2020 Overland Rear Diff Issues

[ShadowsPapa]

I have a hard time understanding what makes Mopar Gear oil special over any other GL-5 rated gear oil and the plastic cage bearings?

Sounds like a unsupported anecdotal mechanics wives tale. Given the vast array of people changing their diff covers and using variety of non Mopar gear oil sourced from elsewhere, one would think the problem would be more wide spread and a TSB out for it.

My thinking - a TSB is for a known issue caused by or with MOPAR OEM equipment.
The book already speaks to "we recommend" - but the "or equiv............" should cover others as you mentioned.

All I can think of is that some fluids marked with the ability to help stop leaks and so on have solvents in them. That is a big issue. But if there's no mention of helping to condition seals or help with leaks, it had better not have solvents in it.

I've seen really bad things when fluids are involved that say "conditions seals". Avoid anything that says that.
Nothing that says "conditions seals" or "helps stop leaks" and so on will ever go in anything I own.

Sponsored

 

[DocMike]

I'll look. Pretty sure it was Lucas non synthetic.

Which specific Lucas? Conventional, synthetic, weight?

 

[Hootbro]

My thinking - a TSB is for a known issue caused by or with MOPAR OEM equipment.
The book already speaks to "we recommend" - but the "or equiv............" should cover others as you mentioned.

All I can think of is that some fluids marked with the ability to help stop leaks and so on have solvents in them. That is a big issue. But if there's no mention of helping to condition seals or help with leaks, it had better not have solvents in it.

I've seen really bad things when fluids are involved that say "conditions seals". Avoid anything that says that.
Nothing that says "conditions seals" or "helps stop leaks" and so on will ever go in anything I own.

Yeah, I know what the manual says but that is their generic verbiage on any fluid or part recommendations.

DANA and their aftermarket sold Advantek axle spec sheets do not call out any specific spec other than 75W-140 grade. Nothing leads me to believe other than adhering to a standard GL-5 spec oil and recommended weight grade, no other special considerations or specific brand types are needed.

 

[jmdwifi]

The wear was on tow sides of the bearing. My pinion seal failed as well, and its the second set of gears and bearings. I ordered a spicer axle and am waiting on that to come in. I just want to be finished with this nightmare. I want my truck back. I hope this takes care of any other issues.

 

[Ted Striker]

The wear was on tow sides of the bearing. My pinion seal failed as well, and its the second set of gears and bearings. I ordered a spicer axle and am waiting on that to come in. I just want to be finished with this nightmare. I want my truck back. I hope this takes care of any other issues.

Man, am I glad I finally found someone else with the same issues I am having. I am currently in harmonics hell as well going on 6 months now. I had a set of Yukon 5.13 put in at the same time I had my lift done. After a few thousand miles, they started making the noise. Took it back to the place that installed the gears and they replaced them under Yukon warranty. Had the same issue happen AGAIN in another couple thousand miles. The shop replaced them AGAIN under Yukon warranty. Now, they are doing the same noise as everyone else in this thread is describing, notably between 40-50 mph. Took the Jeep to another shop and they tore into the rear end and said the gears look fine - lash, tolerances, everything looks great.

I have an appointment with my local Jeep dealership next week because I thought it might be the driveshaft or a wheel bearing, but now I'm starting to think the pinion bearing may be the issue.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Hey crew. Have a '20 Overland that is having rear end noises/issues at only 75k. Anyone had similar issues or thoughts on a resolution??

Started with a light hum and turned to more of a gear-to-gear sound last week. No clunks or clanks, is there whether in 2 or 4wd, in or out of gear, cornering makes no difference, and gets louder with vehicle speed. One local shop took a ride and then jacked it up to isolate it to the rear and suspected the pinion bearings were going. Not a major off-roader but has been up a hill or two, has never been molested for gearing, and stock everything. Manual 6 speed with 3:73s from factory.

Not real happy to hear with only 75k on it and on top of that I can't get a call back from my usual service writer or even the service department as a whole. I popped the diff cover yesterday to see for myself and all looks good, other than the few shards I found on the drain plug. No play in any of the gears/bearings that I could find without being jacked up.

From all I am seeing this isn't a typical issue for these so really curious what's going on and if Jeep will be of any assistance going forward.

Looks like in that first pic the pinion has been eating the differential case? If thats is so, something is oviously moving in there.

Hard to tell from that angle you took the pic though.

 

[Vtur]

I regeared my Overland with Dana gears + master install kit and Mopar fluid + additive. No issues. It rides more quieter than the factory setup, which were out of spec backlash at .008

 

[jmdwifi]

Man, am I glad I finally found someone else with the same issues I am having. I am currently in harmonics hell as well going on 6 months now. I had a set of Yukon 5.13 put in at the same time I had my lift done. After a few thousand miles, they started making the noise. Took it back to the place that installed the gears and they replaced them under Yukon warranty. Had the same issue happen AGAIN in another couple thousand miles. The shop replaced them AGAIN under Yukon warranty. Now, they are doing the same noise as everyone else in this thread is describing, notably between 40-50 mph. Took the Jeep to another shop and they tore into the rear end and said the gears look fine - lash, tolerances, everything looks great.

