front end trouble.

[west747]

hey all. i was out wheeling today and towards the very end of the day trouble started. my frist problem came in the form of a blown off the rim tire..no biggie went and got a spare. howver it is when i got back on the pavement that the problem began.my front end was locking up pretty bad. there was also a loud grinding nosie that i think was coming from the t-case. anyway i ended up calling a tow truck to get it home. the weird thing is that when i put the tranny shifter and t-case sdhifter into netral the tires didnt lock up when the tow truck guy was winching it up. could the reason for this be that the chucks in the differentials fell to the bottom of the diff while waiting for the tow truck? or could there be something wrong with my t-case. keep in mind i just got home and cause it is dark i am waiting till tomoroow before i pop the cover off the axle. just wondering if any one else has had this kind of trouble? thanks all..

[Craig]

Does it still do this even without 4 wheel drive engaged?

[west747]

yeah. same thing when i was in 2 wd high. i think it is the front end that is the problem and not the t-case. i can hear metal grinding in the front when i rock the jeep back and forth. i suspect the carrier gears are toast. which is good cause i got plans for the t-case and dont really need the shi@@ty dana 30. i am repalcing it with a 3\4 ton dana 44..which is in the works and should be in by spring time.,

[Snitty]

my rear ring and pinion shattered about 2 years ago.. its strange, usually the spider gears are the ones to go, if any... but the head of my pinion was broke about in half, and i lost 3 teeth on my ring gear.. i got a spare set from my donor comanche

[west747]

just poped the cover off and you are right snitty. both the ring gear and pinion gear are chewed up pretty bad. it was my fault however cause i didnt replace the crush collar when i replaced all the bearings. oh well. i have two options 1. find a cheap dana 30 to do me untill my dana 44 is done( which is going to take awhile as i havent bought all the steering components yet) or 2. just wait for my dana 44 and ford 9inch.

well i guess i should go to my local forum and see if there are any dana 30's with 4.10 kicking around..good thing this happened during the winter months tho...

[redrooster]

Not much sense in regearing or swapping in another 30. That's money toward your D44 front. If you need to drive it around until then, just pull the ring gear and carrier out of it, leaving you with rear wheels only.