Which Differential Fails Most?

NorCal 4x4 · Oct 4, 2005

RockyMtnTitan said:
Thanks for the info and links on the Shaeffers. I have an '04, but switched over to the M1 75W-140 in the rear, and 75W-90 M1 in the front about 11,000 miles ago. It looks like Shaeffers makes a #167 Moly Synthetic Gear Lube 75W-140. It is synthetic, so do you think it would suffer from the same lack of "climbing" found with other full synth gear oils, like the Amsoil?

Sounds like you're still sold on the full synthetic. That's understandable, and I looked into the 167 before, but ...

They must sell mostly to garages, industries, and farms because only a very few of their products are availble by the case.
The 167 you mention is not one of them "Packaging: #167 Moly Pure Synthetic Gear Lube is available in (net weights) 420 lb. drums, 225 lb. drums and 120 lb. kegs."

I skimmed through the 167 datasheet and did not find anything on its climbing abilities. http://www.schaefferoil.com/datapdf/167.pdf

SupraTitan · Oct 12, 2005

My truck is a big tow 04. At 2K miles I changed the fluid. It was at proper level, but the drain plug magnet was overwhelmed with shavings and when drained it was obvious the fluid had small metal particles in it. Of course I changed it, I tow often and have had zero diff issue's with mobil 1 75w-90 fluid. Diff stays cool when zapped with the infared thermometer. The next fluid change at 5K miles showed a drastic decrease in metal particles. So common sense would tell me the early diff failures where a result of a dirty break in of the diff. If the fluid was run to the recommended change interval the diff probabaly won't make it on the factory fill as it can not put all the metal shavings to the side. Screw the 80w-140, the 75w-90 synth works fine, stays cool enough even without the finned cover and gets better economy than the 80w-140. Plus I do the majority of my towing in the winter, -20 deg. and 140wt oil aren't a great combo.

The question should be, of those that did change thier diff. fluid , how many had a failure. I'll bet 99% where on the factory fill.

bestatchess · Oct 12, 2005

SupraTitan said:
The question should be, of those that did change thier diff. fluid , how many had a failure. I'll bet 99% where on the factory fill.

It would be interesting to get the statistics on the factory fill failures. The rear seems o.k. in mine, but the front is going out at 26,000 miles and I have changed it three times already!!

CHEIF · Oct 12, 2005

bestatchess said:
It would be interesting to get the statistics on the factory fill failures. The rear seems o.k. in mine, but the front is going out at 26,000 miles and I have changed it three times already!!

Great, one more thing to look forward to :teethmast

mudfinder · Oct 13, 2005

there was a couple of questions in another post here regarding who had rear end failures and what kind of truck. everyone that answered all had 4x4 with the offroad package, with the locker. i don't neccesarily think the guys with the Big Tow package are getting nail with it. the guys with the offroad package are(same gearing as the BIG tow) are getting nailed. what i'm saying is, i think our rear ends are good, i have the 4x2 BT and to be honest, i haven't broken in my rear end the "proper" way when it came to towing, and no signs of problems(knock on wood). i just think the locker is what's hurting it. i haven't heard or seen any rear end failure that didn't have the locker.

got_titan · Oct 14, 2005

e-locker= THE WEAKEST LINK!

Baja170 · Oct 19, 2005

I have a 05 CC BT and the differential fluid had been changed twice at 17K and the ring or pinion went towing my 6.5K Travel Trailer up my driveway. I barely got up thanks to the front axle and 4x4.

I have used the E-Locker a few times only when climbing the driveway in rain pulling the TT.

Anybody noticed the motor really surges bad when you are towing up hill in 4L with tow mode on? My 04 and my 05 both do it. I would bet every one of you guys's do it like the downshift shudder thing.

CHEIF · Oct 20, 2005

All this talk of E-Locker weakness, it makes me feel like doing the over-ride mod, going out on the pavement in 2 high with the locker on,

and Blowing It to High Hell!!!!!!!!

woodchopper · Oct 23, 2005

Rear axle failures

Are the majority of these failures with the off road package which has the E-locker? Anyone know what is actually letting go? Sounds to me that the diff case is the problem. I'm wondering if the diff pin is breaking it's retainer and falling out and wiping out everything including the ring and pinion. I'd love to see one of these blown units apart. Also now that Stillen has a supercharger availible for the Titan what is another 100+ hp going to do to these undersize[I think] rear axles?

jessefrank · Oct 23, 2005

I would also like to see one of these failed units.
I've been a long jeep man and I know that in the wrangler world it is a rule of thumb to not run bigger than 35" tires on a stock D44 that is locked and that is with the 4.0L 181hp/222lb/ft engine. I'm not saying that it can't be done as I ran a Locked (stock)D30 (smaller than a D44) & (built)TERA 60 combo with 37's with no problems, but the wrangler has A LOT less Torque, HP and weight on the axle. Not to mention that not all D44's are the same. It's all in the components used and not all stock units are built to the same strength. The 93-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee's with the 5.2L & 5.9L Dodge engines used an all aluminum center D44 that was prone to problems most of which occurred around 80k and up. We (O/R package w/ locker) have a locked truck with high Torque/Hp #'s and 33" tires and with the problems that have occurred already I hope in the long run the diff cover/fluid change fixes the problem and doesn’t just post pone it till our trucks have more miles and out of the warranty.

CHEIF · Oct 24, 2005

To me it appears as the the E-Lockers make up at least 1/2 the failures if not more. I don't think it's the use of the e-lock so much as the design, since I have only used the e-lock to check it out. Mine went at 3,600 miles.

I've said before that I do think the synthetic and extra capacity along with better heat transfer is really just a band-aid.

I'm confident that over time it will be proven that this diff is not going to prove itself with the Titan. When I'm on a trip and towing heavy with my family, I treat it with TLC.

I now have an additional 9,000 miles (about 12,000 total) and I'm confident that if it's an issue, enough will go before the warranty runs out (50,000 miles drivetrain???)

Cheif

Oldfordowner · Oct 24, 2005

SupraTitan said:
Screw the 80w-140, the 75w-90 synth works fine, stays cool enough even without the finned cover and gets better economy than the 80w-140. Plus I do the majority of my towing in the winter, -20 deg. and 140wt oil aren't a great combo.

At -2 degrees, they are they have almost the same flow rates. The "140" merely says that the oil will flow like a 140 wt oil at 210 degrees. If you were using Mobil-1 75W-140 it would flow the same as the 75W-90 but you would have the high temp protection (tht occurs not because of ambient but unit loading of the gears).

Which Differential Fails Most?

NorCal 4x4

SupraTitan

bestatchess

CHEIF

mudfinder

got_titan

Baja170

CHEIF

woodchopper

jessefrank

CHEIF

Oldfordowner

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