Hey guys, back again.

Last week my rear end started making a howling noise so i put it up on jacks and popped the cover off.

Long story short I believe one of the retainer clips for the LSD clutch pack broke, and got ground up in the gears, and took out some bearings. A few good sized chunks, and lots and lots of glitter in the rear end. It probably doesn't help that the oil was BLACK....
I have gone the route of rebuilding it, but Im not entirely sure what I need.

What do I need to look for when inspecting the gears to determine if they need to be replaced? Theres no chunks missing or anything but there are some shiny spots on the spider/side gears.

I vaguely recall something about with a LSD when you spin one tire the other tire should spin the same way?? (or do i have that backwards?)
Does the fact that the other tire doesn't even spin mean anything about the LSD?

I know about the side bearing adjusters that need a special 36mm tool to reach down the axle housing and loosen the adjusters, other than that is there anything else I might need?

Overall is it really a bad job? I've rebuild a couple heavy duty rockwell diffs, but never an automotive application one. Keep in mind this truck has about 165,000 miles on it and realistically i only need it to survive another 30,000 miles.
ill try and add some photos of my findings and let me know what you think.

My trucks a 2001 Ram 1500 QC 4 door, short box. 5.9 Magnum with the 9.25 chrysler diff with LSD

Thanks a lot guys,
Erik.

 

found this on the bottom of diff




these are scratches on the carrier, is it anything to worry about?


i wish i took more pictures but i didn't, what do you guys think about it? if the gears don't appear to have any gouging can they be saved?

 

Shiny isn't a bad thing. Just shows you are getting good contact there. Might be a tad more worn than normal, simply due to the old lube not doing its job properly.

Bearings and seals, along with the LSD rebuild kit should be all you need, provided you don't find any more damage when you tear it down.

I would be tempted to check pinion depth, and measure backlash as it sits now, and then try and get it as close to those specs as possible when you put it all back together.

 

Okay good to know about the gears. Unless I find some damage elsewhere I think that's my plan.
Any idea how hard the carrier bearings are to get off? I think I'll pay a shop to press off the pinion bearings, are the carrier bearings on there tight as well?

 

Yep. Pressed on too. Have the shop do those for you at the same time.

 

So I've been trying to track down some parts for it and a few people have told me to not even bother replacing parts, and just put a whole used rear end in it. Their saying that when the clips break off, the grind against the housing and weaken where the bearing caps bolt onto. I know this does happen but is it really likely I need to replace the whole rear axle housing??

 

Tear it down, and see what kind of damage you have. Take it from there.

 

okay guys so i got it all apart, and not really surprised at what i found. broken LSD clutch retaining clip, and damaged bearing caps/housing.

The damage is pretty substantial, and money is tight, but considering the age, and mileage of the vehicle I'm pretty certain I'm just going to proceed with the rebuild. I am however interested in what you guys have to say. With your honest opinion, what do you think of the damage? any reason i really should not replace the housing/bearing caps?

FYI, all the bearings were roasted, especially the front pinion bearing.

Heres some pictures of the damage.

 

Those are kinda chewed up.... If you can find another rear, in decent condition, replace the whole thing. Can't just put new caps on it. They are precision machined...... and even a couple thousandths off will grenade any new parts fairly quickly.

 

Good to know about the caps. Unfortunately I phoned all the wreckers around here last week, and nobody had a complete rear axle assembly. Is the problem just that the part that is chewed up is right where to bolt threads are, and could possibly weaken it?