bad front diff guess, & not TC?

[lt1sy]

:roll: well after making a thread up regarding the transfer case Im not leaning torwards a bad front diff, this is why I raised the truck off the ground in the front and since I have already pulled the propshaft out to run it with out AWD, I thought it was my TC giving the issue but with the cars front end raised off the floor if you spin the yoke on the front of the diff it has no resistance whatsoever it just spins freely and will not spin the tires no matter how many times you spin the yoke around? what gives , I have seen pictures of people who have taken apart there front diffs and seen a pic of someone who sheared all the teeth off the pinion gear this making the front diff useless and inactive even if connected.
Or could it be someone pulled the center carrier out and just left the pinion mounted in it?


all I know its pretty weird when you spin a diff yoke around for it not to turn at least one wheel.

have I found my issue could it be the front diff and not the TC?

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

Didn't you have another thread stating the gears had been changed??? or was that someone else?? If that's the case, my guess is the gear lash was not set up properly (these front diffs are difficult) and over time, kicked the shit out of it and possibly wore it down.

Either that or there is nothing in the front diff as you mentioned.

There's only one way to find out

 

[Don W.]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

Remove the fill plug and stick a magnet down there and see what comes out. But like the Capt' said, only one real way to find out.

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

If there is a little bit of resistance, like it could be spinning the gears. The 4x4 front diff's have the ability to unlock the front axles if I was swapped.

 

[lt1sy]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

Hey capt no i hadnt started a previous thread about front diff issue only the transfer case issue which i thought was the root of my problem. But it seems as if theres nothing inside front diff i get no resistance at all at the diff yoke it just spins freely with no wobble nice and tight it just spins freely and if you spin wheels either side the yokedoesnt spin and the only resistance you feel there is the brake pads scuffing disk lightly but very little and diff yoke doesmt spin.
im guessing im goin to have to drop diff and swap it for another,it appears to be the oem unit as the pass side axle tube doesnt have anything on it.

On a side note would it be easier to do solid motor mount conversion with the front diff out and out of the way?

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

If its the OEM front diff broken, you should still check to see if the TC is locked and may have caused the broken front diff.

 

[Don W.]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

On a side note would it be easier to do solid motor mount conversion with the front diff out and out of the way?

Yes, muuuuch easier.

 

[Snoman002]

Re: bad front diff guess, & not TC?

Hey capt no i hadnt started a previous thread about front diff issue only the transfer case issue which i thought was the root of my problem. But it seems as if theres nothing inside front diff i get no resistance at all at the diff yoke it just spins freely with no wobble nice and tight it just spins freely and if you spin wheels either side the yokedoesnt spin and the only resistance you feel there is the brake pads scuffing disk lightly but very little and diff yoke doesmt spin.
im guessing im goin to have to drop diff and swap it for another,it appears to be the oem unit as the pass side axle tube doesnt have anything on it.

On a side note would it be easier to do solid motor mount conversion with the front diff out and out of the way?

On the 4x4, the center disconnect breaks the connection between the passenger wheel and the carrier, thus if the yoke is spun neither wheel will spin as all rotation is transfered to the spider gears. If either shaft was broken (driver or passenger side) your diff would act the same and neither tire would spin. However, spinning the yoke in this case spins the carrier and you should feel the inertia of the carrier as you spin the yoke. The yoke would spin freely but feel heavy. A similar situation would exist if one/both of the spider gears had broken or the splines sheered off inside the spider gears. if the yoke spins easily and doesn't feel like it has a lot of heft to it then your not spinning the carrier and someway some how the pinion isn't engaging the carrier.

If you spin the driver side wheel does the passenger side wheel spin backwards? if so the spiders and the axle shafts are intact.

If both wheels spin when you turn one, try spinning one or spinning it back and forth and see if the yoke suddenly engages. If so you just have a couple teeth stripped off the ring gear. Just spinning one tire won't spin the carrier, but getting one spinning and then stopping it should create enough intertia to get the carrier to spin a little as the other tire tries to keep its direction of spin going.

The axle shafts are supported by the carrier, so if the carrier was missing they should flop around some, especially the drivers side. If the carrier is still in there you should be able to feel its inertia as you spin the yoke. If the axles don't flop around and the yoke spins freely without the inertia of the carrier then the pinion isn't engaging the ring gear either due to missing teeth on either or a missing ring gear altogether (but who would do that?).

Somebody didn't butcher it and put a 4x4 carrier in did they? On a SyTy the passenger side axle tube should be smooth all the way up to the cast aluminum, on a 4x4 there will be a small round piece sticking out on the bottom of the passenger axle tube near the cast aluminum section, with provisions for a cable to go in.