D35 axle bearings

> "Scott in Baltimore" > wrote in message
> ...
>> You're not the only one having problems with D35 bearings.
>> Mine's gone twice and this time I need a new one.
>> I've got the odd 3.73 size that's only on 4 banger automatics...

C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
> I'm fed up with computerized vehicles and cruddy Dana axles. As soon as I
> get something without either, this XJ is gone.


Well I lucked out big time! My rear D35 died again, and this time, the gears
broke apart. My mechanic scored a 3.73 rear for $850 and it turned out to be
a D44 and they sent all the track bars and bushings. He put them in because
they were in better shape then my 14 year old parts. He said all the bars
and bushings were beefier then what was stock in '97. I'm not sure what year
it came from. I haven't even picked my Jeep up from the shop...


How long can I hold off on replacing my xfer case chain? I'm up to 90K now
on the original '97 chain. I'm not ready to spend $1500 to have that done.

Scott in Baltimore wrote:

>
>> "Scott in Baltimore" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> You're not the only one having problems with D35 bearings.
>>> Mine's gone twice and this time I need a new one.
>>> I've got the odd 3.73 size that's only on 4 banger automatics...
>
> C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
>> I'm fed up with computerized vehicles and cruddy Dana axles. As soon as I
>> get something without either, this XJ is gone.
>
>
> Well I lucked out big time! My rear D35 died again, and this time, the
> gears broke apart. My mechanic scored a 3.73 rear for $850 and it turned
> out to be a D44 and they sent all the track bars and bushings. He put them
> in because they were in better shape then my 14 year old parts. He said
> all the bars and bushings were beefier then what was stock in '97. I'm not
> sure what year it came from. I haven't even picked my Jeep up from the
> shop...
>
>
> How long can I hold off on replacing my xfer case chain? I'm up to 90K now
> on the original '97 chain. I'm not ready to spend $1500 to have that done.

I've got a 231 with at least 190k on the tc. Had to replace the input
shaft, planetary assembly and bearing due to a swap of the old ba 10/5 to an
ax15 but it's still on the original chain behind a 4.0. The noise of a
loose chain will give your fair warning if it stretches.

Even if the chain went, the tc is not an especially complicated piece to
work on - only tricky part is making sure all the oil tubes and such are in
the right spot on assembly.

--
Will Honea

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:26:17 -0400, Scott in Baltimore
> wrote:

>
>> "Scott in Baltimore" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> You're not the only one having problems with D35 bearings.
>>> Mine's gone twice and this time I need a new one.
>>> I've got the odd 3.73 size that's only on 4 banger automatics...
>
>C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
>> I'm fed up with computerized vehicles and cruddy Dana axles. As soon as I
>> get something without either, this XJ is gone.
>
>
>Well I lucked out big time! My rear D35 died again, and this time, the gears
>broke apart. My mechanic scored a 3.73 rear for $850 and it turned out to be
>a D44 and they sent all the track bars and bushings. He put them in because
>they were in better shape then my 14 year old parts. He said all the bars
>and bushings were beefier then what was stock in '97. I'm not sure what year
>it came from. I haven't even picked my Jeep up from the shop...
>
>
>How long can I hold off on replacing my xfer case chain? I'm up to 90K now
>on the original '97 chain. I'm not ready to spend $1500 to have that done.

Rebuild it yourself for much less than that!

