[RamblinJeepYJ]

After biting the bullet and replacing my FUBAR rear axle with a brand spanking new one from ECGS, I finally test drove it. On a midly slippery dirt road at slow speeds in 2wd (Front Hubs locked though) everything shuffled around a little bit and found its place and I tightened everything up a little bit and it was rolling very well. I decided to put it in 4wd and I felt the front end pulling to the right mostly but both sides and I had to fight to keep control so I put it back in 2wd while still fighting for control and there was a hugeee bang and I obviously stopped and made sure everything was still attached and everything looked ok. I started driving again (2wd) and it drove just fine all the way back home. Once in my driveway (muddy and uneven) I put it back in 4wd and it wasn't nearly as bad and didn't produce the loud bang. I tried 4wd one more time on the road and the front shaft bound up so bad it didn't want to move even after i took it out of 4wd and unlocked the hubs. I eventually just had to force it down the road until it finally let go with an even louder bang. Although i was convinced my tcase or tranny had blown up I tried to shift into gear and it went no problems. Drove like nothing happened after that. I have since changed my underwear lol and checked the tcase fluid level and it is definitely low.
94 YJ 4.0, AX15 and 231 tcase. PO installed Scout Dana 44 front and rear with supposed 4.88 gears.

My thoughts are, seeing as this has absolutely never happened before is either 1: PO lied and I don't have 4.88's or 2:ECGS put in the wrong gears.

I will attempt to check my gears tomorrow both front and rear and see if there is a mismatch and I will top off my tcase fluid to rule that factor out

Any help or advice from the Jeep gods will be tremendously appreciated as I am working off logic not experience

 

[C.L.]

Sounds an awful lot like you have mismatched gears. Something like 4.56/4.88 wouldn't really be noticeable on loose dirt or mud, but would bind right up on pavement.

A quick search of a Scout forum pulls this:

"For Dana rear axle model 44 for Scout applications the B/M is: 603882-x. The 7th digit identifies the ratio, and differential type. -1=3.07 STD, -2=3.07 L/S, -3=3.54 STD, -4=3.54 L/S, -5=4.09 STD, -6=4.09 L/S, -7=4.27 STD, -8=4.27 L/S, -9=3.73 STD, -10=3.73 L/S, -11=2.72 STD, -12=2.72 L/S, -13=3.31 STD, -14=3.31 L/S, -15=4.55 STD, -16=4.78 STD"

The last two are concerning, as they would be CLOSE to 4.88, but 4.88 appears to be missing from the stock options...

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

Thank you that is very helpful and even more so for my original speculation to have another vote behind it. I will be counting my gears focusing mainly on the the scout axle (id be livid if ECGS put in the wrong gears). 3 questions. 1: Can 4.88's be installed in my scout dana 44? 2: Can I drive in 2wd in the interim without pulling my front shaft? 3: Just to consider all devils involved could it hopefully just be low fluid or something stupid like that?

 

[WICruiser]

As long as you do not engage the 4 wheel drive there should not be any problem running until you can sort it out. Assuming you have mismatched gears the problem is in 4 wheel drive you have the front wheels trying the turn the front drive shaft end of the transfer case at a different speed than the rear drive shaft end of the transfer case so somethings has to give. Wheel slip is the easiest but if you get traction on the tires the next weakest link is the ring/pinion interface.

 

[RednekYJ]

Why would you buy a new axle and have it geared without knowing what you needed? If this is the case you just learned an expensive lesson.

 

[DREDnot]

Being Low on fluid is most likely not the case. It really sounds like mismatched gears. Pull the covers, check for damage, check the ratios and post back.

 

[89Saharagreen]

Do not drive in 4wd at this point with two loud bangs you may have already damaged something.

As far as re gearing the scout axle assuming the carrier is the right size regearing the front to match the rear is doable.

Tcase fluid is not the issue if it was you would not have driven home because it would have blown and you would have gone no where.

Did you install new rear axle yourself?

Also why did you change axles to begin with?

Was there an issue before?

Chief

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

I had a buddy count gears when I first got the Jeep and that is apparently the lesson Ive learned lol. The PO insisted multiple times that it had 4.88 gears. I will be counting myself tomorrow and will certainly give the update.

I did install the new axle myself. I replaced the original axle because the bearings had burned out entirely and my axle shaft was riding on the axle housing and being held in for god knows how long while towing a 4000lbs trailer for 2500 miles. I know thats very wrong but I am poor and had no choice but to keep going. After we finally made it I was able to take it apart and determine it was FUBAR. Therefore the replacement was necessary.

