I've got an 02 QC w/ the LSD rear end
The retaining clips for the LSD have broken and machined out part of the bearing cap.....

My question....
Am I okay to drive (till this weekend) with the busted clips removed? No pressure on the clutch disks.

I have to get a new rear end housing, so that is a no brainer, but I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road if the clips were still holding something important.

Lee

 

you should be fine, just lay off the big smokey burnouts and take it easy. i imagine it will just act like an open diff. aka one wheel wonder. But yea just take it easy and get it fixed asap, bc if your bearing cap is messed up that is nothing you really want to mess with. Good luck and be safe.

 

That's what I figured....but I wanted to get another opinion. Thanks

Thanks,
Lee

 

i drove mine for who knows how long till i went to change the fluid the one day and found a **** load of metal on the magnet so i'd say your good my was probably run 5-10k miles if not more like that

 

Yeah, me too
Mine had been making a funny jerking feeling around right turns for a while.
I assumed that it was just the LSD clutches wearing out.
But it started to do it on mild acceleration, so I figured that I should open it up and look.
The clips had come out of the passengers side carrier and have cut about half way to the bolts on the bearing cap and housing.
I figure that as long as I'm not burning out or towing anything I'll be okay till this weekend.

I found a 2000 axle at the salvage yard for $540. Everything looks okay in it except for the pinion seal.

All in all, it could have been a lot worse.

Lee

 

I bought a 03 dakota with a 4.7 and the nine and a quarter rear end. were can i get a locker for that? and what is the best one to get?

 

Welcome to the club. My differential is due to be serviced in 9,000 miles. The first time they had to replace everything inside under warranty due to clip failure. I'm covered under warranty with a $100 deductible until 80,000 miles, or 8-2012. If the next service has the same consequences as the first, I'll do the service at 79,950 miles after that so it would still be fixed under warranty. After it's out of warranty, I'm going aftermarket.

 

wow 3 noobs in one thread all asking pretty much the same question!!!! hahahahaha

 

Did the same thing. Replace it sooner rather than later (since you know its a problem) IMO

 

Swapped the rear end out this weekend.
Decided to change the brakes, shocks, axle and pinion seals while everything was disconnected.

The total cost me about $750, and 10-12 hours.
I called a dealer and they wanted $178 to change a pinion seal, so I can only imagine what an entire new housing, brakes, shocks and the installation would have been.

The only word of advice I would give to anybody reading this is to check the rear end often. It's going to be a PITA, but I think I'm going to open the housing every 10K and inspect the retaining clips so I don't trash another housing.

Oh yeah,
Loudpetal45, thanks for chiming in with your helpful post.
It's too bad you felt that ridiculing us "n00bs" would be more entertaining than passing along a tiny bit of your incredible knowledge base.