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:15:35 -0600, Will Honea >
wrote:

>Scott in Baltimore wrote:
>
>>
>>> "Scott in Baltimore" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> You're not the only one having problems with D35 bearings.
>>>> Mine's gone twice and this time I need a new one.
>>>> I've got the odd 3.73 size that's only on 4 banger automatics...
>>
>> C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
>>> I'm fed up with computerized vehicles and cruddy Dana axles. As soon as I
>>> get something without either, this XJ is gone.
>>
>>
>> Well I lucked out big time! My rear D35 died again, and this time, the
>> gears broke apart. My mechanic scored a 3.73 rear for $850 and it turned
>> out to be a D44 and they sent all the track bars and bushings. He put them
>> in because they were in better shape then my 14 year old parts. He said
>> all the bars and bushings were beefier then what was stock in '97. I'm not
>> sure what year it came from. I haven't even picked my Jeep up from the
>> shop...
>>
>>
>> How long can I hold off on replacing my xfer case chain? I'm up to 90K now
>> on the original '97 chain. I'm not ready to spend $1500 to have that done.
>
>I've got a 231 with at least 190k on the tc. Had to replace the input
>shaft, planetary assembly and bearing due to a swap of the old ba 10/5 to an
>ax15 but it's still on the original chain behind a 4.0. The noise of a
>loose chain will give your fair warning if it stretches.
>
>Even if the chain went, the tc is not an especially complicated piece to
>work on

My experience has been when the chain breaks, it takes out the case
too... And when the case breaks, other things are damaged.

> - only tricky part is making sure all the oil tubes and such are in
>the right spot on assembly.

PeterD wrote:

> My experience has been when the chain breaks, it takes out the case
> too... And when the case breaks, other things are damaged.

Oh, yeah. Poor wording on my part.

A chain getting stretched/loose will be pretty obvious BEFORE it breaks (and
unmistakable once it does). It's been 3-4 years since I last checked but at
the time a used NP231 was going for about $550. The only real issue is
finding one with the right input shaft to mate with your tranny. There are
two spline counts and each has two different gear cuts on the teeth, so you
have 4 combos to look for.

Anyway, unless you've done some serious off-road playing or driven in pt 4WD
on pavement 100k is not serious mileage on the chain, especially behind a 4-
banger.

--
Will Honea

>> How long can I hold off on replacing my xfer case chain? I'm up to 90K now
>> on the original '97 chain. I'm not ready to spend $1500 to have that done.
>
> Rebuild it yourself for much less than that!

Getting it out is the fun part. He says the nuts are welded to the frame
and they usually break loose and just spin with the bolt.

Got new bearings, seals etc. installed on the axle shafts and this time I
had the vehicle where I could get some light on the housing ends (previous
bearing rplacement by me was done under a shade tree on a cloudy day).

And who ever worked on this XJ before I got it should be restrained from
being in the same universe where tools can be found.

Driver's side backing plate had dirt trapped behind it causing it to not
seat against the housing and that made for a lack of preload which is
normally 0.010", according to Timken customer support.

Passenger side had burrs around the backing plate opening that measured from
0.010" to 0.045" that destroyed any preloading.

Both old bearing retainer plated were bowed and showed signs of improper
torque on the nuts at some time previously but I used a torque wrench when I
did both the previous bearings and this install.

Cleaned up dirt from both sides, ground off all burrs and now my axles are
operating as they're supposed to.

--
C.L. "Budd" Cochran
Pray for the Obama administration: Psalm 109:8
http://truefree1776.blogdrive.com/



"C.L. "Budd" Cochran" > wrote in message
...
> About a year and a half ago I bought an 88 XJ (4.0, Renix, BA-10/5,
> NP-231, 3.07 axles) with a lot of probs, but I thought, "it's cheap enough
> and shouldn't cost a lot . . . . ."
>
> Yeah, right. So far the cost is over $1500 not counting the purchase
> price.
>
> I replaced the bearings on the D-35 rear axle because of excessive play
> ... a full 1/4" up, down, back, front, in and out.
>
> Pulling the cover (which was tagged "Tru-Trac), I find an open diff and
> axles without C-clips. Books said there should be C-clips. ?????
>
> Pressed on new bearings with the skinny little retainer ring to the flange
> side like the picture in the Chilton's ( or was it the Haynes?) showed
> after bashing the retainer plates flat ( both were bowed a bit) and
> turning them over to put any remaining bulge inward and thus holding the
> bearing tighter (did all seals at the same time).
>
> Now it's 5000 miles later and the bearings have the freeplay back: 1/4" on
> the right and a little less on the left.
>
> What did I do wrong or is the axle another item that's been screwed up by
> a doofus (the PO or their "mechanic") that should nor be allowed in the
> same universe as a toolbox?
>
> --
> C.L. "Budd" Cochran
> Pray for the Obama administration: Psalm 109:8
> http://truefree1776.blogdrive.com/
>
>
>
>

