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Friday I broke my front 4.88 ring gear out on Sledge Hammer. I was idling along through a relatively easy area with the front ARB unlocked when I heard a bang. Turned out to be a recurring noise every 12 feet or so. Ran what I could through the easy spots. Bad Karma pulled me, or let me winch off him when I got stuck. Finally got off the trail with his help and the help of others in our group. Thanks guys!
Pulled my axle apart Sunday night and found lots of metal chunks in the dif housing.
Here's the cleaned up gears. There is one ring gear tooth (arrow) completely missing to the root. I think this is probably what initially broke. I think the other teeth and the pinion damage I caused trying to drive out as best I could.
<IMG width=400 height=300 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/brokengear.jpg">
I checked out the third member pretty closely when I disassembled it and here is what I found:
Wear pattern looked fine
Backlash was about 0.013"
Pinion preload was essentially zero (expected)
Pinion endplay was zero
Pinion nut still staked down fine
All bearings looked very good
Crush sleeve looked good
All hardware down tight
This ring gear was installed about 14 years ago and I added the ARB to it a little over ten years ago. It is a Richmond gear set and for what it's worth I have probably put over 150k miles on the truck since this set was first installed. Obviously, I haven't put that much mileage on this gear set since it is the front set.
I think it just finally spit a tooth due to fatigue. This non-OEM Toy stuff just does not last.......
Anyway.....gotta get it all back together for the AZ Jamboree this Friday.....
Jay
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]
Pulled my axle apart Sunday night and found lots of metal chunks in the dif housing.
Here's the cleaned up gears. There is one ring gear tooth (arrow) completely missing to the root. I think this is probably what initially broke. I think the other teeth and the pinion damage I caused trying to drive out as best I could.
<IMG width=400 height=300 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/brokengear.jpg">
I checked out the third member pretty closely when I disassembled it and here is what I found:
Wear pattern looked fine
Backlash was about 0.013"
Pinion preload was essentially zero (expected)
Pinion endplay was zero
Pinion nut still staked down fine
All bearings looked very good
Crush sleeve looked good
All hardware down tight
This ring gear was installed about 14 years ago and I added the ARB to it a little over ten years ago. It is a Richmond gear set and for what it's worth I have probably put over 150k miles on the truck since this set was first installed. Obviously, I haven't put that much mileage on this gear set since it is the front set.
I think it just finally spit a tooth due to fatigue. This non-OEM Toy stuff just does not last.......
Anyway.....gotta get it all back together for the AZ Jamboree this Friday.....
Jay
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]
[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: ROKTOY ]