I have an appointment with my local Jeep dealership next week because I thought it might be the driveshaft or a wheel bearing, but now I'm starting to think the pinion bearing may be the issue.

Yukon said some of the Gladiator rear diffs were machines oblong but slightly enough they were fine with stock gears and the noise shows up with gear change. I thought it might be bullshit at first but looking at the wear marks on the first bearing set, I see it may be true. I had absolutely zero problems with this rear before the gear change. No leaks or anything. I just put 35s on and wanted stock feel back. I miss my truck so bad right now.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

Yukon said some of the Gladiator rear diffs were machines oblong but slightly enough they were fine with stock gears and the noise shows up with gear change. I thought it might be bullshit at first but looking at the wear marks on the first bearing set, I see it may be true. I had absolutely zero problems with this rear before the gear change. No leaks or anything. I just put 35s on and wanted stock feel back. I miss my truck so bad right now.

We are in the same boat my friend. It looks like you and I have the bad axles. Shop I am working with has been pretty accommodative. Long story short, they are swapping my axle out with another stock axle removed from an almost 0 mile Gladiator.

The bad part about all this is, that since I had an independent shop re-gear mine, it basically voids any warranty Jeep would have given me for the stock bad axle housing.

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. You let a dealership re-gear it and there is no telling what you get as far as install and problem solving. Not to mention the time loss trying to get them to solve it. And would they ever attribute it to a bad housing? Maybe, but it might take forever. Going with a reputable shop that has done countless re-gearings basically voids your warranty on the axle but gives you way more confidence in their work. No to mention wanting to work at it until the find the problem.

I am currently waiting on them to finish the swap and re-install my 4.88s in the new housing. Keeping my fingers extra crossed that this one doesn't have the same issue as mine did. If it does, well, I don't know where to go after that. I really don't want to shell out the cash for a Dana 60. It's overkill for what I want, and way more than I anticipated on a simple re-gear.

Luckily the shop understands this is just a bad situation for all involved and are doing what they can to help.

I am more curious as to how Jeep might handle this going forward and how independent shops might handle it as well. Seems to me the Independent guys won't want this headache over and over again, now that it is a known issue. Maybe Jeep finally figures out which axles were effected and issue a recall? I have my doubts on the latter, but the former seems like a likely scenario. You only have to talk to one client and tell them it's not your fault and that in reality they are just screwed in their situation and have to replace a whole axle assembly. Not a conversation you want to have everyday.

 

[jmdwifi]

We are in the same boat my friend. It looks like you and I have the bad axles. Shop I am working with has been pretty accommodative. Long story short, they are swapping my axle out with another stock axle removed from an almost 0 mile Gladiator.

The bad part about all this is, that since I had an independent shop re-gear mine, it basically voids any warranty Jeep would have given me for the stock bad axle housing.

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. You let a dealership re-gear it and there is no telling what you get as far as install and problem solving. Not to mention the time loss trying to get them to solve it. And would they ever attribute it to a bad housing? Maybe, but it might take forever. Going with a reputable shop that has done countless re-gearings basically voids your warranty on the axle but gives you way more confidence in their work. No to mention wanting to work at it until the find the problem.

I am currently waiting on them to finish the swap and re-install my 4.88s in the new housing. Keeping my fingers extra crossed that this one doesn't have the same issue as mine did. If it does, well, I don't know where to go after that. I really don't want to shell out the cash for a Dana 60. It's overkill for what I want, and way more than I anticipated on a simple re-gear.

Luckily the shop understands this is just a bad situation for all involved and are doing what they can to help.

I am more curious as to how Jeep might handle this going forward and how independent shops might handle it as well. Seems to me the Independent guys won't want this headache over and over again, now that it is a known issue. Maybe Jeep finally figures out which axles were effected and issue a recall? I have my doubts on the latter, but the former seems like a likely scenario. You only have to talk to one client and tell them it's not your fault and that in reality they are just screwed in their situation and have to replace a whole axle assembly. Not a conversation you want to have everyday.

The shop I am working with have been great. I am getting a Dana 60 at their cost and they are installing it. The owner said going forward he will warn gladiator owners of this possibility. It is an impossible situation. I have had no luck two other issues fixed from 2 different dealers, so I knew this issue would be pointless to talk to them. I just hope the axle gets here soon. I miss my truck so much.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

The shop I am working with have been great. I am getting a Dana 60 at their cost and they are installing it. The owner said going forward he will warn gladiator owners of this possibility. It is an impossible situation. I have had no luck two other issues fixed from 2 different dealers, so I knew this issue would be pointless to talk to them. I just hope the axle gets here soon. I miss my truck so much.

