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Chewed gears

3K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  cranbiz 
#1 ·
2015 2 dr jk sport. 3.5 in lift 35 in tires. 3.21 gears, 144k KM. I was hearing popping when taking off from a stop the odd time, so I thought it was time for a differential check. Found some chewed gears. I'm debating on finally getting it re-geared to 4.56, or trading it in on a JL 4 door. I got a quote for $3000 Canadian for new gears, axle seals and u joints. Are the 2019 JLs as plagued by the steering issues and electrical issues like the 2018s?
Thanks
Justin


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#4 ·
Yep. You can just replace the spider gears. Not expensive and not difficult.

But with 35" tires I would regear from 3.21s to either 4.56 or 4.88 depending on elevation and how you drive off road.

I can't answer the question about JLs.
 
#5 ·
Since you are already considering getting a JL, I would just replace the spider gears which cost about $165 Cdn + installation. Seems your putting about 35k km yearly so wont be long till you hit 200k in that time any issues in the JL should be sorted out.
 
#8 ·
So I got my 4.88s installed. Its shifting alot better, maybe a little more pep but I'm feeling a pulsing vibration now at around 45mph. Has anyone else had this happen after a regear? Driveshaft hopefully and not the gears??

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#10 ·
The shop did just rebalance my tires. They usually do a great job. this time the guy who does it said they were a pain to balance and that he had to do a static balancing. One took upwards of 18oz of weights. The tires are almost 3 years old with about 60k km. This vibration feels different than an unbalanced tire though. If pulses, feels more like a driveline vibration.

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#11 ·
That could very well be the front driveshaft. At 144k with a 3.5” lift that is common. Remove the front driveshaft for a couple days and see if that does it. The driveshafts now turn at a higher rpm then they did with stock gears.

BTW. JLs are not problem free and also require gear swaps when going to bigger tires.


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#15 ·
The front driveshaft has the yoke you need according to the picture. It's plenty long and the front flange with the bolt-on u-bolt yoke.

Looks like the rear comes with the yokes you need according to the picture. And that little bit of extra length in the rear will do you good.

You'll want to get some adjustable control arms for the rear to get your pinion pointed in the right direction. You want about 0.5 degrees between the pinion and the driveshaft at the axle. The CV joint at the t-case does all the heavy lifting as far as the angle goes.
 
#17 ·
The switch to 4.88 gears will exacerbate any minimal driveline issues. Everything is spinning so much quicker any minor balance or alignment issues in the driveline will become very obvious. This happened with my TJ, turned out to be rear pinion yoke had a bend. Apples to oranges, but just pointing it out. Sounds like you narrowed it down to rear at least. Good luck

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#19 ·
Thanks. I'll try that with the rear. I am just going to order a new driveshaft that's the proper length. I also ordered some Rubicon express upper rear adjustable control arms to adjust my pinion angle. How are Yukon Driveshafts? I can have one here in 2 days from Amazon. Northridge 4 x 4 has the Adam's but they are out of stock and will take up to 2 weeks. Here is the Yukon shaft.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01N3QLX7U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_t6PFDbVSN02B5
I appreciate all the help this forum is amazing. [emoji111]

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#21 ·
Go with the flange they send to bolt to the pinion. They will send a new transfer case yoke, use that. If you change the pinion flange to a 1310, you can eliminate the adapter but your driveshaft will be that much too short. It should work but you want as much spline engaged in the slip joint.
 
#26 ·
after I had my gears installed I chased down a vibration for awhile before finally finding out the installers bent the pinion flange on the rear end while beating out the driveshaft. I don't know if it was just that tight or they left a bolt in because the driveline was full of hammer marks on the end.
 
#27 ·
After about 640km on my new gears I could have sworn I heard metal grinding sounds 2 days in row, I could be going crazy. I looked under and found a leaking front pinion. Its going back to the shop Tuesday. Ahh. I'm still feeling a vibration at 60km after new front driveshaft and adjusting my rear pinion a little with adjustable upper control arms.


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#28 ·
After about 640km on my new gears I could have sworn I heard metal grinding sounds 2 days in row, I could be going crazy. I looked under and found a leaking front pinion. Its going back to the shop Tuesday. Ahh. I'm still feeling a vibration at 60km after new front driveshaft and adjusting my rear pinion a little with adjustable upper control arms.


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Interesting. It doesn't look like the actual shaft seal is leaking but rather where the seal is pressed into the housing.
 
#29 ·
So it went back to the mechanic who took off the diff covers and inspected. All is good no metal. He did order me a new pinion seal and crush collar and he will reinstall that and re set the bearing preload. Until then he put rtv on the outside of the seal. He shook my jeep down looking for rattles and play and found my upper ball joints have play. For f**k sakes that is my 4th set. I've been through stock, 2 x synergy and my latest ones are teraflex adjustable....what is going on??? They have only been on a year and a half and have been greased every tire rotation. He also said he heard some noises coming from the steering box and said maybe a bearing.

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#30 ·
Just go with the Dynatrac's. For what you have paid in ball joints, you would be ahead of the game now. Yeah, it's going to hurt a lot right now.

35" tires will stress your ball joints more than the stock tires.

I got 18 months out of a set of G2's split between 35" and 37" tires. I considered myself lucky to get that much time out of them.
 
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