Teraflex CRD60

[waynehartwig]

:lol:

 

[smokenrocks]

i run a crd60r in the rear for 2 years with no issues.. im gonna get one for the front also. i know a few people who have this setup with not a single problem... i has to be a bad gear setup.... this is truely a badass axle..... i hope you get it figured out.....

 

[waynehartwig]

i run a crd60r in the rear for 2 years with no issues.. im gonna get one for the front also. i know a few people who have this setup with not a single problem... i has to be a bad gear setup.... this is truely a badass axle..... i hope you get it figured out.....

Good to know! Thanks!! We'll get it figured out, one way or another

 

[waynehartwig]

Got this axle in my shop today and spent about an hour checking things out...

Pulled the diff cover and saw the busted teeth.

Looked at the teeth and saw the pattern on them wasn't what I would call good.

Checked the backlash and had a hard time seeing any with the masses of busted teeth, but I was able to finaly find a good spot and there was about .002" - it was very hard to hold the pinion still to check, so it might have been even less. This might explain the 'heat spot' I thought I saw in other pictures...

Put some compound on the gears and checked it, pinion is way deep. Drive side pattern is on the heel and way low in the root. Coast is on the toe.

Pulled the carrier, it had a pretty good load on it as I had to use a crow bar and 2x4, but was easier than I would have hoped - especially with an old styel ARB.

Pinion had under 5 inlb of preload on it, guage didn't move. Maybe even 0 and loose? but I couldn't feel it quite wiggle. The cage on the bearing looks spread and loose as well.

Put a depth gauge in it and verified the pinion is .007" too deep. Which in itself doesn't sound like much, but the pattern shows more - I think. ie I think it would take more than 7 thou of shims to put the pattern where I think it should be.

Then I put spacers in the carrier bearings (w/caps on) and wheel ends and stuck it - appears to be a good straight housing.

ARB is the old style and is pretty chewed up. Having a straight ring flange I think is going to be a challenge. Might have to look into a new case and repair this one? See the nice chunk missing out of the ARB flange and the cracked teeth?

Scraper is pretty chewed up from peices of gear getting caught between it and the gear/ARB.

Anyway, here's some pics... If you look at the pics close, you can see the wear pattern and where the gear isn't being used at all.

Coast side...

Drive side...

The old Precision Gear gears seemed to have about the same pattern on them....

Once again Ron at Alloy USA/Presicision Gear went above and beyond!! What a great warranty and customer service!!!! The first gears were Precisions and not only did Ron warranty them sight unseen, but he also sent out a new master install kit with the replacement gears!!! Talk about above and beyond!!!

 

[waynehartwig]

Here is the thread over at Pirate, along with more pictures taken by Rick...

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585334

 

[gertsch]

The best person to talk to about the crd60 is Rand at Teraflex since this is his axle that was in the works before teraflex started. He would no more about it then anyone so i would talk to him.

 

[Greg]

I think at this point it's obvious that the CRD60 axle works fine & isn't a lemon, the issue was with the installers of the gears (both times). That's horrible luck, but not everyone that sets up gears should be doing so. I have learned my lesson the hard way, do it right the first time, even if it seems expensive... because breaking gears isn't cheap!

 

[waynehartwig]

I think at this point it's obvious that the CRD60 axle works fine & isn't a lemon, the issue was with the installers of the gears (both times). That's horrible luck, but not everyone that sets up gears should be doing so. I have learned my lesson the hard way, do it right the first time, even if it seems expensive... because breaking gears isn't cheap!

Correct! I'm pretty sure we have a good housing...

The sad part is both sets were setup by different people - I believe? The first set that the pinion nut came loose on, was repaired by the guy that setup the second set of gears.

 

[Exalted 4x4]

I think the jeep is a cursed lemon. 2 or 3 staks, ring and pinions etc etc. Just turn your head and shoot it.:greg:

I think at this point it's obvious that the CRD60 axle works fine & isn't a lemon, the issue was with the installers of the gears (both times). That's horrible luck, but not everyone that sets up gears should be doing so. I have learned my lesson the hard way, do it right the first time, even if it seems expensive... because breaking gears isn't cheap!

 

[redbulltj]

I think the jeep is a cursed lemon. 2 or 3 staks, ring and pinions etc etc. Just turn your head and shoot it.:greg:

True, I think it's a point the guy threw mad cash at his jeep, changing everything at once with all the best parts he could find. He should have used the KISS theory.

All this trouble was bound to happen. Many people here on RME has proved you can wheel the pee out of a TJ......with little money.

That high dollar POS has spent more time in the shop than it has wheeling. I really hope the war Vet gets to enjoy that jeep soon with Wayne's help....he certainly deserves it.

 

[waynehartwig]

True, I think it's a point the guy threw mad cash at his jeep, changing everything at once with all the best parts he could find. He should have used the KISS theory.

All this trouble was bound to happen. Many people here on RME has proved you can wheel the pee out of a TJ......with little money.

That high dollar POS has spent more time in the shop than it has wheeling. I really hope the war Vet gets to enjoy that jeep soon with Wayne's help....he certainly deserves it.

Originally he was going to DD it. Now he's not and wishes he would have kept the 4 cylinder and supercharged it...

