needed a new rear axle no prob...took it to the shop. the end. I go to pick it up and a guy shows me a few small pieces of metal that he says they "scooped" out from the bottom of my differential. My truck has 50K miles on it. How concerned do i need to be? Is this common? Im not sure where the pieces came from either I just know that they are not suppose to be there!....any advice would be great.

 

Those would be "c-clips". Do a search on here, there's probably enough posts to keep you reading for days...

 

No..........no.............. NO!
They are not "C" clips.
C clips hold the axle's in place.
I believe what you have there, are pieces of the infamous and dreaded clutch pack retaining clips, commonly and incorectly refered to as "c clips".
Do you have a stock LSD?
If you do, then this is probably your issue.
These little clips that have a small "W" like shape at the end of them, snap. Usually it's the small "w" shape that snaps off the clip. This allows the rest of the clip, complete now with a sharp edge, to work it's way out of it's retaining pocket.
This sharp edge then grinds and cuts into the carrier as it spins and if not caught early enough, a complete and whole new rear axle is necessary as the carrier will have deep grooves cut into it, weakening it.
Please, if you do have the stock lsd do yourself a BIG favour and if your covered by a warranty, get it looked at urgently, quoting the issue as a "broken clutch pack retaining clip in the lsd".
If you say "C clip issue" to them, they usually don't have a clue usually what people are talking about????
If you have no warranty, open the pumpkin and remove the clips yourself, before further damage ocurrs. If you have small metal sparklies in the diff oil, the damage has already started as this is the ground up carrier your seeing in the diff oil. This works it's way around the entire axle causing bearing failures in the axle's and the ring and pinion etc.
I pulled the remaining 2 clips left in place in my diff, as 2 had already worked there way out found like you in the bottom of the diff and were causing damage. I ran without any clips for well over 20,000+ without issue.
I believe these clips are not necessary only being used in the assembly of the clutch packs on installation and you can run without them. I can't say this for sure, but that's the consensus on other forums, bourne out somwhat by my running around for the 20K+ miles without issue.
I saved up during this time and eventually installed a Detroit TruTrac to finally sort my problem out and give me peace of mind. The trucks rear end is now so much better!
If you have this issue, you MUST do something about it ASAP urgent!!
I do hope this helps?
Sorry about the long post.
Al.

 

Here's some pictures of what my damaged LSD looked like.
There are 4 clips two each side of the crown wheel.
Hope this helps?
AL.

 

Was there any actual damage? Often these things can come out and not break anything. If you can find all the pieces and there is no damage, then you're home free.

 

Lol, relax Al. that's why hammer said "c clips", with quotes. I've only seen a few threads on here that are actually about c clips, and maybe a hundred on "c clips".


and I think I agree, pull them out before they fall out on their own inside the diff.

 

[QUOTE=xfeejayx;1605044]Lol, relax Al.

Yes I know........ sorry Hammer lol.
I'm relaxed..........but a little frustrated that this just has not been addressed by Dodge.
It's disgracful, that Dodge did not recall these trucks for this issue. But hey......It all comes down to money. They can't be bothered by the thousands that must have been plagued by this problem in comparison to the amount of trucks they sold.
This has got to be the number 1 issue that affects early Hemi's. That and warped rotors.
Al.

 

wow... always overwhelmed with the help i get on DF. Thanks a lot abarmby. Im going to scoot up to the shop and ask them if they saw any damage, then probably just take the "c-clips" out myself...or do you think replacing them would be a wiser choice. Thanks

Jake

 

Abarmby, please explain how to take these out!
I posted this question earlier, if they can safely be removed with no side effects and didn't get a straight answer. I will work on my truck this weekend and remove mine.

 

Totp