d35 something broke lol

[glom742]

So, I was wheeling it pretty rough in a rock garden and started hearing rough poping in the front end. I looked down at the tire and when it pops, the tire juts out and vibrates pretty hard(2wd semi-lock and 33's where i should have had 35s at least was the funnest challenge i have ever had wheeling btw). Anyways i thought it was the auto hubs buttt i looked at them today and they look really good, no metal shavings or anything. I looked at everything else on the outside and it looks fine. I would intermittently have 4wd (probably the only reason i got through the trail) and the popping/clanging was much more active while climbing a rock while turning. Sooo the only thing i can think of is the gear teeth are worn down and causing the pinion to pop out, or the pinion bearings are so worn the pinion is able to slip of the teeth..... Any thoughts? I am probably going to have to break the diff apart regardless, but asking some more experienced people might save me some trouble

 

[rickybobby]

it ssounds to me like it could be a broken hub, when mine failed i couldnt see the problem, still have no idea what broke but a replacement hub fixed it

 

[glom742]

i hope so... the amount of work to get that front diff out scares me hahah.

 

[glom742]

crawled under it and did some further hub tests even though they looked good. and yup, the passenger side ticks every half turn of the axle shaft.... Hopefully this is the problem. Glad you got me to do extra tests... thanks!!

 

[rickybobby]

Any time, thats what were all here for, to help each other out. I suggest converting to manual hubs if you plan on keeping it for a while. The auto hubs are by far the weakest point in the front driveline on the 1st gen explorer

 

[cloaked_chaos]

I can guarantee you that the problem is one or both of your auto hubs. I had the same exact problem you are having. I fixed mine by having a friend custom make some rings to put inside the hub to take up the extra space from the spring in there that flattens over time.

Its not a great solution but I didn't have the money to get new hubs at the time. I have since switched to manual hubs and haven't looked back.

 

[wood1]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232754