Truckedup

I posted this on another Jeep forum,maybe some one has run into this before.Anyways,it's fixed.

Had a slight grinding noise in the front axle of my 99 Cherokee,I figured the front bearing hubs were getting near replacement.Take it apart,the hub bearings are fine but the left side axle u-joint is siezed bad.Hmmm,steered ok.......I go to replace the u-joint and it's kinda obivious some one in the past has beat the snot of it and bent the axle u-joint yokes.So....I get another axle,problem solved.Rotating the front driveshaft I can hear the noise I first noticed.Pull off the differential cover,oil is fine,no junk inside.Pull out the carrier,YUK!,one of the carrier bearing is badly worn.Next out comes the pinion and the outer bearing near the yoke is starting wear...... Ok,no big deal,I've done a few differential jobs.I go to the parts store and get the bearings,but the pinion bearing is different......Only one is listed,and it ain't mine.So I run over to the Jeep-Dodge-Fiat or what ever they call themselves nowadays to get the bearing.Of course they don't have one but can get it the next day,quite expensive!!!! A mechanic standing at the parts counter looks at the worn bearing I have and says he never saw one like that from the Cherokee Dana front axle.Hmmm,I call a bearing house in nearby Rochester NY,Applied Technology,I give the woman salesperson the numbers on the bearing,she says "how many do you want?" Bingo!!! Pick up the bearing tomorrow! About 30 bucks for the cone and cup.
So what's up? I got a one of a kind front axle??
Had a slight grinding noise in the front axle of my 99 Cherokee,I figured the front bearing hubs were getting near replacement.Take it apart,the hub bearings are fine but the left side axle u-joint is siezed .Hmmm,steered ok.......I go to replace the u-joint and it's kinda obivious some one in the past has beat the snot of it and bent the axle u-joint yokes.So....I get another axle,problem solved.Rotating the front driveshaft I can hear the noise I first noticed.Pull off the differential cover,oil is fine,no junk inside.Pull out the carrier,YUK!,one of the carrier bearing is badly worn.Next out comes the pinion and the outer bearing near the yoke is starting wear...... Ok,no big deal,I've done a few differential jobs.I go to the parts store and get the bearings,but the pinion bearing is different......Only one is listed,and it ain't mine.So I run over to the Jeep-Dodge-Fiat or what ever they call themselves nowadays to get the bearing.Of course they don't have one but can get it the next day,quite expensive!!!! A mechanic standing at the parts counter looks at the worn bearing I have and says he never saw one like that from the Cherokee Dana front axle.Hmmm,I call a bearing house in nearby Rochester NY,Applied Technology,I give the woman salesperson the numbers on the bearing,she says "how many do you want?" Bingo!!! Pick up the bearing tomorrow! About 30 bucks for the cone and cup.
So what's up? I got a one of a kind front axle??

Had a slight grinding noise in the front axle of my 99 Cherokee,I figured the front bearing hubs were getting near replacement.Take it apart,the hub bearings are fine but the left side axle u-joint is siezed .Hmmm,steered ok.......I go to replace the u-joint and it's kinda obivious some one in the past has beat the snot of it and bent the axle u-joint yokes.So....I get another axle,problem solved.Rotating the front driveshaft I can hear the noise I first noticed.Pull off the differential cover,oil is fine,no junk inside.Pull out the carrier,YUK!,one of the carrier bearing is badly worn.Next out comes the pinion and the outer bearing near the yoke is starting wear...... Ok,no big deal,I've done a few differential jobs.I go to the parts store and get the bearings,but the pinion bearing is different......Only one is listed,and it ain't mine.So I run over to the Jeep-Dodge-Fiat or what ever they call themselves nowadays to get the bearing.Of course they don't have one but can get it the next day,quite expensive!!!! A mechanic standing at the parts counter looks at the worn bearing I have and says he never saw one like that from the Cherokee Dana front axle.Hmmm,I call a bearing house in nearby Rochester NY,Applied Technology,I give the woman salesperson the numbers on the bearing,she says "how many do you want?" Bingo!!! Pick up the bearing tomorrow! About 30 bucks for the cone and cup.
So what's up? I got a one of a kind front axle??

EndlessMtnFab

Nothing special about it. It is just a metter of which D30 you have. 1999 was the changeover year from a HP (reverse spiral) Dana 30 to a LP (TJ style Crush Sleeve) Dana 30.


Inner pinion bearing is the same on both HP & LP axle. Outer pinion bearing is smaller on the LP axle. Carrier bearings are the same on either axle. And the HP uses shims to preload the pinion (as opposed to a crush collar/sleeve like the LP uses).


It's just not a common parts store or parts dept item. Most any 4wd or Transmission shop would be able to get them easily.



Joe

KRinAZ

From my experience with the Dana 30's - I've never seen unusual components in them - I would guess someone previously had worked on it (maybe oil seal replacement), bunged up the bearing, and put your unusual bearing in it. Since it's fixed that's great, it would be interesting to see if you can put a stock bearing back in if you have to replace a bearing again.

Truckedup

Yeah,this axle has no crush sleeve.I checked three Jeep 4x4 online stores,none of them had the right bearing.They listed one bearing covering all models which appears to be the smaller tail or outer bearing.

EndlessMtnFab

Sounds like you need to find better 4x4 places.


I know a great guy in PA that sponsors Cherokee Forum



The abuse is free at his place too.




Joe

Truckedup

Let me explain this a little more clearly.As mentioned,there are two bearing sizes.The larger one has a bearing cup OD of 2.848,the worn bearing cup I removed from my Jeep's front axle is 2.875.I might be off here a few thousands cause of memory fade,but the difference is about .030.Now maybe people I was talking to and catalogs I was looking at were wrong,but this is what I had to deal with.

EndlessMtnFab

I'm not sure what to tell you then.


.030 is a *lot* to account for if you're trying for an interference fit. Most parts will have been .0015 and .0025 difference. Some might approach as much as .005 fit and require a strong press.


There would be no way for you to hammer a race that was .030 bigger than the hole.



Did you think to save the P/N on the bearing and race? I can cross it with my suppliers & books .....




Joe

EndlessMtnFab

*edited because some Jackass named Joe hit the "submit" button twice*

SeriousOffroad

For future reference, pics and part numbers are helpful.

Truckedup

A little confusing here...the bearing I removed was .030 larger than the supposed larger of the two original pinion tail bearings. The Timken numbers etched into the bearing are 02872 for the cone and 02820 for the cup.I replaced it with the same bearing numbers.
Anyways,the pinion preload is set properly as is the backlash,gear pattern looks good.

EndlessMtnFab

Not sure what's going on here.



FOR MOST PRACTICAL PURPOSES:
LP D30 has a Timken Bearing P/N 86649.
HP D30 has a Timken Bearing P/N 86647

Both housings share the same race. Timken Race P/N 86610



The 86610 race has an O/D of 2.5312

The 02820 race has an O/D of 2.8750



So it is indeed that .030 you measured.


My best guess is that Timken used this part number as a backup whenever there were "mistakes" made in the process of boring the housing. Much like General Motors did with crank bearings in the 60s & 70s.


That said ..... There appears to be a chance that you may not have the original housing. According to Timken, they were no longer using that 02820/02827 "alternate" part number as of 1996. Your 1999 housing *only* shows the above numbers 86649 or 86647 along with 86610 race.



I've wasted too much time on this.



Keep that part number and don't lose it !!!!



Joe

Truckedup

Yes,maybe wasted time for you,but..........thanks for the info.I don't know,axle housing looks like original,never can tell really,doesn't matter cause it works!!!