I'd say most of your problem is the 110,000 miles part. Your rear end wore out, that simple. My truck is an 04 Quad Cab Hemi. and I never tow in OD.That's why they make towing packages and we never tow in OD we simply push the button on the end of the shifting **** and it goes into the towing gear which is one gear below OD.


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You know, that could be very true. You've towed a much heavier load with this truck, much farther. It could have blown up with nothing back there. At 100,000+ miles on the rear end, a minor flaw from day one maybe and it could have just been it's time. But once repaired correctly, I'd go right back to using it lke you did before. What happened to you IS very rare, and there is no reason to believe it would just happen again...

 

I have seen this happen once before on a 11.25 rear end on a desiel. the pinon seal let go and all the fluid leaked out and the pionon jambed up and come throught the case. I would be supprise if this happend to you by the look of all the fluid all over the place.

 

ok so i talked to the guy down at JTE (Jeep & Truck Enginnering) that does all the testing and that fun stuff on the axles...he told me that what happens is when the axle is built, the factory that builds them builds it to the higher end of the specs then it should be...so he said what happens is when you get the truck and floor it, the specs will change and thus result in failure at some point....he also told me that this trucks have a problem with binding up (or somethin like that...kinda quit payin attention cause too busy lookin at the new rearend of the 09 ram lol) but basically he said it would shoot the pin through the case and thats exactly what looks like happened to you.......

couple ways to solve the problem is get a bigger diff cover that will hold more fluid, switch to 75-90 fliud when you tow, and even try putting in some sort of air ducts to direct air to the rearend as he said that is one of the biggest factors in how well these rearends hold up....

hope this helps

 

In another topic, C-clips I think, someone posted how they found a ring gear mounting bolt in the bottom of the case when they changed the fluid. If a loose c-clip or bolt gets between the gears, the thing could grenade on you.
An experienced Tech should be able to get a good idea why yours took a dump on you. You need to find out if it's still covered by your powertrain warranty.
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I just bought a mag hy-tech cover an it's awesome. Holds 2 more qts. over stock and has a magnetic dipstick to check fluid leveland a drain plug.

 

I wonder if mag-hytech makes those nice finned covers for the 9.25. they make em for the diesel rear ends and they seem to be pretty popular.

wowo as I mention it a guy above me posts it that obvisouly they do lol.

 

It is hard to diagnose from afar
but after looking at the pictures
my guess is that the following happened;

1. Pinion nut became loose, which took pre-load off pinion bearings
and allowed pinion seal to shift and begin to leak.

2. Leak became so bad differential lube was mostly lost.

3. All bearings and fits began to get hot, wear quickly and get loose.

4. Pinion gear tooth over-rode ring gear tooth
which put enough force on ring gear to cause it to break loose
and go down into the case like that.

This is somewhat unusual because in most cases of 9.25 diff failure
the pinion bearings tear up first and the pinion teeth loose contact
with the ring teeth, rather than over-riding them.

It is lucky there was not a fire.

In my 190,000 miles of use with a 9.25:

Pinion bearings have come near failure (very noisy) once.
Pinion seal has failed twice.
Pinion nut has come loose from proper torque 3 times.

In the 1980s the mining company I worked for had several pickups with Chrysler 9.25 differentials and I don't remember any of them failing in any way...giving no trouble in the first 150,000 miles or so. 8.75 and Dana 60 diffs also went more than 150,000 miles with little problems.

Manufacture of the present 9.25 definitely has quality control problems
that started around 1993.

It is a good (but long overdue) change that Chrysler is using the Mercedes style differential, which also claims to have less friction and improves MPG slightly.

 

allright, with all that said, and what you guys know about what happened........

Should i feel safe hauling with this still?

At the end of september, i need to make another trip hauling that trailer, its about 600miles round trip. I have to be honest, i dont feel safe towing with this thing anymore, just because of this recent problem.

The rear end that is now in the truck, has 50k on it, and the rear end was just serviced the day the new rear end was installed, i had them check the fluid and refil it.

should i be worried? is there anything else i can check before that trip? Anything i should look for?


thanks


Taylor

 

Load it up and go.

You experienced a failure that had little to do with how you were using it. I'd suggest that you turn the o/d off to save the transmission, but that has nothing to do with the rear end. If you tow regularly, change the oil out of the diff once a year or so and you'll be fine. If adding a larger diff cover that will increase the capacity of the rear end will make you more comfortable, then go for it.

The best thing you can do right now is to tow. You've been shaken pretty good, but there's no reason not to get back out there and go.

David