Dana 70 carrier problem

[maddog411]

Most of the pinion teeth on the rear end of my Dodge Diesel (Dana 70) broke off. I started tearing it apart yesterday and the carrier just fell out when I took the bolts off...didn't need any force at all. I put everything back together and the carrier can move side-to-side a good 1/8". So

1. Could this have caused the pinion teeth to break? I was assuming I just had really old gear oil, since I had never changed it, and a long towing trip caused it to burn up.

2. Do I just need new shims to fix it? All it had was two thin ones in one side and one thick one in the other side.

 

[GubNi]

1. yes, not changing the oil caused the bearings on the side to wear out and allow the extra movement. The extra movement caused the pinion gear to go bad.

2. No, you need an entire rebuild kit and set up the gears properly and check for the right pattern. Send a PM to Cperry for a good price on the rebuild kit.