Anyone ever change front spider gears??

[nole99]

Just curious of anything to look out for .....

sounds as though my thrust washers in the carrier have disintigrated and are the source of the remaining clunks I am getting. Removing the diff and driving 2wd and all sounds are gone ....

just gotta crack that diff open and get busy ... never done it before and was looking for some insight ...

thanks in advance

 

[jasonb]

you do have a CV outer or something still there holding the wheel on right?

spider gears come out fairly easily, should be a simple process to replace them. if you can get that diff out, you can handle it.

 

[nole99]

you do have a CV outer or something still there holding the wheel on right?

spider gears come out fairly easily, should be a simple process to replace them. if you can get that diff out, you can handle it.

Yeah the wheel is still mounted to the spindle and hub. Just removed the diff and cv shafts so it could be driven so we could isolate the clunk to the diff.

First we drove without the front driveshaft ... clunk still there ... in fact was more noticable without any torque beig applied to the diff ... so we figured must be the diff ... so I searched google for differential clunk and found alot of clunking associatted with thrust washers or worn spiders gears

reider racing has the complete spider kit for $80 shipped and I remember reading the locker post so figured the install would be similar ....

ahhh now to find the time .... I am acctually getting about 60 more miles per tank of gas now with just 2WD vs AWD and the noise is gone

also considering going to 4.10 seeing the rear is due for service in 8K and the front will be out reider quoted $490.00 for ring & pinion master kit and chrome covers

ahh choices

 

[jasonb]

unless the AWD setup is different from a 4wd setup, you need to put some parts back in there! driving with the wheel just bolted to the hub is not good. you need the CV or the outer part of it to hold the bearings together from what i understand... this is how i understand it at least. ask jefe about it, he found out the hard way.

 

[nole99]

unless the AWD setup is different from a 4wd setup, you need to put some parts back in there! driving with the wheel just bolted to the hub is not good. you need the CV or the outer part of it to hold the bearings together from what i understand... this is how i understand it at least. ask jefe about it, he found out the hard way.

When we removed the cv shaft fron the hub assembly we replaced them with makeshift old cv shaft outer piece contraptions to hold the bearings in place and avoid theCV shafts thrash around in the front end and tearing things up.

The diff was only taken out for diagnostic purposes, truck was driven less than a mile to and from a bumpy lot to see what noises would be heard if any and at speeds less than 20

I would not drive with that setup as I would imagine there would be vibrations

Any how I took her to the shop with my notes and hopes that they come to the same conclusion as I just do not have the time to dig into it this month and would rather have it done under warranty ... we shall see ... I am growing tired of one thing after the other ... I hope it is just warranty gods looking down prior to the expiration in 8K

 

[jasonb]

When we removed the cv shaft fron the hub assembly we replaced them with makeshift old cv shaft outer piece contraptions to hold the bearings in place and avoid theCV shafts thrash around in the front end and tearing things up.

perfect! that's what i was getting at. you can drive with that setup for a while though. i know a few folks have done so for months.

good luck with the fix.

 

[nole99]

perfect! that's what i was getting at. you can drive with that setup for a while though. i know a few folks have done so for months.

good luck with the fix.

Thanks for the replies and encouragement ...

I guess after I re read your post I saw the "outer" and I guess the contraption qualifies as outer.

It was funny when the ole lady asked why I would keep the old broken shafts and I replied you never know ....

How was the highway driving vibration wise with just the outer for those who have done it.

 

[jasonb]

yeah.. that's what i meant by the outers. i never heard anyone complain about vibes or anything. josh adams ran his ranger with the outers i bought off of jefe for a few months. he didn't mention anything out of the ordinary. i'll be doing it soon while i do some front end work so i'll let you know!

 

[Jefe]

How was the highway driving vibration wise with just the outer for those who have done it.

I ran like that for a good 6 months before I started the SAS. Even drove to Moab and back. No problems whatsoever. . .and better gas mileage.

 

[nole99]

I ran like that for a good 6 months before I started the SAS. Even drove to Moab and back. No problems whatsoever. . .and better gas mileage.

I hear the better gas mileage I have been getting about 60 miles more per tank without the front drive shaft, only problem is ya cannot park on an incline without using the parking brake becasue the truck will roll

I am actually looking to get another set of outer cv's becasue I sent mine to a buddy who is having similar problems.

If anyone knows of someone looking to get rid of broken cv's or just the outer I would be interested becasue I am not sure when I will see mine again.
I found a cheap set in a local boneyard for $50, but it is u pull it and I need more hours in a day already ...

I am starting to lean towards just running 2wd for the rest of summer while I do a complete rebuild of the front diff, or find a low mileage one in the bone yard for reasonable $$

 

[nole99]

I ran like that for a good 6 months before I started the SAS. Even drove to Moab and back. No problems whatsoever. . .and better gas mileage.

I am planning on dropping the frotn diff this weekend and driving the next month or two with just the outer CV's .... couple of questions ...

When you ran the outer cv long term what torque did you crank the cv nut to? I am just planning on torqueing it as tight as I can get as my torque wrench only goes to 150 ft/lbs ... Have about 3K of highway driving to do in the coming month and a half ... cannot stand the clankity clank ... but want to be safe and not damage the bearing/hub as they are new

I am thinking I may have ring and pinion wear as well .... what would I look for?

I have not decided what route I will take yet ...but one of my options is a local bone yard who will sell me used front diff with 25K on it for $280...w/ 1 yr warranty... anything to look out for ... as in dried up bearings or anything else ... will probably put the spider gear kit in whatever I do as it is sitting in the den waiting ...

I was thinking of doing a complete rebuild with help from a mechanic buddy ... but with the bone yard price I could save alot of work hours with a swap in ...

As always ... feedback much appreciatted

 

[Jefe]

When you ran the outer cv long term what torque did you crank the cv nut to? I am just planning on torqueing it as tight as I can get as my torque wrench only goes to 150 ft/lbs ...

As tight as it would normally be. . . (200 ft/lbs?) Its about as tight as humanly possible w/ an 18" breaker bar.

The junkyard diff sounds like a good deal.