Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) D70 Snagle Tooth

[Joe Mc]

So the other day I kind of felt a little sort of blip in the drive line when I let off the stop pedal to start moving. I thought "hmm, that was odd?" So today I decided to drain the rear, take a look at things and put some new lube in.
See pictures:
1st - What was staring me in the face upon cover removal:{.
2nd - Prepping for "dental" work
3rd - All smoothed out
last - Smile

I figured what the heck I can't hurt it anymore than it already is so I may as well have a little fun with it and see if I can stretch the inevitable (the BIG BOOM!) "and" I might as well share my fun with some of my TDR family.

Before you chose your poll answer consider the following:
1-The only thing I haul is my butt (about 185#)
2-I don't really beat on it, well not too hard anyway and not too often
3-I drove it like I built it to be driven
4-I "never" (really never) run her hard and put her away wet
5-I've owned since 5/01, bought with 75k miles
6-Present clock reading is 197,091 miles
7-Almost forgot the tooth pictures was the only one that required "dental work" and the pinion gear was unscathed!!!

So enjoy and I'll let everyone know what the clock reads when it "has the big one". :-laf

 

[NIsaacs]

I would rebuild now while there is something to rebuild. If you let it go, it could destroy everything and maybe even lock up. The oil contamination of continued use will be hard on your axle splines, wheel bearings, hubs and spindles.



Nick

 

[dresslered]

That is nothing compared to what I found on my D80. I heard a huge crunch during a casual drive back home and when I popped the rear end cover, I found a hand full of teeth. I usually carry no more than my butt in this thing as well. This happened at 92k miles. I replaced with a used Ring and Pinion, used ABS Ring, and new bearing kit. So far so good and I am approaching 160k miles. I'm wondering if these just weren't adjusted correctly at the factory?

 

[jeepit]

If it were mine I would park it until I could fix it.

 

[Joe Mc]

Guys thanks for the replies. The plan is to not waste a tone of cash on rebuilding, ring and pinion, bearings, seals and having to have someone else do the work since I don't have access to a case spreader and all the other "special" shop tools to do the work. But, instead to acquire another whole rear and swap out. If I'm lucky I might even find one out of a 2500 stick gas truck that's an 01 - 02 w/rear disc brakes and lower than my present unit mileage of 197,000 miles . . . . More to come. By the way if anyone polled only 10 miles, I presntly have 197,130 from when snagle tooth revealed itself at 197,091. . . .

 

[Joe Mc]

Bump. Guys I realize the situation I'm in = it could go "BOOM" anytime. I'm just trying to lighten my situation by sharing a "thread/poll" with everyone to see when you all think it might go boom. Come on 190 folks looked and only 13 voted? At least 5 think it'll last longer than 10k miles - guess we'll see? Or at least when I find a replacement unit where the miles are at when I change it out. Presently clock reads 197,145 . . .

 

[VolsFan]

not sure how long it will last, my truck has almost the same mileage as yours, and I tow a small kubota backhoe, my farmall h, and cattle trailer, and dont baby it either while loaded, and I have not had any problems, thankfully. Last I checked it was at 190k and everything looked excellent, first time I had ever opened it up sinced I owned the truck at 100k. I put synthetic in it so I figure it oughta last me a good while longer. If it were my truck I personally would be nervous about taking a trip too far from home, hopefully you have AAA or something in case it does go boom.

 

[Joe Mc]

Still going strong at 199,543... .



Opps it's really 197,992 Probably jinxed myself now . . .

 

[S.Morris]

Playing along... ... ... I say it really depends on how it gets used from here on out. NO shockloads of any sort with no heavy throttle applications, and NO towing may well see it last quite some time. When it does let go you WILL need the other housing to get out with out spending a lot of $$.



Once a few years ago, took apart a Road Ranger " that had been bobtailed 800 miles from Northern BC to our shop on the lower mainland and was "stuck" in 8th gear" . Less than a cup of oil came out. Long story short..... the mainshaft was blue and gears/forks melted in such a way as to not allow a gear change. The bearings were not yet blue , IMO only because of the higher temp capability of thesynthetic lube. The only thing reusable was the transmission cases.

 

[Dieseldemon]

I have never had to use a case spreader to take one of these rearends apart they are tight but will slide out without to much trouble and go back in the same way.

 

[Joe Mc]

Dieseldemon - that's good to know, but they're a PIA to get the pattern set correctly with all the shimming and in/out until you get it there...

But, at this point I can't hurt it any worse than it already is - well at least I can drive it for who knows how much longer. You've definitely got the old wheels spinning now... .

