So my Dana 35 makes a howling noise when accelerating at about 30-40 mph. It's not very loud but I pulled the diff cover to look anyways....I assume the bearings are worn, causing a bad contact pattern and the noise. The gears themselves look fine however. This is my daily jeep and I will just be replacing the entire axle when I have the time. However I will need to keep driving it for at least a few more weeks. Should I be ok without having to worry about a complete failure?

 

Replacing the whole axle without knowing the issue seems a bit overkill, when you're not sure where the problem is? Is the noise inside the differential, out at the wheels, maybe a bad u-joint?

 

When I had a noise coming from my diff it ended up to be the Pinion bearings they are not that hard to change ,

 

the majority of used D35 are likely to be pretty worn out at this time in their lives

I would consider get a quote on rebuild old unit with new bearings, if you cannot do it yourself

I would consider it quite normal to drive around with some noise you described for a long time..ie 1yr, 10k miles

listen close, it will usually get a lot worse shortly before failure, go easy on it in the meanwhile

I replaced a D35 that would lose its fluid in 100miles, due to a damaged pumkin/tube joint...eventually it started growling

put in a used one..it was noisier!

 

mine start whining, particularly when coasting....ended up having to replace pinion and carrier bearings...pitted out, replaced the axle bearings while it was apart...gears were fine...diff has 150,000 klm on it.

 

Grab a a Chrysler 8.25 from a junkyard. Be sure to get the u-bolts.

 

Its definately the pinion or carrier bearings...but I have a rebuilt axle that I got and I will throw it in for now.

 

Found a used one on craigslist with new bearings and gears..apperently he had the receipt from the guy who did it....but it was only $100 so if it turns out to be bad then I'm not out a whole lot

 

This is the best solution if it is the bearings in the differential.