rebuild gears or new axle?
 

So i have found out apparently my front differental is all jacked up. making the grinding noise when i drive and had a mechanic look at it and it is loose inside the case.
Now i have my brother in law who was a light wheel mech for the army for 20 years willing to help me with my repairs which sure does beat a mechanic lol.
Now my question to you guys is i went down and looked at my label on my diff. It read 5208971
3 73 6106 64-2
It is a ten bolt design. I figure out of all of that the ratio is 3.73. if that is correct i was thinking about buy a ring and pinion set and a whole new spider gear setup as my brother in law knows how to do all this very well.plus he has all the tools.
As a way to save cash i was looking on ebay and such and seeing pinion and gear sets for like 67 bucks. Anyone ever bought parts that way and did it end well?

Any help you guys can offer i would really appreciate

i should mention i am looking at the gears as i dont have the 2000 dollars i was told a new axle would cost me.

A used low pinion D30 with a 3.73 ratio will cost you about $150 from the local U-Pull-It yard. Cheapest and easiest thing to do would be swapping in a used axle.

with the 98 zj's they run low pinion? and what is required to pull one? I have never done it before and it would be me by myself as i recently moved so i dont know anyone. And please remember this is a front.

plus all the ocal yards around eugene oregon want 350-400+ for a 4wd front axel. since i have the help figured rebuilding the gears would be faster and easier and cheaper maybe? Am i wrong? remember i aint paying labor hours so

Swapping the whole axle is the fastest and least expensive way. The bearing kit is not cheap, it requires some special tools. Swapping the whole axle only requires simple hand tools and the job can be done in less than a day.

Jesus. Is there a pull a part around you? Check craigslist adds for a part out of a grand Cherokee or XJ.

You'll need these sockets
13
15
18
19
21

And just go to town on it.

You can get away with buying a used axle, however be very careful you don't buy one that's already toasted. If you pull it yourself, be sure the pinion bearings are good by trying to see if the is any sideways play in the drive yoke. It would be nice if you could pull the diff cover and inspect the wear pattern on the ring and pinion before you go to the trouble of yanking it out, however that may not be allowed. Be sure to clean and inspect it before installing it because if there is something not right about it, fix it BEFORE you put it in. The D30 is not the strongest axle in the world, but it's what Jeep uses. Here's a clue. The Jeeps with the 242 Selectrac have less wear on them than the Quadratrac. The D30 is getting harder to find because of demand for replacements.

If your brother is good and has the experience to do it right, you may find this is the way to go. The hardest parts of the job is getting the pinion bearing preload right and setting the ring and pinion contact pattern. Everything else is pretty straight forward. Oh! And don't forget the axle seals.

I guess it depends on time and your patience. The is an excellent rightup here on the forum, but it's old enough that the pics have been deleted. It's about the D44a but the procedures are the same except for case side preload. The D44a is an aluminum case.

Be aware that these are MY opinions and should not be taken as gospel.

If your Jeep will be down for a while, you might want to inspect your rear diff as well.