i was out 4wheeling on the weekend, puttin er to work pretty hard as we were led to some mud bogs <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> I HATE MUD


anyways my diff started acting up yesterday, after going aroudn a corner, about 30-50 ft down the road the locker would clunk..going around corners it sounded realllly bad, loud clunking and banging. I pulled in the alley, got a friend to drive and:
1. the driveshaft spins a lot before engaging the tires..like a half turn.
2. when it did engage it was harsh and the diff would jump (similar to axlewrap, which i havent had any problems with up to now)

i pulled the diff, gears are all good locker looks to be in good shape with no broken teeth or springs (Aussie locker)
there is movement in the pinion that shouldnt be there.


Any ideas??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

thanks ina advance

Need more info.....before it went into the mud was anything changed recently? For example....the locker and gears were installed over a year ago and all was well until the mud last weekend.....or was it a situation where the locker was installed just hours before the mud romp?

locker/gears installed about 3-4months ago..
drove home from the trail, to school and around town a couple days with no problems. Went to carwash, and then it started (didnt even wash off the axle cuz there was no change machine)
i know its broad, just looking for any idea

Does the Aussie have the thrust washers behind the sidegears? If those were left out, it might do what you describe. Got any good clear close-up pics?

The more I think about your issue...the half turn of pinion slop...it's just kinda vague. If the backlash setting of the gears opened up a tremendous amount that could do that. You say the pinion bearing preload seems ok(no vertical play in the pinion). No in/out play in the pinion?

What ratio and what gears are they?

Hey, In regards to the 1/2 turn, should there be any? I had Detroits installed in April and have between a 1/4 and 1/2 turn. I just noticed it over the weekend when I was lubin' her up. I get a noise every now and then from down below (when starting out in 1st) and I think that might be the problem. Should I be concerned or is this amount of turn normal.

Detroits have a fair amount of backlash in them, and yours sounds about normal.
That's a good reason to use caution with Detroits in the front.





Fred

hey sorry for the delay
there is no play in the pinion. a friend who knows gears really well tightened up the backlash a bit but said it all looked pretty good.

between 30 and 45 degrees slop is the norm.



calgary4runner--- You say about a half turn of play? That's 180 degrees of rotation....double check it again. I can't think of anything that would cause any more than about 90 degrees.

Thanks for the info!