Is My Dana 35 Done Yet?

[Paul Bruchal]

Hey, I havent been on in afew months.. been very busy. Back now! lol

 

I just moved to NY from NC yesturday.

It was a 14 hour trip and my Jeep MJ made it with no problems right until .5 miles away from the new house.

My rear axle started making a "clunk" noise.

 

It is still driveable but the noise is constant.

Do I have a reason to updrade my rear axle yet?

 

Also.. I spent $140 in gas from NC to NY.... is that average for a MJ or really bad? Gas price $3.05

[sinkrun]

WOW gas for $3.05 really.

[88whitemanche]

Man I'm paying 3.45 here in miami

[airspeed]

I will bet you have a u-joint problem, under normal driving conditions differentials tend to be a more gradual failure. I found a Dana 44 w/ limited-slip out of a MJ on craigslist a while back, that was a rare find. That works really nice in the snow and ice, I don't need 4x4 around town any more.

[jpnjim]

Dana 35's aren't rocket surgery ;)

 

Pop the cover,

if the oil looks metallic,

that's your first bad sign.

 

Check the teeth,

teeth on the ring gear, spider gears, pinion gear.

 

I had one lose like 3 ring gear teeth out of the blue.

 

Clunk clunk clunk.

Thought it was a u-joint at first,

nope shiny oil and my 41 tooth ring gear was down to 38 tooth

 

Another time I shattered the spiders,

but there was no guessing needed for that.

 

35's just blow up for no reason sometimes.

 

Good luck!

[ftpiercecracker1]

FWIW its been $2.88 here in good ole Tennessee for about a week, just jumped up to $3.02 the other day.

 

 

I know, has nothing to do with the original post. :roll:

[87Chief]

I agree with jim. Pull the cover to check for gears. My spider gears were torn up hen I heard the clunking.

[Biotex]

I would put both rear wheels up on jackstands and spin the drive shaft by hand to try and isolate the noise first. Could easily by a u-joint. Unless it's time for a fluid change anyway...

[Paul Bruchal]

Soon as all this snow melts or the grage gets empty, Ill try that u-joint....

 

I backed the Jeep towards the garage today and its a clunk noise while diving at a constant speed and a "roaring" noise while backing up..... IDK.

[87Chief]

Yeah I would stop driving it until you get a chance to pull the cover off.

[Paul Bruchal]

Finally, going to try to thaw out my MJ "has been burried for weeks in snow" tomorrow in the garage. I really hope its just the U-joint.

 

[jeepmarine312]

on this my MJ started making a noise coming from around the rear end, its coming from under the bed i know that much for sure. but kinda sounds like when you hit the sidewalls in that game operation, like a buzzing noise, loud, and a bit more deep then a normal buzzing noise. like a bee on steroids. any ideas? also i am not used to working on axles/driveshafts/gears and such, so descriptive answers with pics would be most helpful, thank you.

[88whitemanche]

Sounds like the fuel pump

[jeepmarine312]

yeah, stuck my head under the bed. had it over the rear diff, to the right was the exhaust and to the left was the gas tank, and sure enough, it is the fuel pump, yay, just spent 200$ on fixes, and now gotta find another hundred to spend... i gotta drive to and from school everyday, so i hope it doesnt blow out before i can get the cash...