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Topic: Chrysler admitting there is a problem with the Dana 30 axle???

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firehawk
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Chrysler admitting there is a problem with the Dana 30 axle???
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Well finally I know what is wrong with my Jeep. The noise and vibration I've been having in 4WD is the front differential. At least that is what the dealer is telling me.

The front diff was rebuilt right after I bought it 2.5 years and 30,000 miles ago. At that time the bearings were total junk, why they couldn't tell me. NOW they are telling me they are pitted/gauled etc... AGAIN! I ran the lube they put in it for about 1.5 years, and when I put the Rockcrusher cover on it I replaced the fluid with Mobil1 75w140. No apparent problems until about 3-4 months ago. Now I have a $950 problem.brickwall.gif

The dealer says Chrysler is now telling them to change the fluid in the Dana 30 every 12,000 miles to avoid this problem. They even told me I could call Chrysler about it, I most likely will. Has anyone else heard about this "problem" with the Dana 30 axle? They say they see no damage to the axle itself, so what is causing this to happen? The Jeep is on the road 99.9999999% of the time. I've only had it out wheeling once about 2 years ago.
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LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW
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I called BS on the dealer... sounds like an excuse to me.

What brand of bearings did they put in when you had it serviced last time? I would assume factory OEM, but do you know what brand that is?

And how can bad bearings lead to the vibration you've been having? I once again thing something just does not add up correctly...

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firehawk
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Apparently the bearing races are worn/gauled bad enough to set up a vibration. As far as the "brand" of bearing I have no clue. I would assume Chrysler uses a quality bearing, Timken, SKF, NSK, etc..., but you know what happens when you assume.

I don't like the fact they will guaranty it for 12 months/12,000 miles but cannot guaranty it won't happen again. I'm not looking forward to shelling out $950 every 2.5 years. I also don't ever recall seeing any posts anywhere about the Dana 30 axle eating up bearings. You know me, I'm anal about my stuff. The Mobil1 lube only has maybe 13-15, 000 miles on it, and it's synthetic. Supposed to last a l o n g time I thought.

What REALLY burns my &*% is they were supposed to tear the diff cover off first thing Monday morning. They decided not to, and proceded take my TC off and put one on that they knew was good to rule out the TC. If they had done what they said they were going to do, ie the easy place to start, we would have know the problem Monday afternoon. Dosen't take 10 minutes to remove a differential cover. Jeeze!

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ChevelleSSLS6
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firehawk wrote:

Apparently the bearing races are worn/gauled bad enough to set up a vibration. As far as the "brand" of bearing I have no clue. I would assume Chrysler uses a quality bearing, Timken, SKF, NSK, etc..., but you know what happens when you assume.

I don't like the fact they will guaranty it for 12 months/12,000 miles but cannot guaranty it won't happen again. I'm not looking forward to shelling out $950 every 2.5 years. I also don't ever recall seeing any posts anywhere about the Dana 30 axle eating up bearings. You know me, I'm anal about my stuff. The Mobil1 lube only has maybe 13-15, 000 miles on it, and it's synthetic. Supposed to last a l o n g time I thought.

What REALLY burns my &*% is they were supposed to tear the diff cover off first thing Monday morning. They decided not to, and proceded take my TC off and put one on that they knew was good to rule out the TC. If they had done what they said they were going to do, ie the easy place to start, we would have know the problem Monday afternoon. Dosen't take 10 minutes to remove a differential cover. Jeeze!



 ideaIf they'd let us have vehicles without 'fasten your seatbelt' stickers, lawnmowers without 'keep your feet out' stickers, and stuff like that, the idiots would have killed themselves off so you wouldn't be facing problems like this.



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HuNtS
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lol maybe my vibe problem in 4wd could be traced to something similar to yours... good thing i know people that know how to work on a diff, so i dont have to shell out 950$ :)

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Man you could build a pretty sweet HP-D30 for $950...

I'm talking chromo shafts, locker, trussed, new heat treated gears, nice u-joints, the works....

No offence, but I wouldn't put more than $100 into a LP-D30. Sounds to me they are just wanting your $$. If the case is good, why not just fix the problem (even if you have to buy new gears, shafts, whatever) instead of buying new? Does not seem logical to me, only explination is that they want your $$...

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firehawk
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Well first off I don't have the time to rebuild the axle, nor do I have the experience. Don't get me wrong I don't like the idea of spending money like this either. Problem now is I went to the dealer this afternoon and was staring thru a hole where the pinion gear used to be. So in other words it's torn apart now.

I checked the bearings which by the way are Timken bearings, and saw/felt ZERO damage. I told the service guy I was not buying the "lube" problem. I told him either it was not rebuilt right the last time, or something else is going on. There are simply too many vehicles on the road with qazillion's of miles on them that have NEVER had the lube changed in their differentials.

The gears looked good, no gauling, or chiped places, or ANY wear I could see. He even admitted the "lube" thing was bogus...kinda off the record. I'm at the point where it's apart, it HAS to be fixed, and what I might save somewhere else would be eaten up in a tow bill. I made it clear I wanted the entire axle checked out for any damage, because as I said I'm not buying the lube thing, and I DON'T want to be back with the same problem.

At this point they kinda have me by the gonads. I suppose when it's done I can argue with the service manager about what EXACTLY was wrong, and who's to blame. Live and learn I guess. Ouch!

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