OK...continuing to show my ignorance...

[DAGtunes]

I saw in another thread (the one about differentials) the term "spider gears."

Well, about a year or so ago I needed to replace mine in my rear differential because they were all chewed up. My mechanic found it doing scheduled maintenance - metal shards/chunks in the diff fluid.

We replaced them, and all has been basically well since then, AFAIK...

It was that incident that first brought me around this forum, to try and figure out if the mechanic was jerking me or not - he wasn't. I saw the damaged spider gears firsthand.

The problem was, neither he nor I could figure out how that possibly happened! What would cause this? Is it common with the stock rear diff? I've got an `05 Renegade KJ.

I have towed with the vehicle. It had the factory tow package already installed when I bought it. (I bought it used - 20K miles on her at the time.) Tow rating is 5000 lbs, and I was only hauling about 3500 lbs total. (Pop-up Camping trailer) I did overheat the ****** a few times going up and down the Sierra Nevada's. I always pulled over and shifted to Nuetral to cool down the ******, per manual, when the indicator came on. Eventually had a bigger external ****** cooler installed, which put a stop to that issue.

Could the towing have done that to the Spider gears?

The only other thing we could figure was that is was possibly the result of driving in P/T 4H on Pavement, which I did - ONCE - when I first got it, and didn't know any better. Probably drove a total of 20 miles on mixed surface roads in that inident - part paved, part gravel. Could that have caused all that damage?

I keep fearing that this is gonna happen again, now that the warranty is up. Is this a known problem?

 

[DAGtunes]

Oh...and even though it was explained to me before by my mechanic (a year, or so, ago) what is the layman definition of "spider gears" again? Something having to do with a "limited-slip" differential, as I recall?

Sorry if these seem like "basic" questions.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

This should explain everything:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm

 

[LibertyTC]

The clutches in my rear Trac-Lok (limited slip) differential had to be replaced under warranty at 26k miles. It is not worth re-doing them again in stock parts as there are better lockers out there. When mine goes again (they are known to not last that long) and will be out of warranty, I will replace with a DTT (Detroit True Track) or if I get rich an Air locker.
Consider switching the rear diff gear oil to something good like Amzoil (synthetic) and don't forget to add the small bottle of additional Chrysler friction modifier.

 

[sleeve]

Is it a common problem: No.

Does it happen: Yes - due to high volume manufacturing [mass production] you can get some parts that will be bad.

As long as the gear set was repaired by a competent [most are / some aren't] mechanic than you are not going to have problems with the spider gear / differental for a long while. Bearings and Seals are a different story.

 

[rockymountain]

The only other thing we could figure was that is was possibly the result of driving in P/T 4H on Pavement, which I did - ONCE - when I first got it, and didn't know any better. Probably drove a total of 20 miles on mixed surface roads in that inident - part paved, part gravel. Could that have caused all that damage?

This certainly did not help any. That is probably what I would blame it on. Fix it and maintain it. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm not an expert by any means, so if someone with experienced knowledge I'm sure they can comment... Have you looked at the transfer case and/or the front diff?

 

[DAGtunes]

This certainly did not help any. That is probably what I would blame it on. Fix it and maintain it. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm not an expert by any means, so if someone with experienced knowledge I'm sure they can comment... Have you looked at the transfer case and/or the front diff?

Yes, this was a while ago, and it was already fixed - replaced spider gears in rear. Front appeared to be fine. Transfer case appears to be fine, too. (Still doing it's job, at least.)

This is my first 4X4 vehicle, and I didn't know any better when I first got it, which was when I did that. I've read the manual and learned since... (In some cases the hard way!)

 

[DAGtunes]

This should explain everything:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm

Thanks. That site rocks...I just spent the last hour or so on there! (Supposed to be working...shhh...don't tell my boss!)

While that link doesn't talk specifically about "spider gears, it was illuminating to the whole inner workings of the Trac-lock diff that I've got, and I also read through several other topics...neat stuff! (biggthumpup)

 

[Diggerfreek]

That site is addicting

It's like tool **** or jeep **** or ****, you can never get enough