Ah, the dangers of editing late at night... I just realized that I completely forgot to include the segment of the video where I went back and looked over both sides of the ring gear in better lighting. Oops. But all teeth have a few little rust pits, though a couple of them are pretty significantly pitted to the point that there isn't much of a flat surface on the coast side.
I understand why people always say "run it as is, it'll be fine". These old Willys need a lot of attention, but if you go at it all at once, you'll probably never enjoy your jeep and end up frustrated and giving up. I mean, imagine if you yourself would have never driven it to this point and you still have the front axle and engine to fix. That's why I always say, get it driving, fix the brakes and steering and then fix one thing at a time as time allows, but enjoy it here and there. Unless it makes a ton of noise or something feels unsafe. You are doing great and have most of the jeep done in one way or the other. Keep up the good work!
I'd assume 70-80% of the noise was from the bearings, after seeing all you showed. Since this is a Dana 41 and it's not easy to get another ring and pinion, I'd say rebuild it. With new bearings, seals, correctly setup and being clean on the inside, it should last a long time despite the pitting. The setup with 12-13 of backlash isn't as bad as I expected, but I'm not sure if the carrier with the bearings being worn, would have had side to side movement. I had an axle so bad, that the carrier will move side to side quite a bit, because it had no shims on one side and very little on the other. The bad setup should have escalated the pinion wear, to be able to create that metal paste.
Ah, the dangers of editing late at night... I just realized that I completely forgot to include the segment of the video where I went back and looked over both sides of the ring gear in better lighting. Oops. But all teeth have a few little rust pits, though a couple of them are pretty significantly pitted to the point that there isn't much of a flat surface on the coast side.
Rebuild and keep it in stock. Great video, keep up the good work.
I understand why people always say "run it as is, it'll be fine". These old Willys need a lot of attention, but if you go at it all at once, you'll probably never enjoy your jeep and end up frustrated and giving up. I mean, imagine if you yourself would have never driven it to this point and you still have the front axle and engine to fix. That's why I always say, get it driving, fix the brakes and steering and then fix one thing at a time as time allows, but enjoy it here and there. Unless it makes a ton of noise or something feels unsafe. You are doing great and have most of the jeep done in one way or the other. Keep up the good work!
Rebuild it, replace the Pinion and Bearings also. And store it for later. It's always good to have spare. Great video by the way.
Haven't watched it yet. But boy you're cranking out videos lately!
I had a two week vacation recently, plus my health has improved a little lately, so i had time to focus on the jeep for once.
Spare parts are good to have. Keep it. Fix it.
Tim
I'd assume 70-80% of the noise was from the bearings, after seeing all you showed. Since this is a Dana 41 and it's not easy to get another ring and pinion, I'd say rebuild it. With new bearings, seals, correctly setup and being clean on the inside, it should last a long time despite the pitting. The setup with 12-13 of backlash isn't as bad as I expected, but I'm not sure if the carrier with the bearings being worn, would have had side to side movement. I had an axle so bad, that the carrier will move side to side quite a bit, because it had no shims on one side and very little on the other. The bad setup should have escalated the pinion wear, to be able to create that metal paste.