02Overland

Hey all, new to the forum but not new to jeeps. I have an 02 Grand Cherokee overland with the all time, all wheel drive system. All stock, 139K.
Long story short, i blew my front diff yesterday on my way back to school and had to get towed. Truck still moved but you could hear clunking and all that good stuff.

So being a student, I didnt really have the option to blow several k on a new front end or rebuild it so I asked the guys as the shop what my next best bet would be to get the car back on the road to at least get back to school.

They told me that I could convert the jeep to 2WD and that would get me back. I pulled the front drive shaft and both axles to completely separate the shot front diff from any power. I did notice that I have to put the axle assembly back into the front end to keep the wheel bearings in place.(Didnt do that today and truck spun out, luckily everyone and everything is fine).

I have all new hub assemblies and rotor for the front. My question to any able to help out is;
Is there any way I can disconnect the axle part of the axle assembly and reinstall just the part that will hold the wheel bearing in?

When I pulled both axles, there were rubber boots on them. I went ahead and got those off but now Im looking at a C-clip on the axle where it meets the CV joint.

Is there anyway I can get this dang clip off? Any tips or tricks? I have tried just about everything.

The end plan is to remove both of the axles from the assembly so they dont spin the broken diff and then reinstall everything making it a 2WD truck for now.

Please any thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions or anything would be great!

Oh and here is a picture of what I am talking about in the assembly:
(I had to attach it but if a Moderator can post it, thatd be great!)

Bustedback

Give it a good wack with a brass hammer, or used a piece of wood to keep from damaging the joint while you smack it. It will come off.

02Overland

Im about to go give that shot. Also getting some C-clip removal pliers to try as well.
Anyone ever do this conversion to their trucks?

pwb

Do as bustedback say, give it a wack. It wouldnt help anything if you remove the clip.

dave1123

I think you'd be better off removing the ring gear on the carrier assembly and the cross shaft. That way your axles will help support the hub bearings and last longer.

When the diff blew, it probably only took out the pinion and bearings. You really need the support of the carrier bearings on the inner end of the axles. By taking out the ring gear and cross shaft gears, everything will spin freely. You'll have to reinstall the cross shaft without the planetary gears to keep the axle c-clips in.

I've done this to use a rear end for a trailer.

02Overland

Ok so new update. Spent all day under the truck checking the entire front end out.

Went to oriellys and got new hubs and rotors since the drivers side bearing blew out.

I was able to move the c clip out the way but like yall said, didnt do anything, there is another one on the inside part of the cv joint. So the only solutions that i had remaining were:

1) Open diff cover and inspect spider gears/ring and pinion for any damage.
2) Convert the axles over to U joint style, disconnect the inner shaft and run it in 2WD(assuming the diff was done).

Fortunately after opening the diff cover and inspecting everything, it all looked fine...no chips or breaks. Maybe im overlooking something?

So I went ahead and put the cover back on, old CV axles back in, new hubs/bearings and rotors back on. I kept the front driveshaft off(even though it didnt matter) but still got the strange whinning noise. It sounded like it was coming from the diff when inside the truck.

While i was inspecting the diff, everything seemed to be moving freely. Same when everything was put back together and the wheel were still above the ground, being able to spin fine.

Any thoughts? Im going to reinstall the front ds tomorrow morning since its terrible strain on the tcase and take her to a buddy's shop. I was thinking maybe the cv axles are done or there is something wrong with the ring/pinion or carrier bearings?

There is also a grinding, clunking sound when turning sharp left or left circles.

sk96xjeeper

have you checked your rear wheel bearings?

02Overland

I just checked the rear wheel bearings, they are good. My only other thought is the CV axles are going out in the front.

dave1123

There IS a spring clip ring on the inner end of the axle where it goes into the CV joint. It's designed to keep the axles IN the joint. On front wheel drive cars, you have to "whack" the axles to get them out of the transmission.

Also, IMHO, you'll waste your new hub bearings by not having the support of the inner half of the axles.

JBimmolate

This is untrue. The 2wd front axle uses the same hub assembly only it uses a dummy outer half that holds the bearing together. If you look at the beam axle it has std knuckles just like the 4wd.


Miles

dave1123

Okay, I stand corrected. It was just my opinion after all.

02Overland

Ah, this truck is killing me. I replaced the front hub assembly with bearings, new CV axles, new rotors, new pads and the noise is STILL there.

I am now leaning towards the carrier bearings being bad or maybe the pinion bearings. The noise varies with wheel speed and I noticed when I ran the truck without front axles and DS, there was no noise at all.

This all makes me believe its the carrier bearings. When I cracked open the front diff and inspected, I did see some needle-like pieces of metal. All the gears on the ring/pinion were fine.

Can anyone tell me if Ill need to reset the gears if I pull the carrier out and replace the carrier bearings or should I still be good so long as the shims are there?

Also, there was some side to side play with the carrier...im guessing that is NOT supposed to be there, right?

dave1123

RIGHT! The pinion bearings and shim set the depth of engagement. The carrier bearings control backlash. I find it unusual the carrier bearings went before the pinion bearings. If you replace the carrier bearings, you might need different shims.

My 67 Camero blew the Posi cross shaft twice! When I replaced it the second time, I checked the backlash and there was a little more than spec. I took both shims out and measured them. What I wound up doing was swap them side-to-side and brought it back to specs.

What YOU"LL need to do is reassemble the carrier with the thinnest shim on the ring gear side, measure the backlash, and adjust from there. You can get a pack of 5 shims from jeep4x4center.com for $40. They do not come with a bearing set.

02Overland

ah ok. I was watching some videos of people showing the backlash on the carrier and they were able to easily spin the carrier....mine doesnt spin freely like that.
Does that indicate worn carrier bearings possibly?

dave1123

If there is ANY sideways movement in the carrier, yes.

You'll have to bear with me on response time. I'm a one finger typist. Plus I checked availablity on-line first.