Greetings,

The last time I had the rear diff. oil changed, my mechanic said the rear carrier has a noticable amount of play.
Said he can rock the carrier by hand..

Oh, and yes, the typical 'whirring/whinning' noise is coming from the rear axle at 50+ MPH. It's done this for +30K miles, but getting louder, even after the diff oil change recently. The Jeep has 190K miles on it. :)

I need to know,
Can the rear carrier at the pinion (and/or bearings?) be replaced without replacing the entire rear axle?

Many thanks to those that know cause I don't want to have to buy a new or used entire rear axle.

Thanks!
:)

my '93 GC did the same thing, I took the rear cover off and there was some play in the pinion, but after cleaning and putting new fluid in it still did the same thing. Next i took the axle shafts out and found that the axle bearings had made a perfect lathe cut into the axle shafts. The auto parts store has special axle bearings to correct this very problem. They are a little bigger so the axle shafts dont ride in the worn spot, the bearings sit in a little furthur. Problem solved and noise is gone!

Wow, so the play and noise with your Jeep's rear axle was being caused by axle bearings...

Thanks for the response

I hope I can be that lucky too.

Is there any way to check the bearings/axle by simply taking the tires and rear drum brake assemblies off the axle? Or will the axle shafts need to be removed?

I have a 97 laredo--do you know what stores carry this special bearing repair kit.

I have a 97 laredo--do you know what stores carry this special bearing repair kit.

Napa probably does
They at least carry all the standard internal components of a Dana 35 axle.
(which is the axle on my 93 JGC)

An update on my 93 JGC :
I have not had the work done, yet here is what's wrong:

The pinion + carrier bearings and rings are wearing out..
Not the axle bearings themselves.
Verified by my mechanic.
Still drives fine, so I'm probably going to get the work done around the end of the year.
Will post an update in due time
:)

Napa probably does
They at least carry all the standard internal components of a Dana 35 axle.
(which is the axle on my 93 JGC)

An update on my 93 JGC :
I have not had the work done, yet here is what's wrong:

The pinion + carrier bearings and rings are wearing out..
Not the axle bearings themselves.
Verified by my mechanic.
Still drives fine, so I'm probably going to get the work done around the end of the year.
Will post an update in due time
:)


If the play you are having in the diff case is side-to-side play, then you could prolly get the rear end reshimmed to correct the backlash. The noise you are getting might not be noise from the bearing but could be excessive noise from incorrect backlash. The backlash should .005" - .008".

If the play you are having in the diff case is side-to-side play, then you could prolly get the rear end reshimmed to correct the backlash. The noise you are getting might not be noise from the bearing but could be excessive noise from incorrect backlash. The backlash should .005" - .008".

Thanks for the backlash info/tips..
I had thought of that prior, yet my mechanic and I have confirmed the backlash is correct and axle bearings are OK. No wear on the teeth (no cupping / etc). We determined this at 190K miles when he changed the differential oil. We've confirmed it is the carrier + pinion bearings and rings because the carrier itself can be shifted slightly. We could be wrong, but everything else in the rear axle looks fine and falls into specs. No metal shavings either. Which leaves the bearings and rings for the pinion and carrier, right?

Thanks for the backlash info/tips..
I had thought of that prior, yet my mechanic and I have confirmed the backlash is correct and axle bearings are OK. No wear on the teeth (no cupping / etc). We determined this at 190K miles when he changed the differential oil. We've confirmed it is the carrier + pinion bearings and rings because the carrier itself can be shifted slightly. We could be wrong, but everything else in the rear axle looks fine and falls into specs. No metal shavings either. Which leaves the bearings and rings for the pinion and carrier, right?

What do you mean by rings? The ring gear?

If you can move the entire carrier (Differential Case) from side to side, then the backlash has to be off. Backlash is the amount of play between the ring gear and pinion gear, you measure it by spinning the diff case until the ring gear touches the pinion gear - this is the backlash. You adjust it by shimming the sides of the diff case (carrier), by placing shims between the bearing and the diff case, either to increase the backlash by moving the ring gear away from the pinion gear on decrease backlash by moving the ring gear closer to the pinion gear.

What do you mean by rings? The ring gear?

If you can move the entire carrier (Differential Case) from side to side, then the backlash has to be off. Backlash is the amount of play between the ring gear and pinion gear, you measure it by spinning the diff case until the ring gear touches the pinion gear - this is the backlash. You adjust it by shimming the sides of the diff case (carrier), by placing shims between the bearing and the diff case, either to increase the backlash by moving the ring gear away from the pinion gear on decrease backlash by moving the ring gear closer to the pinion gear.

The ring lands for the bearings themselves.
Can be bought as a bearing/ring replacement kits.

Hmmm, maybe I need to re-think this whole problem.
You've raised some interesting points..

Although, I recall the carrier isn't shifting side to side, more of a rocking/tilting. It still drives OK, just roars slightly under acceleration, and the rear end 'clunks' when letting off the accelerator. Which it's done for a while now. Towards the end of the year when I'm off work for VAC, I plan to spend some time at my mechanics shop while we disassemble the entire insides of the rear axle. Anything not falling into specs will be replaced or shimmed. How's that sound? :)

The ring lands for the bearings themselves.
Can be bought as a bearing/ring replacement kits.

Hmmm, maybe I need to re-think this whole problem.
You've raised some interesting points..

Although, I recall the carrier isn't shifting side to side, more of a rocking/tilting. It still drives OK, just roars slightly under acceleration, and the rear end 'clunks' when letting off the accelerator. Which it's done for a while now. Towards the end of the year when I'm off work for VAC, I plan to spend some time at my mechanics shop while we disassemble the entire insides of the rear axle. Anything not falling into specs will be replaced or shimmed. How's that sound? :)

ooook, when you reffer to rings you are talking about the races/cups for the bearings (outter casing which the bearings ride on)?

If you have in and out movement of the diff case, then the bearing and races are deffinately shot.