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Broken Rear End


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Coming home tonight and went around a corner and then had a grind and then a boom sound from somewhere in the rear end. After that I had no power and ended up stuck on the side of the road. I've been able to narrow it down to somewhere in my rear axle, but am not sure exactly where. I have a Dana 35. In 2wd the driveshaft will spin but nothing in the axle seems to move. Luckily i wasn't to far from home and was able to drive home in 4wd. When its parked and in neutral, the driveshaft can spin able which i know isn't good. Could it be a ring or pinion gear or possibly a axle shaft? Would it be easier to just rebuild the axle or am I better of trying to find something at Pick-N-Pull? I'm on a high school budget, so I can't go to extreme. Also, is the Dana 35 a floating or partial floating axle?

 

Thanks in advance I need all the help i can get.  :help:

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Pick-n-Pull - Modesto   [More Information]

113 Beard Avenue
Modesto, CA 95354 US   209-579-2277

Store Layout Map  |  Part Pricing

Make Model Year Row Date On Yard
Jeep Cherokee 90 0068 11/18/2013
Jeep Cherokee 88 0070 11/13/2013
Jeep Cherokee 87 0074 12/04/2013
Jeep Cherokee 85 0074 12/04/2013
Jeep Cherokee 00 0075 12/02/2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Looks like you have a few to choose from.
 
I'd pull the cover off and see what broke.
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I think most likely an axle shaft snapped.  You can easily replace it with one from a junk yard, as long as nothing inside the diff was damaged .... but you'd be better off to put a stronger axle under it.  

 

You can usually find complete 29 spline 8.25 rears for around $100 ... then buy some new perches and have a shop weld them on.  For around $300 you can have a very nice axle that is significantly stronger than the D35.  

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Sounds like a busted axle. C-clip D35's went in MJs starting in 1990. Before junking the D35 with an open diff on my 91, I snapped two axles with my open diff D35. Same symptoms/results as you describe.

 

Why don't you edit your signature describing your MJ, i.e. model year, engine, equipment, etc. It's easier than us guessing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Seriously..Listen to these guys. A D35 is not worth fixing. Get an 8.25 if you can match your ratio. 4.10's were behind the 4-bangers. Try to get a 96.5-newer for the 29 spline shafts. A Ford Explorer 8.8 is stronger still and easier to find in 4.10. Another plus is rear disc brakes. it will require some brake line plumbing but both axles will require spring pads being welded on. The 8.8 will also need spacers as it is a tad narrower and an adapter for the u-joint. You sometimes see D44's out there but people want stupid prices for them and they really aren't that much better than the much cheaper 8.25. 

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I think I saw that picture on Facebook today....

 

I agree with above, find a new axle.

 

Just some food for thought, when I was looking into my elocker people where having issues with the 8.8 elocker. The problem was how it locked I think. I don't know if it was ever resolved.

 

The 8.8 can usually be found with Factory Limited Slip, however if you wanted a locker it would require a new carrier. If it is an open diff a lunchbox locker can be dropped in later. This D44 and 8.25 will be harder to find with limited slip (if that's what you are looking for).

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Actually the factory limited slip diffs for the D44s are plentiful and quite easy to find as they were used in a wide variety of foreign and US vehicles over two decades including Hondas, Isuzus, Scouts, Broncos, Jaguars; tons of others. And they are all interchangeable. I ended up using one from a Honda Passport. This LS diff was included free when I bought my MJ D44 axle, and even though I probably didn't have to, I threw in a new clutch set in it for $35. The factory limited slip is all I'll ever need, and makes for great burnouts when I want them.  :yes:  And works great in the wet and occasionally light snow we have down here.

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I still suggest against D44. They are good axles, but the issues aren't strength. They are wrong width and bolt pattern (78-79 Ford F100), wrong bolt pattern (Isuzu, SJ), overpriced (XJ) or "they must think it is made of gold" overpriced so much it is funny (MJ). Not to mention the Rubicon 44.

 

As near as might as well be identical in strength is a 96.5 and newer 8.25" out of a Cherokee. Correct bolt pattern, correct width, correct brakes (no mods needed for parking brake cable), correct pinion yoke, plentifull and cheap.

 

I bought my first one for $100 before I learned to look better. Sold it to an acquaintance when I didn't need it anymore for $300 with a locker and a disc brake conversion, already set up correctly for a spring-over-axle Comanche I had no use for it as I moved to a Sterling 10.25". The second one (4.10 ratio under my daughter's Cherokee) was free. The third one which came from under a 96 Cherokee parts vehicle I had bought I gave to a buddy for free when he needed one, and the last one I paid $20 for will go under my daily driver Comanche as the D35 is on its way out. That $20 will need a new yoke ($12), though as one of the ears locating the u joint is damaged.

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Did I post anywhere it wouldn't need new perches? Any axle that came out of anything other than a Comanche will need perches cut and new ones welded on in the correct location.

No you didn't, but you did say it needed a yoke, leaving open to interpretation it was a bolt in otherwise. There are those reading that don't know better (yet) I have an XJ 3.73 D35 under my Comanche that I cut and moved the spring mounts inboard 1 1/2" each side (3 inches difference overall from XJ to MJ)

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