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I should first state that my original assessment was the diff was trash and I wasn't willing to deal with it, and planned on installing a built 8.8 in the rear and calling it a day. Today, I had a conversation with Justin at A/T Fab and he made a concerted effort to convince me to keep the D44 and avoid the evil 8.8 at all costs. So, I figured what the hell, I'll tear it down and see what's wrong. From the sounds of it I assumed the spider gears were torn up, and the bearings were shot, and I was hoping the ring and pinion were at least salvageable. However, I got to thinking today. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of my tubes may be bent. I can't confirm it for certain, but the jeep does have a pretty nasty alignment, and my rear right tire is pretty darn bald in comparison. Now, keep in mind I just bought the jeep a few weeks ago, and the previous owner just didn't care about all the wonderful noises back there. He might have just done burnouts for fun or something, I don't know. Also, every seal is leaking on the diff.
Anyways, here is what I'm dealing with.
Needless to say....
Now.... What do you guys think my best option is? I have chewed up spider gears, a heck of a lot of metal in the tubes, ruined bearings, chewed up retainers.... maybe a bent tube?
Now, what I want to know is how did this happen exactly? It should be mentioned that although the jeep doesn't appear to have been hit from the side, I do know that it was probably rolled over, and the diff does NOT sit even with the tub, it seems to be slightly knocked out to the driverside... however the jeep fell on the driverside, so I would expect it to be knocked out to the passenger side. I didn't see any damage to the control arms or the pedestals. Tomorrow I'm going to pull the carrier out and peer down the tube to see if it looks bent at all. What could call something like this? The seals go out, the diff gets run dry (and it was **** near dry when I bought it), the bearings go out, the retainers grab bearing pieces and other metal and grind up against the tube, the metal works its way into the carrier and chews up the spider gears... but completely misses the ring and pinion...?
I'm at a loss. What do you guys think? Toss it, or try to rebuild it?
Anyways, here is what I'm dealing with.
Needless to say....
Now.... What do you guys think my best option is? I have chewed up spider gears, a heck of a lot of metal in the tubes, ruined bearings, chewed up retainers.... maybe a bent tube?
Now, what I want to know is how did this happen exactly? It should be mentioned that although the jeep doesn't appear to have been hit from the side, I do know that it was probably rolled over, and the diff does NOT sit even with the tub, it seems to be slightly knocked out to the driverside... however the jeep fell on the driverside, so I would expect it to be knocked out to the passenger side. I didn't see any damage to the control arms or the pedestals. Tomorrow I'm going to pull the carrier out and peer down the tube to see if it looks bent at all. What could call something like this? The seals go out, the diff gets run dry (and it was **** near dry when I bought it), the bearings go out, the retainers grab bearing pieces and other metal and grind up against the tube, the metal works its way into the carrier and chews up the spider gears... but completely misses the ring and pinion...?
I'm at a loss. What do you guys think? Toss it, or try to rebuild it?
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