 

[KrisKringle]

Since you did the 'dental work' there should be no contact on the damaged area. However, that places more load on the teeth on either side... Kind of wondering why one let go. From you pictures, there does not appear to be any galling that would indicate lubrication problems. Perhaps bad hardening on the ring gear. However, I would be very uncomfortable driving around... me, I have my truck for work, so this would be a priority. In Levittown, you have a lot more options on finding parts than I do :-laf... look for another rear. (Hello PA... last time I was back, it snowed (29. 10. 2011)

Anyway, your story is motivation enough for me to change the Lube in my Dana 80... been putting it off.

 

[Joe Mc]

Kris, The reason (at least what I believe happened) is I lost brakes due to a blown r/f hose - some dumb b_tch stopped while turning a curve and I had to lay on the stop pedal hard, "pop" and pedal to the floor, a quick up and down again = just missed her and then she started to roll and did it again )%^(%)#$% still missed her I don't know how - and I had to crawl back home with e-brake and downshifting. Some other idiot (probably 1st one's sister) decided to stop for no reason and I had to slam the e-brake, by now full of air stop pedal and down into "L" to miss her (I was not following close either = duh me remeber at least that I have no stop power) when the trans caught the back wheels let out a big "Chirp" and then I noticed some odd noise while turning corners at low speeds. So, after replacing all the brake hoses and power bleeding the system I checked things out and found old snagle tooth... . Still on the hunt for replacement... . no luck.

 

[JMcCoy]

Joe Mc, you are one of the last real men! I like this thread. Sometimes people give their nuts (and bolts) a tug and let it ride for no other reason than "let see what happens". I'm all for it. I'm not sure if I'am that much of a man, but I am glad men like you are out there. Besides, you can alway use front wheel drive to get home.

 

[Joe Mc]

JMcCoy,



Not sure if driving home with no stop pedal and having to down gear into low to the point where the tires chirped and broke a ring gear tooth, or even driving a truck with a rear diff that could lock up and leave my old butt stranded somewhere qualifies me as "one of the last real men", or not? More than likely doing what I'm doing just qualifies me a cheap arse trying to buy some time till he finds what he thinks he wants (D80 from an 01. 5 or up w/disc breaks) that'll probably end up crying over his spilled "Guinness Extra Stout" one night when he's out screwing up and forgets about old snagle tooth and romps the living poop out of the hot rod pickem up truck until ol` snagle tooth literally bites him in the patoot and leaves me stranded... . 4X4 or not, you ain't gettin too far trying to drag 7000# of truck with a locked up rear diff. Would be kind of neat doing a front wheel burn out with it tho - at least until the front shaft dropped or the X-fer case decided to "pop". Then I could just swap the Cummins into my 73 340 duster... well it would be more than just a swap, but that would be one cool 73 "Cummins" (or "not a HEMI) Duster... ...



But thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoy the thread.



Oh, present mileage is 198,235. . . I'm hoping I can locate and install the "rear of choice" before it gets to cold to do the swap in my driveway... With my luck I'll find one in the dead of winter and the ol` snagle tooth will "give up the ghost" in a blizzard on the way to work with a load of Nurses that can't get to work any other way... . Jinx!

 

[JMcCoy]

That would be one cool duster. Remember, you can alway pull the rear axle shafts out without jacking the truck up or removing the tires. It should only take around ten minutes to do both sides. Just so you know, I voted 10,000+ miles. Good luck!

 

[Joe Mc]

That would be one cool duster. Remember, you can alway pull the rear axle shafts out without jacking the truck up or removing the tires. It should only take around ten minutes to do both sides. Just so you know, I voted 10,000+ miles. Good luck!

Yeah, I thought driving a Cummins with a Duster wrapped around it would be cool and for sure lighter than having the 2500 wrapped around it...



Duh! You're absolutly correct about the axles coming out and then just unbolt the rear drive shaft Just wouldn't want to go too far with no lube getting to the outter bearings... .



Yeah I think I voted 10k+ too but we'll see... .

 

[KrisKringle]

JMcCoy,

... Oh, present mileage is 198,235. . . I'm hoping I can locate and install the "rear of choice" before it gets to cold to do the swap in my driveway... With my luck I'll find one in the dead of winter and the ol` snagle tooth will "give up the ghost" in a blizzard on the way to work with a load of Nurses that can't get to work any other way... . Jinx!

Snow? In Levittown? Last time I was in PA, the only snow they had all winter was on 29 Oktober... Jeez. load of nurses stuck in the truck. Cannot go anywhere, but at least you can keep warm...

 

[Joe Mc]

load of nurses stuck in the truck. Cannot go anywhere, but at least you can keep warm...

Well it would depend on which Nurses were stuck with me... . Some are cold as ice regardless of outside temps and others downright fugly, don't forget there are numerous "male" Nurses as well. But I get the point and once again you've got me thinking... .