C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
> Got new bearings, seals etc. installed on the axle shafts and this
> time I had the vehicle where I could get some light on the housing
> ends (previous bearing rplacement by me was done under a shade tree
> on a cloudy day).
> And who ever worked on this XJ before I got it should be restrained
> from being in the same universe where tools can be found.

Wonder if ever got serviced at a Midas. They tried to weld on my brakes once.

> Driver's side backing plate had dirt trapped behind it causing it to
> not seat against the housing and that made for a lack of preload
> which is normally 0.010", according to Timken customer support.
>
> Passenger side had burrs around the backing plate opening that
> measured from 0.010" to 0.045" that destroyed any preloading.
>
> Both old bearing retainer plated were bowed and showed signs of
> improper torque on the nuts at some time previously but I used a
> torque wrench when I did both the previous bearings and this install.
>
> Cleaned up dirt from both sides, ground off all burrs and now my
> axles are operating as they're supposed to.
>

Glad it all worked out for you. It's sure nice putting the savings
back into tools and beer.

--
DougW

On Wed, 6 Oct 2010 18:04:59 -0500, "DougW"
> wrote:

>C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
>> Got new bearings, seals etc. installed on the axle shafts and this
>> time I had the vehicle where I could get some light on the housing
>> ends (previous bearing rplacement by me was done under a shade tree
>> on a cloudy day).
>> And who ever worked on this XJ before I got it should be restrained
>> from being in the same universe where tools can be found.
>
>Wonder if ever got serviced at a Midas. They tried to weld on my brakes once.
>

I know this is not what you mean, but the vision of someone welding
the entire caliper to the axel, the pads to the caliper and then
somehow (perhaps with bits of briding scrap) welding the pads to the
rotor comes to mind!!!


Thanks for the laugh, and agreed: going to Midas is about the same as
going to a JiffyLube--you're going to get screwed, in either case.

PeterD wrote:
> On Wed, 6 Oct 2010 18:04:59 -0500, "DougW" wrote:
>
>> C.L. "Budd" Cochran wrote:
>>> Got new bearings, seals etc. installed on the axle shafts and this
>>> time I had the vehicle where I could get some light on the housing
>>> ends (previous bearing rplacement by me was done under a shade tree
>>> on a cloudy day).
>>> And who ever worked on this XJ before I got it should be restrained
>>> from being in the same universe where tools can be found.
>>
>> Wonder if ever got serviced at a Midas. They tried to weld on my
>> brakes once.
>>
>
> I know this is not what you mean, but the vision of someone welding
> the entire caliper to the axel, the pads to the caliper and then
> somehow (perhaps with bits of briding scrap) welding the pads to the
> rotor comes to mind!!!

You are not far off. I caught the "ASE Certified" technician walking over
to my jeep with a mig welder and asked him what he was doing. This bright
fellow was going to weld a spring pin on the new pads because they didn't
come with one.

Some of us would have double checked part numbers first, don'tcha think....

Last time I ever went there. Didn't even let them finish the work.
I did it myself on their lift. Only reason I was there is it was cold
and ****ing miserable outside and there was too much junk in the garage.

> Thanks for the laugh, and agreed: going to Midas is about the same as
> going to a JiffyLube--you're going to get screwed, in either case.

I "fondly" remember JiffyScrew. They put the oil pan bolt on my Chevy
so tight I had to use an air chisel to remove it. I swear they must
have been doing chinups on the torque wrench.

--
DougW