Front differential needs attention...

I noticed my ranger was vibrating at any speed over 55. I climbed under to inspect and found differential fluid all over the front differential. So, I thought the seal was shot. Then I grabbed the cv axle where it slides into the axle tube and it had a horrible amount of slop in it. I could move it a good half an inch in every direction. I assume there is some bearings and races that I need to replace...but I have never had it apart. It isn't the dana front end either...because it isn't a solid axle. The pinion seal is also bad. Other than the seals, where do I need to start as far as fixing it?

PS-the 4wd works fine, despite the slop in the cv axle.

1/2" as in in/out and including up/down, front/back?

Not particularly familiar with that specific front end, but it should have a straight roller bearing and a seal at each end. They don't really support much weight so to have them go THAT bad seems odd to me.

And it's a Dana front end allright. Rangers have only ever had Dana front ends on them. For a 2000 it's a low pinion Dana 35. I believe the gear sets interchange with it's rear counterpart on those (there are some pinion differences, but those go for the solid rear axle as well), and there are some carrier differences due to the IFS housing.

4wd works because it's still splined or otherwise toothed together. Though if there is that big of a hole where oil could get out I would think the majority of your front axle assembly is already toast. Basically everything in between and including the CV's.

Re: Captain Ledd

Yeah, it has a 1/2 inch of movement up, down, in, out and every which way. I went to the parts store and they said there was 3 front end options for that ranger. If I recall correctly, they said dana 35, spicer 8.8 and one other one. They said the dana would be a solid front axle? So, they had parts for 3 different front ends and on top of that they had different parts for pulse vacuum hubs. I left thoroughly confussed and pissed off. I am not familiar with the front ends on this ranger in particular. My brothers is a solid front axle. I did some work on it. Anyways, just need to know what I need to do to fix it. I assume I just need to yank the cv axles and change the bearings and races.

cowboycowboy91 said:

Yeah, it has a 1/2 inch of movement up, down, in, out and every which way. I went to the parts store and they said there was 3 front end options for that ranger. If I recall correctly, they said dana 35, spicer 8.8 and one other one. They said the dana would be a solid front axle?

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For a 2000 front, it's an A-arm IFS Dana 35. Do not let them sell you TTB parts.

The problem is Jeepers. Many (not all) Jeep owners have this terrible habit of thinking that this ONE part was used on their Jeeps. And that's it, no other applications. Which is stupid because even within different options and model years of a single model of Jeep that doesn't apply. Jeeps used a number of Dana axles over the years, a popular one, The Dana 35 rear axle. Other included Dana 44's front or rear and a Dana 30 front. All solid axles, but the nomenclature doesn't refer to what axle type it is, it refers to the gearset and main differential. Ford 8.8" axles are in IFS applications in F150's as well as IRS in Mustangs and I think Explorers. Solid axle 8.8's are under F150's, earlier Explorers, and Rangers, and even then shafts sizes and splines differ between F150's, Explorers, and Rangers.

(almost to the end of my rant) I helped a friend build up and put a stroker engine in a 1979 Jeep J-10 pickup. It's production spanned from 1962 to 1988, yet %80 of the Jeep people I talked to had no idea Jeep ever made a pickup, even the Commanche, garages full of Jeeps, 3-5 of them in various states, and apparently they thought Jeep only made CJ's, YJ's and TJ's.

cowboycowboy91 said:

So, they had parts for 3 different front ends and on top of that they had different parts for pulse vacuum hubs.

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I believe until 2001? They had a pulse vacuum engagement setup. It had problems, and they eventually just went to a live axle with the hubs engaged all the time. Most people rig it to lock it in all the time or swap on the later hubs when they have problems.

cowboycowboy91 said:

I left thoroughly confussed and pissed off. I am not familiar with the front ends on this ranger in particular.

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I would have left that way too. Your parts people have no idea what they're talking about.

cowboycowboy91 said:

My brothers is a solid front axle. I did some work on it.

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A Ranger? Must have been swapped. Until 1997 Rangers used the Twin Traction Beam (TTB or TIB - Twin I-beam for 2wd). Still IFS but in a goofy way, basically a GIANT single A-arm on each side.

cowboycowboy91 said:

Anyways, just need to know what I need to do to fix it. I assume I just need to yank the cv axles and change the bearings and races.

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At the very least yes. The seal surfaces on those CV's are likely damaged beyond repair if they're bouncing around that much, but no way I can tell from behind a keyboard. And if that much oil leaked out there's a good chance there is some damage to the gearset/bearings in the differential too.

You have your work cut out for you.

Some links you might find a bit handy:

Twin Traction Beam Suspension (1997 and older)
^Edit: This is just the Drivers Side beam, which holds the differential. The passenger side is not shown.

1998+ assembly view

Thanks for all the info...I really appreciate it.