Another One Bites the Dust...

FastTRX · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:38 pm

Well add me to the list!!

I had a great day of wheeling with the Midwest guys yesterday at the Badlands in Attica, Indiana. Upon getting ready to leave, I followed Bugnout up a small rocky climb that kind of angled up the edge of the quarry. As I began to attempt the obstacle the Jeep began to rock and the front left tire left the ground. Without my foot on the peddle, the wheel dropped quickly and the sound was comparable to a metal twig snapping. I immediatley knew that it was the front differential and as I climbed out, the fluid was coming out of the engine skid. Sure enough, the diff. has cracked in 2 places below where the driveshaft leaves the cases. Both pieces were resting on top of the engine skid.

A HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Bugnout for driving 20 miles in another town to assist me in getting a U-Haul 2 wheel dolly and then volunteering to tow my Jeep with me and my friend most of the way home where my dad towed it the rest of the way. He is truly one of the nicest guys I've probably ever met, and as sad as it is, thats pretty hard to say these days. With a 2 hour drive home and less than adequate tools to pull the shaft, I opted to get it towed instead of risking limping it home. It's just not worth the extra damage or risk of an accident in the freak case of something locking up. I would not want something to happen like the accident that happened about 3 months ago at the Badlands. As some may know, a member of the Terra Jeep club had something break and trying to nurse it home, something locked up killing him and putting his father in critical condition. This is why it is smart to trailer the rig in the case that something does go wrong, no matter the quality of the rig.

With over 96K logged, and me being the second owner, there no warranty and I never purchased one. It's very rare that I could claim that it would be a defect in materials, but I don't know. I may try... until then I'll be doing some diff. shopping and I'll be checking with a few local junkyards for a used one.

Oh and Scott, if you read this....I STILL owe you another tank of ULSD!! Thanks soo much!

Christopher · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:42 pm

Sorry to hear, do you have a front skid? Did it break just from the stress?
edit: sorry didnt notice you do have a skid.

Chris

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:43 pm

Sorry to hear about the diff.Good luck your never going to convince any dealer let alone Jeep about a defect in materials,though if you try start ripping off all mods,lift,wheels,tires,and anything that didn't come with it.Good luck.

FastTRX · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:55 pm

Christopher wrote:

Sorry to hear, do you have a front skid? Did it break just from the stress?
edit: sorry didnt notice you do have a skid.

Chris

It's a pretty common liberty problem. The weak aluminum Dana 30A is easily cracked when the wheel spins freely and then suddenly grabs traction. The use of a ring would have helped it...but I didn't have one.

Tjkj2002, you're very right, they're never guna understand it being a defect with everything on it, but at the same time, I don't think they would even if it were stock. This differential case was designed poorly as everyone already knows...I'm surprised it can hold up to light-duty mall crawling.

Christopher · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:00 pm

The use of a ring....whats that? Sorry if a dumb question.

Chris

meh_kick · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:02 pm

Any pictures of the carnage?

callaway · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:29 pm

Glad to hear you made it back safe evan

I have some pics I'll post up in a little bit

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:33 pm

Christopher wrote:

The use of a ring....whats that? Sorry if a dumb question.

Chris

here you go chris....10th post down

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=25433&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=collar&start=0

Christopher · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:39 pm

Where can you get that? The ring that is. Makes sense.

Chris

pixeldzn · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:57 pm

I know 3 guys locally who broke - 2 got it fixed under warranty with frankenlift still on and jeep still a little muddy. The third is just an a**hole and approached the situation wrong.

If your jeep is under warranty, they should fix it. Just find a dealer that has a friendly service department and don't walk in and lie about how it happened. It's okay to be vague about what happened, but don't outright lie.

I wish you good luck and you may be surprised what happens.

JHCRASH · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:18 pm

I would also like to know where we can get the collar from :?:

JPaul · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:21 pm

I've been thinking abou the collar idea, and am wondering if you can fabricate a couple "shock collars" that also go around the pumpkin or other weak points to beef it up. It's one thing to bring the hammer down hard on stock components, but something else entirely to just have a feak situation occur that should not normally cause any damage.

callaway · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:05 pm

things coulda been alot worse

Location, location, location...

aftermath

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:18 pm

can we get a few pictures of the underside with the skid off?

Endurance · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:57 pm

Diff fuid smells horrible doesnt it? :-)

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:10 am

Endurance wrote:

Diff fuid smells horrible doesnt it? :-)

burnt 80w is the best....its the burnt 50w that comes out of these cat tractors i work on that is the best

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:07 am

diff fluid doesn't bother me. it's burnt atf that makes me wanna puke.

Anyway i dont think these front diff's blowing is a defect. I think it's poor engineering. Manufacturers do anything to save a buck these days. D30a is underbuilt for the kj.

underbuilt-- is that even a word :lol:

Joe Jeep Owner · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:56 am

On a side note, I just got a full tune-up and a few other things done and the mechanic (a friend of mine) told me my front diff is leaking a little. He filled it back up and I'm waiting on a price quote on parts, anyone have any idea what the cost is?

Said it wasnt bad and it is nothing I need to do right now so I have time to sop around, I was just curious.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:08 am

So you were not on the throttle at all when it happened? Just curious as the place doesnt look that bad to climb over. What gear/high or low range etc.

I mean I have had both of my fronts off the ground spinning before, teetering back and forth, just trying to get some feeling as to when this happens.

bugnout · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:35 am

FastTRX had the left front in the air, in the throttle (not bad), and it broke when the wheel found traction and loaded up.

I'm wondering if a locked diff would be less likely to break by keeping both wheels turning even with one in the air

Another One Bites the Dust...

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