Even with that being the case it rolled perfectly well and Ive had no issues with the tranny or tcase at all.

I quickly pulled the front shaft today just for reassurance and drove in 2wd on mud dirt roads and pavement (within new axle break-in parameters) and she drove with absolutely 0 issues.

I know there are write-ups everywhere and I will pursue them when the time comes but I'm asking preliminarily if doing a regear is a doable task for me to do without a shop? I am mechanically inclined but unfortunately all of my experience has been without much guidance

 

[Mowrangler]

The gear ratio is usually stamped on the outer diameter of the ring gear , I usually rely on that because it is easy to miscount teeth.

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

no stamps or tags. This axle is quite old and has been messed with plenty of times before I got to it so theres nothing easy about finding parts or numbers on anything. Tomorrow I will be working on it and I will post pics of what exactly I'm working with here.

 

[amiller]

A couple of years back, I put a G2 RockJock 60 in my TJ. I ordered it with 4.56 gears and they sent it with 5.13... just saying that mistakes do sometimes happen. G2 made it right with me, but the bind that it put on my transfer case was beyond belief. Thankfully, it was for less than 10 ft. in my driveway. I had to jack the front end up off of the ground to relieve the bind. Im sure you will get it figured out.

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

A couple of years back, I put a G2 RockJock 60 in my TJ. I ordered it with 4.56 gears and they sent it with 5.13... just saying that mistakes do sometimes happen. G2 made it right with me, but the bind that it put on my transfer case was beyond belief. Thankfully, it was for less than 10 ft. in my driveway. I had to jack the front end up off of the ground to relieve the bind. Im sure you will get it figured out.

Thanks man I appreciate the input I will check that out. Did they just send you new gears or what?

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

Just counted the old axles gears (matches front) and i counted 50 ring gear teeth and 11 pinyon teeth. 50/11 = 4.545454. SO the PO lied and my friend miscounted. Which confirms that the problem is mismatched gears.

I would post pictures but I dont know how.

Is a regearing of my front scout Dana 44 axle with ARB locker from 4.54 to 4.88 a doable job for me with a complete set of regular hand tools? I have not torn into an axle before but I am certainly be willing to and will practice on my FUBAR axle because the insides are still intact. I know nobody is able to tell me what im capable of but it would make me feel better if I heard that somebodys done it before and lived to tell the story

 

[RednekYJ]

Setting up gears is not a diy job. You have to set preload and backlash. You should be able to get it done for $3-400 if you provide the gears and install kit.

Are the gears grenaded? If not, I would be looking at the tcase.

 

[RamblinJeepYJ]

I haven't gotten into the front axle because i have to drive jeep everyday (2wd hubs unlocked) but I tested it out today in 2wd with hubs locked then 4low 1st 2nd and reverse in mud, wet dirt, ditches and other conditions in the pasture and it did really well. No bangs no binds no pulling no nothing. I got out and let it go in 4low 1st and was watching for binds in the driveshaft or excessive slippage somewhere but I couldn't find any. I also drained some of the tcase fluid and there was just a littlee bit of crap in the fluid that I can't say for sure it wasn't dirt but the fluid was still bright red and plentiful.

Once i get my hand on some more gear oil il likely see whats up just for clarification but its looking like Im going to start scraping up some more pennies for the poor ol girl. Thank you everybody for all of your input.

 

[bergovoy]

the RING GEAR has stampings on it.. not the housing... the actual ring gear... look on the perimeter of the ring gear.. look for a long series of numbers....and forget almost all of them... remember the last four digits...

then divide the first two numbers by the second two numbers.

my diff is

3911 so 39/11 = 3:45

that would be the gear ratio... counting teeth wont work... as there is not much difference between 4.10 and 4.11

 

[spcrec88]

the RING GEAR has stampings on it.. not the housing... the actual ring gear... look on the perimeter of the ring gear.. look for a long series of numbers....and forget almost all of them... remember the last four digits...

then divide the first two numbers by the second two numbers.

my diff is

3911 so 39/11 = 3:45

that would be the gear ratio... counting teeth wont work... as there is not much difference between 4.10 and 4.11

4.10 and 4.11 are compatible from my understandings lol

 

[C.L.]

the RING GEAR has stampings on it.. not the housing... the actual ring gear... look on the perimeter of the ring gear.. look for a long series of numbers....and forget almost all of them... remember the last four digits...

then divide the first two numbers by the second two numbers.

my diff is

3911 so 39/11 = 3:45

that would be the gear ratio... counting teeth wont work... as there is not much difference between 4.10 and 4.11

What do you think those two numbers are?