Failed Superior 5:13 ring gear
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JK Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 495
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From: Canada
Failed Superior 5:13 ring gear
Failed Superior 5:13 ring gear.
The axles with these Superior gears were installed in late May 2010 and failed in late Sept 2012. A ticking was noticed when I put the hard doors and hard top back on and upon inspection the rear ring gear was found to be damaged. When pulled apart to install new Yukon gears the pinion was found to have no preload and the diff bearings were worn. The diff fluid was clean except for ring gear schrapnel.The Jeep had around 50,000 km on the axles. I use this Jeep offroad but am in no way abusive to it. It is a daily driver so most of these km's are on the road. I have 35 spline Superior axles, ARB locker and 37" old school GY MTRs also if that helps. Had it rebuilt in March.
Any opinions on this failure?
Please don't respond with " That sucks" we all know it does.
Thanks.
The axles with these Superior gears were installed in late May 2010 and failed in late Sept 2012. A ticking was noticed when I put the hard doors and hard top back on and upon inspection the rear ring gear was found to be damaged. When pulled apart to install new Yukon gears the pinion was found to have no preload and the diff bearings were worn. The diff fluid was clean except for ring gear schrapnel.The Jeep had around 50,000 km on the axles. I use this Jeep offroad but am in no way abusive to it. It is a daily driver so most of these km's are on the road. I have 35 spline Superior axles, ARB locker and 37" old school GY MTRs also if that helps. Had it rebuilt in March.
Any opinions on this failure?
Please don't respond with " That sucks" we all know it does.
Thanks.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 204
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From: Aurora, CO
Hard to CSI gear breakage from any pictures unless you can see the wear pattern. The "I wasn't hard on them" statement is also subjective. But, if the pinion was loose that sounds like install error, not manufacturer issue.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 140
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From: O'Fallon, IL
Dang that sucks...sorry, I had to! Front or rear? The pic kinda looks like a D44, but if its a D30 the pinion head gets so small at 5:13 that breakage can and does occur.
If its a 44, you'll need to look at the wear pattern. Sounds like an incorrect setup based on your comment. I had the same thing happen. No pinion shims at all, and no preload on the carrier assy. When I took the collars off, the whole carrier just puked out. When it broke, I was climbing a rock face but I wasn't abusing it, either
Check p 14-16 on this link and compare your wear pattern, that will help you determine why it broke: http://www.ringpinion.com/Content/Ho...structions.pdf
And this link has a good section on failure analysis:
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/AXSM-0020.pdf
If its a 44, you'll need to look at the wear pattern. Sounds like an incorrect setup based on your comment. I had the same thing happen. No pinion shims at all, and no preload on the carrier assy. When I took the collars off, the whole carrier just puked out. When it broke, I was climbing a rock face but I wasn't abusing it, either
Check p 14-16 on this link and compare your wear pattern, that will help you determine why it broke: http://www.ringpinion.com/Content/Ho...structions.pdf
And this link has a good section on failure analysis:
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/AXSM-0020.pdf
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You know my opinion on this already .
But there is absolutely no way this can be a install error. If your pinion had no preload from the beginning it would of failed very quickly and would have been very loud.
What we see around our shop over the last 12 years is if there is a install problem the problem will show its dirty little head in the first 100-200 miles.
David
But there is absolutely no way this can be a install error. If your pinion had no preload from the beginning it would of failed very quickly and would have been very loud.
What we see around our shop over the last 12 years is if there is a install problem the problem will show its dirty little head in the first 100-200 miles.
David
Last edited by Northridge4x4; Apr 22, 2013 at 12:09 PM.
JK Newbie
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 6
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From: ohio
Did you ever put a heavy pull on it in reverse ? The gears will fail if you try to pull something heavy or really flog it in reverse . Seen guys trying to pull out other Jeeps in reverse loading the coast side of the gear set and it will break off the toes of the gears like that.Higher ratios are also weaker due to design.