Broken ring gear teeth

[Glen Pratt]

I finally got around to pulling my rear end cover to see what's up with the noise coming from my rear differential. I posted before Christmas that my rear diff. was making a howling noise under power. Many of you answered my post advising me to check the carrier bearings. Well it is worse than I thought. I pulled the cover and the fluid was a mess. I found chunks of the ring gear teeth in the bottom of the case. The fluid was full of metal and the magnets on the cover were caked with metal shavings. I cleaned the whole thing out, and I'm missing four teeth from the ring gear. My question is what would cause this? The thing that immediately comes to mind is improper backlash from the factory. I have an appointment with a local Dodge dealer on Monday. I have an extended warranty on my truck, but I have a lift kit and some other mods. I talked to the service manager, and he stated that as long as my driveline angles are not severe he will warranty it. I'm trying to gather any info so I have the facts in case things get ugly. Any info you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated. Mr. Joe Donnelly if you read this your wisdom would help me alot. Thanks in advance, -Glen Pratt

 

[B.G. Smith]

Glen, I have seen teeth extracted from the ring gear when getting stuck in sand and the rear tires jumping. This was on a 1/2 ton Chevy truck. Also when I was much younger I used to slip the tires on takeoff(if I had a car that would do that) and have broken a couple of axle shafts like that. Everything in my Dana 80 except the axle shafts had to replaced at 55000 miles due to carrier bearing failure. There were no teeth missing though. Good luck. bg

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White 99 3500, QC, 3:55, auto. most options except leather, Line-X bed liner, fiberglass running boards Rancho 9000s, bug shield and window vents, black vented 5th wheel tailgate, 100 gal. aux. fuel tank.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Severe wheel hop under high power might cause it, especially if the backlash was high also. Otherwise, something was defective, either parts or original installation. Your lift kit has nothing to do with it. The lift kit increases u-joint angles and can trash them prematurely, but does not break ring gear teeth.
Hope this helps
Joe

 

[Glen Pratt]

B. G. and the esteemed Mr. Donnelly, Thanks for the replies. Joe you are the man. That was the expert opinion I was looking for. I've never had any wheel hop whatsoever. As soon as I saw teeth missing I knew something was defective. Thanks alot for your help. I really appreciate it. Regards, -Glen Pratt