Hi all,
so earlier today I opened up my rear diff to change the gear oil and when cleaning it I found this piece in it. I am not sure what it is/what it sheared off of. Any ideas? I have a Chrysler 8.25 rear end if that’s any help

 

Is that a chunk of c-clip?

 

Oh it's thin and small?
thought it was bigger, like a part of one of the teeth

 

Thrust washer for the spider gears?

 

Spin a tire and look for something missing

 

Put a coin next to it so we can see how big/small it is.

 

Its curved...10 bucks it's part of the ring gear

 

Here’s the coin for scale, for now it’s just tossed back together because it’s my daily but it drives fine, I’m just more wondering how big of a problem this could cause me in the future if I don’t deal with it in a timely manor

 

I’m thinking that’s what it could be

 

one thing is for sure about it, you will find out when it decides.

i had a rear diff go out on a 4x4 i owned in college. we were at a light in san Antonio 5 o'clock traffic. i let the clutch out and the truck kind of made a weird movement and then you heard what sounded like BBs hitting the underside and then it would rev and not go anywhere. i reached over and threw it into 4x4 and we pulled through the intersection and i went into the HEB parking lot and jump out to look under.

the diff was leaking fluid. i got under and looked up close and it had holes all around it. we went home from there. i popped the cover off and the ring gear bolts had all sheared and the heads were thrown out the stamped aluminum cover.

it was a heck of an inconvenience to have that happen out of nowhere. i would hit your local junkyard and grab a replacement and start prepping it to swap as soon as possible. you don't want it to go out on you in the middle of traffic and cause problems, or maybe go out on the highway and lock up the rear end. that could be devastating and possibly cause someone to get killed.

 

oh joy, well I guess I know what I'm doing with my weekend now lol

 

oh joy, well I guess I know what I'm doing with my weekend now lol

 

its better to do it than have the back wheels lock at highway speeds. even though i don't you, i would rather not find out you got killed.

 

ya that would be terrible, any threads/tutorials you'd recommend for learning how to do that kinda stuff?

 

to do an axle swap, i am not sure. maybe check out youtube? if you can find another 8.25, it will be just unbolt and swap. if you cannot and have to get a dana35 or a ford explorer rear end, there will probably some minor changes you have to be aware of. i always have swapped in the same type of rear end on vehicles just because its easiest