Front DTT

bgcarl01 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:28 am

I know a lot of you guys are running front DTT's. I was wondering the shop time associated with having one put in? Would it be worth my wild to just purchase a used front axle, a DTT, have the shop put them together, and then use a day to swap the diff all ready to roll? There are a ton of used parts for Liberty's showing up on craigslist and junkyards lately. I see two already out in my local area that are under 80 bucks.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:11 pm

bgcarl01 wrote:

I know a lot of you guys are running front DTT's. I was wondering the shop time associated with having one put in? Would it be worth my wild to just purchase a used front axle, a DTT, have the shop put them together, and then use a day to swap the diff all ready to roll? There are a ton of used parts for Liberty's showing up on craigslist and junkyards lately. I see two already out in my local area that are under 80 bucks.

Easy way to do it with literally no down time, just takes a couple of hours to swap the front diff out with a couple of easy ways of doing it

bgcarl01 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 11, 2015 4:45 pm

That's what I was thinking, I was trying to avoid as much down time as possible.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 11, 2015 5:39 pm

I think they have to take the front diff out to do gears/locker/LSD anyways. So technically you're doing the same amount of work, just not laying the Jeep up for a weekend or however long it would take them.

Rich · **Posted:** Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:29 pm

I picked up a spare center section at the local upull (didn't argue when she said, so a differential carrier, $27). Took me about 2.5hr to change out the carrier, new bearings, new ring bolts, and verify the settings. I reused the factory shims, and while things were a touch tighter, they were all well within spec. I was a bit apprehensive about doing it myself... till I was quoted $450 front $450 rear for the install and setup with bringing in the DTT's I got for a song. So I just bought all the specialty tools needed for under $150, and with my FSM and a bit of patience the front is all done.... Just need to get off my booty and swap he housings. Don't be afraid of the process, if you are mechanically inclined its no sweat.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 3:01 am

Would be nice to have the extra to swap in if you take forever like I did. I put in new carrier bearings and all of the seals as I didn't want to deal with the old pinion seal leaking right after, and I was able to take the slack out of the dif as well (all that play after 164k miles makes me nervous). Lined back up in spec with same shims. I did have to also check the pattern since I moved the pinion in a bit, and the used pattern looks different than what you'll see in the manual or from a new gear set. I found some pics online of acceptable used patterns. 15k miles on it and running smooth.

Skip the pinion seal and you could have to tear the front end apart again just to fix it. :2cents:

bgcarl01 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 12:41 pm

Maybe I'll give it a whirl. I mean, it's not like i'm relying on this for the jeep to run. It being an extra axle and all. I have a friend that would always' just give it some paint and check my work afterwards anyway.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:17 pm

well, since our front difs are "locked" all of the time, if they go bad, it disables the rig :banghead:

I had to spend an extra $600 and three days getting one back across the country because a front dif ate itself.

Rich · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:24 pm

The is why I keep a pair of cv heads in the long trip tool box. If I crap the front diff, I can pull the shafts bolt on he stubs and isolate the front diff all together...

Sorry, I did seals and outboard bearings as well.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:41 pm

Rich wrote:

The is why I keep a pair of cv heads in the long trip tool box. If I crap the front diff, I can pull the shafts bolt on he stubs and isolate the front diff all together...

Sorry, I did seals and outboard bearings as well.

So, you just pull the bolts and let it spin? I can't quite visualize how this is done, but I need to in case of emergency!

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:16 pm

All you need to do is pull the CVs, seal the ends with clean rags/ duct tape etc, pull the front drive shaft and go home, no need for stubs or anything else
I know some who have ran months like that
If you put stubs back in with the front driveshaft still there they are going to turn and no way to hold them in

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:18 pm

Mountainman wrote:

well, since our front difs are "locked" all of the time, if they go bad, it disables the rig :banghead:

I had to spend an extra $600 and three days getting one back across the country because a front dif ate itself.

????
Could of even dropped the whole front diff out in 3 hours or less along the road
or
did what I posted above

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 3:51 pm

I was misinformed that the front bearings needed the support of being sandwiched in there :furious:

So, can you do that without pulling the knuckle, or bearing assembly, or whatever it's called? Do you have to cut the CV to do it? I've been trying to figure out a shortcut for the front dif I need to replace.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 6:04 pm

Front wheel bearings don't care if there is a CV in there or not really . My one friend has been running without a front diff for 3 years
To pull the CVs out you have to unbolt the knuckle from the upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends etc
but doesn't take that long to do . A friend of mine and I have unbolted and had everything suspension wise laying on the ground in 45 minutes
unbolt the drive shaft, 10 minutes max, then drop the diff. With a couple of shortcuts it can be out in no time

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Mar 04, 2015 6:10 pm

ok, many thanks Tom! That keeps me from removing excess crap and hopefully from messing up the new alignment :pepper:

bgcarl01 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:57 am

Tom, when it gets time to do this, i'll message you for any helpful shortcuts if that's allright. Rust has been an issue in the past, so I usually soak everything in blaster for about week before I tackle front end projects. I woke up to 24 below this morning, and no garage, so I'm guessing September? Ha!

Rich · **Posted:** Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:21 am

tommudd wrote:

Front wheel bearings don't care if there is a CV in there or not really . My one friend has been running without a front diff for 3 years

I should be more clear, and not post at 3am, forgot the nature of this forum ;-)

The stubs are the outboard side of the CV's. If the front diff is toast, there is no real reason to care about damage to it. Putting the t-case in 2wd will prevent the shaft from If I am required to run with no front diff on a trip (typically over 500mi just to get home) the stubs would go in to keep debris, water, salt, and what ever else out of the splined section to prevent damage/rust/crap from collecting on my way home.

Do the bearings need the stub to be in-place to work, no, but i prevents further damages to an otherwise good unit bearing on the truck. If I were not caring about the condition of my splines, or if I only had a 2hr drive home, no problem. My last trip that the stubs were carried was in excess of 1500mi, most of which was offroad.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:06 am

OK but all you need if scared of rust etc is a rag , unless you are driving through miles and miles of ocean
Its not going to rust up in 500 or 1500 miles enough to cause that much damage that you couldn't clean right up
I mean its OK I guess to out the stubs in but plenty have ran for 1000s of miles even a couple of years without issues and having a " stub" in there
Just don't see the real need for the extra bother
The bearings will not in any way be damaged by not having anything in them, except for some dirt in the splines which you just wipe out ( or like mentoned grease well or stick a rag in
2 wheel drives take or use the same bearing and never have anything in them

Front DTT

Who is online