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Looking for a Jeep axle

1K views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  NRATC53 
#1 ·
I bought a 99 WJ (grand cherokee) for a winter car/beater/house-stuff hauler for a decent price. It has 165k on it with the 4.0, np242 tease, and Dana 35 rear/30 front axles. The rear pinion gear is either really worn out or there is a ridiculous amount of lash going on back there because I can rotate it back and forth quite a bit before the teeth engage the ring gear. Also there is a light to moderate growling noise heard after 20 mph. After removing the cover I verified there is a lot of slack in the gear between teeth but there is no metal chunks or anything that would indicate something broke. I was thinking a bearing noise but it gets quiet when there is no load on the gear. While accelerating and engine braked decel it makes noise, but in neutral or lift off the gas it will NOT make much noise at all. This makes me think the lash is causing the problem.

I think it's probably cheaper to get a junk yard rear end than to figure out what's worn and replacing it. I found a junkyard out east that has a rear end but they want 400 for it. I'm looking to keep this as cheap as possible as it's not my daily, but I want it reliable like my daily. Anyone have a good axle or gear set/bearings? It has 3.55 gears.
 
#2 ·
Not sure which yard out east gave you the price but J+V over in Westhampton has turned into pretty much into a you pick it yard. I used to get tons of parts for my kids S10 Jimmy and also his 03 Impala. The guys name that runs it on Sat is John. Hes the owners son. Real nice guy. They close at 2 on Sat. The place is huge and they have a bunch of Cherokees scattered all over the place. Im sure if you went there with the tools you need you could get one.
 
#3 ·
The problem I have with a junkyard is you could be buying something worse than what you have. I had a Cherokee that I replaced a np242 transfer case out of a yard and it worked perfect. I had a CJ 5 that I swapped the 258 6cly engine in and the replacement had more noises than the original. Yes they took it back and gave me another but that was a damn lot of work to do twice. If it is something easily repairable like a rear I'll fix it before replacing it.
 
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#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Changing pinion bearings is not that bad a job, requires a little knowledge but it's not impossible

ETA: Barfly has probably done more of these than I have, he's usually pretty helpful
 
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#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Did someone recently change a companion flange seal and not return pinion nut to original position and turning torque? (Over torqued pulled pinion way from ring gear) If so remove the carrier and drive pinion, replace crush collar and check turning torque as you torque drive pinion nut reassemble carrier with shims exactly how you found them. Edit: better yet remove drive pinion nut companion flange seal and front bearing and see if the old crush collar will exit through the front past the front bearing race and don't disassemble carrier. You'll need to be creative with final turning torque for your final ring gear backlash measurement.
 
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