Low mileage ranger spider gear wear

Zander · Jun 5, 2018

Hi everyone, I recently noticed that my driveshaft going into the differential has a lot of play. It doesn't seem like there's any excessive backlash between the pinion and ring gear but the spider gears and the center pin all do a lot of moving around. I found a video that shows the exact same symptoms as my truck has, I'll put the link below. Just wondering if this is normal or if I need to do new spider gears and center pin. Anyway take a look at the video and tell me what you think if you have a couple minutes. If not no worries.
Thanks,
Alex

It's a 97 2.3 2 wheel drive 5 Speed 7.5 open diff 4.10 gears with 80,000 miles
https://youtu.be/n96vqaNs--M

Shran · Jun 6, 2018

Worn spider gears and center pin issues are pretty common. From what I have seen over the years, the center pin is not usually worn - it's the holes in the carrier that get egged out. Other common issues on 7.5s and 8.8s include crush sleeves that come apart and cause slop in the pinion bearings and also wear in the C clip area where the axle shaft comes through the side gears - this leads to side to side movement of the axle shaft.

I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot unless you have a really excessive amount of movement or the carrier center pin holes are egged out - slop in that location could create a minor clunking noise or perhaps a cracked carrier or broken center pin if it's bad enough. It's something to keep an eye on and get fixed if it gets bad. A replacement axle with 4.10 gears is going to be hard to find in the junkyard and a broken center pin or carrier could easily destroy the housing you have now.

Zander · Jun 6, 2018

Shran said:
Worn spider gears and center pin issues are pretty common. From what I have seen over the years, the center pin is not usually worn - it's the holes in the carrier that get egged out. Other common issues on 7.5s and 8.8s include crush sleeves that come apart and cause slop in the pinion bearings and also wear in the C clip area where the axle shaft comes through the side gears - this leads to side to side movement of the axle shaft.

I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot unless you have a really excessive amount of movement or the carrier center pin holes are egged out - slop in that location could create a minor clunking noise or perhaps a cracked carrier or broken center pin if it's bad enough. It's something to keep an eye on and get fixed if it gets bad. A replacement axle with 4.10 gears is going to be hard to find in the junkyard and a broken center pin or carrier could easily destroy the housing you have now.

OK thanks for the reply, do you think I should go ahead and replace the spider gears and center pin? I found the Dana kit for $65. Like you said if the carrier hole is too big a new pin isn't going to do anything. I took a video of my truck and put it on YouTube and I'll post the link below. If you have a couple minutes to look at it I'd appreciate it. Thanks again for the reply.
https://youtu.be/O-xJfVPfH6Q

Shran · Jun 6, 2018

I can't really tell from the video, just from a cursory glance it looks alright but it's hard to diagnose over the internet. You could always pull the pin out, check it and the holes through the carrier for wear and go from there. The pin should be loose enough that it can slide in and out but not have very much movement in any other direction if that makes sense. Usually abnormal wear is pretty obvious.

Zander · Jun 6, 2018

Shran said:
I can't really tell from the video, just from a cursory glance it looks alright but it's hard to diagnose over the internet. You could always pull the pin out, check it and the holes through the carrier for wear and go from there. The pin should be loose enough that it can slide in and out but not have very much movement in any other direction if that makes sense. Usually abnormal wear is pretty obvious.

Yeah it doesn't seem terrible and the pin hole doesn't seem visibly worn it's just that the whole thing moves more than I'm used to with other makes. You see in my video that the gear oil that's between the pin and the hole kind of makes a lip smacking sound when I move it back and forth. Are ford 7.5s known to be fairly loose? Just wondering if I should just pony up and put in the $65 Dana kit, but I'd hate to put it in and have it not make any difference.

Shran · Jun 7, 2018

I wouldn't put the kit in. Just keep an eye on it.

The 7.5 in my daily driver is so loose that it makes a "tink" noise when I let the clutch out occasionally and the axle shafts have a ton of lateral movement. I have a couple spare 3.73 geared 7.5's on hand to swap it out so fixing it can wait till it blows up.

pjtoledo · Jun 7, 2018

the 3.73 geared 7.5 rearend in my 2005 reg cab 2wd now has 339,400 miles on it. they can last for a long time.
the spiders only rotate if one wheel is going faster than the other. in straight lines they just go along for the ride.

Low mileage ranger spider gear wear

Zander

New Member

Shran

Junk Collector

Zander

New Member

Shran

Junk Collector

Zander

New Member

Shran

Junk Collector

pjtoledo

Well-Known Member

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