replaced my busted diff. tonight
04-08-2009, 08:58 PM
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replaced my busted diff. tonight
man what an easy fix. i ended up getting a complete brand new diff. to replace the original one in my volcano. the original one ended up having 4 busted teeth on the ring gear. looking at it closer, it appears that these 4 teeth wore alot different than the others, and they are more worn down that the rest of the teeth on the ring gear. the 4 bad teeth are almost flattened out. there were a few chunks of teeth floating around indside the diff. one thing that puzzles me, is why is the entire underside of the diff case open?
i haven't really ran my truck in sand or that much dirt yet, but there was a ton of dirt inside the diff housing. there is just a big open hole in the bottom of the diff. case. sure, the diff case sits right against the bottom of the chassis, but dirt, sand, and junk will works it's way into the diff...and it will destroy the gears.
i don't know if this was a good idea or not, but i put a strip of duct tape over the big opening to cover it and maybe keep out some of the dirt. there is also a small opening in the rear of the diff case, which i left open for cooling purposes. i know that i may have defeated the purpose with my duct tape idea by leaving the rear opening un covered, but after i put the duct tape on the bottom , i realized that there had to be some opening in the diff. for cooling. so, dirt will probably still get in through this smaller hole, but i think that covering the big hole in the bottom of the case may help keep some of the dirt and junk out of it.
who knows, maybe i am over thinking it....but after only running my truck about 15 times, and then having to replace the diff...it made me think a little bit on how to prevent it from happening again. i think dirt was the main contributor to my ring gear problem....but maybe i'm wrong. the ring and pinion seem to be pretty darn hefty...maybe mine was just built with a bad ring gear to begin with ? i really don't know.
but i do know that it is ready to run again.
i haven't really ran my truck in sand or that much dirt yet, but there was a ton of dirt inside the diff housing. there is just a big open hole in the bottom of the diff. case. sure, the diff case sits right against the bottom of the chassis, but dirt, sand, and junk will works it's way into the diff...and it will destroy the gears.
i don't know if this was a good idea or not, but i put a strip of duct tape over the big opening to cover it and maybe keep out some of the dirt. there is also a small opening in the rear of the diff case, which i left open for cooling purposes. i know that i may have defeated the purpose with my duct tape idea by leaving the rear opening un covered, but after i put the duct tape on the bottom , i realized that there had to be some opening in the diff. for cooling. so, dirt will probably still get in through this smaller hole, but i think that covering the big hole in the bottom of the case may help keep some of the dirt and junk out of it.
who knows, maybe i am over thinking it....but after only running my truck about 15 times, and then having to replace the diff...it made me think a little bit on how to prevent it from happening again. i think dirt was the main contributor to my ring gear problem....but maybe i'm wrong. the ring and pinion seem to be pretty darn hefty...maybe mine was just built with a bad ring gear to begin with ? i really don't know.
but i do know that it is ready to run again.
04-08-2009, 10:02 PM
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RE: replaced my busted diff. tonight
Mesh is really important on a diff, especially the rear. If there's a little bit of slop or backlash then that equates to a smaller tooth contact area, which is why teeth get worn or busted off. Shim the diff correctly to have minimal backlash without binding, and it should last for ages.
04-09-2009, 06:35 AM
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RE: replaced my busted diff. tonight
yeah the new diff that i got feels alot better than the old one (when the old one was new, it still felt "loose" and clunky.
i can actually see the gear mesh and the new one is much better than the old one was.
there is alot of play in the old diff between the gears...even tho it's worn and has busted / missing teeth i can see the wear pattern on the gears that are good.
there is very little contact area between the ring and pinion gears judging by the wear pattern on the teeth.
i have re-built rearends in real cars before, and yes, correct shimming and gear mesh is very important to long gear life.
i can actually see the gear mesh and the new one is much better than the old one was.
there is alot of play in the old diff between the gears...even tho it's worn and has busted / missing teeth i can see the wear pattern on the gears that are good.
there is very little contact area between the ring and pinion gears judging by the wear pattern on the teeth.
i have re-built rearends in real cars before, and yes, correct shimming and gear mesh is very important to long gear life.
