when you are counting it in $100 bills and not nickles.
I think who ever had it after him may have not been the easiest of owners on it, this is all speculation. Hell it didn't start acting up until I had driven it about 500 miles. But I have been very easy on it. Trying to find any problems before pushing it in an off road setting.
I have never had any failures like this before. And I have pushed my other LX pretty hard in the NC mountains.
I think who ever had it after him may have not been the easiest of owners on it, this is all speculation. Hell it didn't start acting up until I had driven it about 500 miles. But I have been very easy on it. Trying to find any problems before pushing it in an off road setting.
I have never had any failures like this before. And I have pushed my other LX pretty hard in the NC mountains.
If the locker is the oldest model like the rear one in mine, ARB used a PLASTIC ring cage thingy to control the internal metal locking ring. If it broke and a sizable chunk of plastic lodged itself inside the spider gears some how, or didn't allow the metal locking ring to fully retract and disengage, you could have ........
For me, the rear wouldn't unlock. For you, I don't quite know how that could make your gear chew itself up, but to my surprise, there is a plastic piece in the old models that can and will break. Not too hard to change out. ARB has replacements and will need the engraved serial number off the locker. I would change it out if I had it all apart again.
Hopefully yours isn't the oldest one. But you (and I) can upgrade to the newer model that engineered the plastic piece out of the design for $1100!
For me, the rear wouldn't unlock. For you, I don't quite know how that could make your gear chew itself up, but to my surprise, there is a plastic piece in the old models that can and will break. Not too hard to change out. ARB has replacements and will need the engraved serial number off the locker. I would change it out if I had it all apart again.
Hopefully yours isn't the oldest one. But you (and I) can upgrade to the newer model that engineered the plastic piece out of the design for $1100!
- Thread starter
- #30
Thank you for the info. Indeed, I hope I do not have the oldest version. $1100 more what a great deal.If the locker is the oldest model like the rear one in mine, ARB used a PLASTIC ring cage thingy to control the internal metal locking ring. If it broke and a sizable chunk of plastic lodged itself inside the spider gears some how, or didn't allow the metal locking ring to fully retract and disengage, you could have ........
For me, the rear wouldn't unlock. For you, I don't quite know how that could make your gear chew itself up, but to my surprise, there is a plastic piece in the old models that can and will break. Not too hard to change out. ARB has replacements and will need the engraved serial number off the locker. I would change it out if I had it all apart again.
Hopefully yours isn't the oldest one. But you (and I) can upgrade to the newer model that engineered the plastic piece out of the design for $1100!
And what a great idea of using plastic. Luckily there are no massive forces at work or any large chunks of metal spinning at relatively high RPM's inside of a high heat somewhat corrosive environment. GOD... If you had an environment like that to worry about. I would think plastic would be a bad choice. (He said dripping with sarcasm.)
Argh!!! Sorry to hear that! I've not done gears on mine yet, so not much help in that arena, and I have the e-locker as well, so not familiar with the ARB lockers either. In KC I'd know where to send you for a good gear shop....but in Charlotte, I'm no help.
- Thread starter
- #32
Yeah, I have never had to deal with a failure like this before. My e-lockers and diff on my other FZJ80 have been bullet proof. One of the reasons I never went to larger tires. I didn't want to screw with anything that was working so well as the factory setup.
I have got some feelers out in the local club house section here on MUD. Hopefully someone can point me into the right direction for a good DIFF specialist. Thanks for all the help though.It should still be cheaper than a transmission though. In my eyes I am still in the black. $11,500 for a rig built like this with only 152k on it. Yeah I will throw some more $$$ at it to get it back perfect. I am still happy as a Pig in Poop.
Awesome. That'd be my feeling too. Especially since the seals and birfs looked like new. At the end of the day, you're still in at a great price, with added peace of mind.
Make sure you post pictures of the carnage.
Obviously it could be just about anything inside the housing, but the most common failure area we have seen in front diff problems is the pinion bearings. Once they get loose, it is downhill from there. Can only guess it is caused from pinion preload being a bit too loose? Is there any play in the diff flange? Up n down, lefty righty? Inny outy? Some rotational play is normal. John
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- #36
I will check that. How much damage could it have caused to the ARB locker? Or is that a "you don't know until you're in there" situation?
Pinion shaft and pinion nut. Your tranny project won't be complete until you remove your shaft and nuts.
It had to be said.
It had to be said.
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- #38
And the win goes to...[emoji106]
@Lexonroids nice avatar. I choked on my coffee and now it's everywhere. Very nice.
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- #40
And the win goes to...[emoji106]
You're welcome. Any time I can give someone a chuckle, I call it a win.