But still, he has all the good parts, it's not like he bought junk? Most of his problems with the STaK were because it was new - I think his is number 35 made? and from flat towing. So don't flat tow your rig

But everything is fixed except for the loss of power over 40 and the rear axle blowing up gears. I'm pretty certain I can fix the rear axle, leaving him left with the power issue.

 

[waynehartwig]

Just got the replacement parts from ARB (came from Australia) to fix his carrier, so I'm assembling it. Got the pinion depth and preload setup, but having problems getting the backlash dialed in. The least I can go is .012" and I would like to be .006-7...8 tops.

Old gears had .060" depth shim and .046" preload shims. New gears have .050" and .028". The engraving on the gear is the same depth on both gears. My pattern is dead center on the drive side taking up most of the face of the gear. On the coast side it's favoring the heal and about 50% of the gear. Old gears the pattern was off the coast heal and drive toe. Pinion preload will probably end up at 26 inlbs. It was 20 with .030 shim. I took .002 out, so it should be 26 now - I haven't measured it yet...

Anyway, if anyone knows Carl's number or can tell him to call me, I would really appreciate it! 801-407-4239

 

[RockMonkey]

Carl's in bed by now. He's old though, so he'll be up at the crack of dawn.

You've taken ALL of the shims out of the one side and can't get the backlash below twelve thousandths? ` It sounds like you don't have the pinion depth right. I would try moving the pinion in toward the ring gear, shim it until the backlash is closer to six thousandths, then read the pattern again. To me it doesn't make any sense to even look at the pattern until the backlash is right.

 

[I Lean]

Called.

 

[waynehartwig]

Carl's in bed by now. He's old though, so he'll be up at the crack of dawn.

You've taken ALL of the shims out of the one side and can't get the backlash below twelve thousandths? ` It sounds like you don't have the pinion depth right. I would try moving the pinion in toward the ring gear, shim it until the backlash is closer to six thousandths, then read the pattern again. To me it doesn't make any sense to even look at the pattern until the backlash is right.

The seal housing is coming into contact with the diff housing and in order for the shim to actually touch the housing, I have to have a .010 in there (it had a .040 before I started). Carl and I decided on the phone last night to take some material off the seal housing and try to loose that .010 shim and that should give me a much more acceptable bl - .006?

I wanted to talk to Carl before I did anything because I wanted to be sure I was assembling this CRD correctly. I've never touched one before and this housing has already spit two sets of gears within literally a couple of trail rides. So who knows it was correct when I got it - well, actually it wasn't, because the pinion was way deep.

Someone also used a hammer to hammer in the case via the seal housing and caused it to have burrs which also caused the shims to have gaps. I noticed that when I noticed the spacing. I put a .005 shim in there and the burr portion was 'tight' but the rest I could still fit a .003 feeler in. The .010 shim was tight.

I get this backlash correct, and I'm sure I'm goign to find that pinion depth is perfect - maybe a little deep, which is actually how I like it anyway. The BL is so close, it's not going to make my pinion look shallow by sucking it up, if anything it should make it deeper. Which is perfect, because that would move the pattern towards the toe on the drive side and should move the coast from the heel towards the center.

I measured the pinion preload at 28 inlbs. .030 shim was 20, .028 is 28 inlbs - with no seal, sloppy wet bearings and while at a fast rotation - not stop/go. If this was a road rig, I would have probably left it at 20. But since this a trailered rig, with V8 power (STaK, RC rear, etc), I want it tight.

 

[waynehartwig]

Axle is done and gone...
The original case and flange cap were toast and had a lot of run out. The case alone wasn't too bad (~.003"), but he wanted it replaced to rule out any possibility of it being the root of a future failure - after the problems he's had with this axle, I agree... Now there is next to nothing - less than .001, maybe .0007".

All of the bearings and seals/o rings were replaced as well.

The pinion had .060" in shims for the depth. Knowing it was deep, I started with .050" and really liked the pattern so I left it alone. As you can see in the pictures, it's a little deep - but that's how I like it - especially on an abused axle.

Final specs:
pinion preload - 28 inlb
carrier preload - .030" (spread the case ~.010 and then drove a .030 shim in)
backlash - .005"

Keep in mind, this is a trailered rig. If this was a daily driver, I would not have set it up this tight. If there was any case runout, I probably wouldn't have set it up this tight either.

Now only time will tell.....

Here are the gear patterns before and after....

Drive side before....

Drive side after...

Coast side before....

Coast side after....

 

[I Lean]

That looks MUCH better than the before pics. I'm guessing he'll be a happy camper now.

 

[waynehartwig]

That looks MUCH better than the before pics. I'm guessing he'll be a happy camper now.

I hope so... He said if it dies again, it's a boat anchor! ...I think he's serious, too....

 

[mbryson]

I hope so... He said if it dies again, it's a boat anchor! ...I think he's serious, too....

I'd bet he is. He's a good guy. Hope it works out for him this time. He's headed to Moab first week in May. I plan to run a few trails with him.

 

[waynehartwig]

I'd bet he is. He's a good guy. Hope it works out for him this time. He's headed to Moab first week in May. I plan to run a few trails with him.

He should just be back on the trails by then. He's in the process of doing some beadlocks and still needs to get them powdercoated and etc. I believe he's also goign up to 38 or 39? I think it was 38.... I really hope this works out for him....