Well, at least the shop you are working with is similar to mine. I know it's costing them time and labor to try and get a solution for me.

I really hope we don't have to go the Dana 60 route as I know what those things cost! But at this point I don't want to go down the road of a replacement Mopar/Dana 44. Just not worth it to continue to gamble.

I was trying to do the right thing and re-gear to take any pressure off my engine and trans and return things to a more stock feel.

 

[Ted Striker]

Moving forward on this and hopefully it fixes this issue before my long trip from Houston to Ouray next week for Jeep Jamboree. Finally found a shop that would listen to me when I told them what I thought the issue is. The shop ordered a new outer rear pinion bearing and race and new Mopar synthetic gear oil. Should be done by Friday. Crossing my fingers that this solves the issue.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

First of all, sadly, my issue still is not resolved. Long story short I still have a noise from about 50-60 mph.

I took it to another shop that I have used many times before for axle and driveline issues to have them pull things apart and inspect everything. They have done work for me a few times in the past. All they do are axles and drivelines. Also, they mainly deal in Yukon gears because as they said, they are the best out there in aftermarket gears.

The tech working on things drove it initially and said he definitely hears the noise and that it really should not be there. He and the owner did clarify that even if you get them perfectly set up, a deeper ratio may still make some noise. He said that they have about an 80% success rate in getting quiet operation out of Yukons.

After driving it, they pulled the rear end apart and after testing and inspection, said the gears had been perfectly set up and the pattern, backlash and pinion depth all looked great and in spec. But one of the first comments he made to me after pulling everything apart to inspect and finding out these were Yukon gears was, "That's not a Yukon gear". He said that recently over the last year or so he has seen where someone will order a Yukon gear set, but what comes in the box won't be a Yukon gear as he knows it. Basically they source a gear from somewhere else, but it really isn't a Yukon manufactured gear. But it seems to be happening a little more common these days with other manufacturers as well, as the supply chains have really been pinched. After doing countless gear changes over the years, he can really tell by looking at things if it is as described, especially when it comes to Yukon.

So my gears are running perfectly fine and wearing normally, yet they are a bit noisy from 50-60mph. At this point I have not had the truck for so long due to being in and out of shops that I am just going to have to deal with the noise for a while longer as I have a few trips/moves that I need to use it for.

The owner said if I wanted to try to get it quiet he can go to his supplier and order another 4.88 Yukon gear set. He said that he can inspect it when he gets it and if it is indeed a Yukon, we can try this all again. It's still a gamble, but it's the only way to get it quiet if it can be achieved. No guarantees of course, but that's really the only avenue I have at this point, or just deal with things as they are.

This has been a frustrating experience to say the least. Especially seeing how many around here that have no issues and quiet gears after re-gearing. Not giving up yet, but my wallet might want to give up soon...

 

[Ted Striker]

I feel every ounce of your pain, brother. I had a 3rd shop look at the gears (Yukon 5.13). They replaced the rear outer pinion bearing and showed me pictures where the bearings and race were pitted. They replaced the gear oil with that special Mopar synthetic gear oil that’s costs $55 per quart. That said that the ring and pinion wear pattern look good.

Drove it away from the shop and immediately the howling noise is still there. Even worse, now I have a grinding/whirring noise as well. Don’t have time to take it back for them to fix it since I needed to drive it from Houston to Colorado for Jeep Jamboree. So basically, I drove 10 hours for 2 days with a howling noise and I’m driving all over Ouray with such a noisy rear end that everyone is noticing. It’s loud and bad.

I’ve had enough with this. I’ve been told that the whole axle housing is screwed up and I’m not about to spend thousands of dollars replacing it so I’m just cutting my losses after I get back from Ouray. I’m done.

 

[Hootbro]

I feel every ounce of your pain, brother. I had a 3rd shop look at the gears (Yukon 5.13). They replaced the rear outer pinion bearing and showed me pictures where the bearings and race were pitted. They replaced the gear oil with that special Mopar synthetic gear oil that’s costs $55 per quart. That said that the ring and pinion wear pattern look good.

Drove it away from the shop and immediately the howling noise is still there. Even worse, now I have a grinding/whirring noise as well. Don’t have time to take it back for them to fix it since I needed to drive it from Houston to Colorado for Jeep Jamboree. So basically, I drove 10 hours for 2 days with a howling noise and I’m driving all over Ouray with such a noisy rear end that everyone is noticing. It’s loud and bad.

I’ve had enough with this. I’ve been told that the whole axle housing is screwed up and I’m not about to spend thousands of dollars replacing it so I’m just cutting my losses after I get back from Ouray. I’m done.

If your factory setup was fine, I would not necessarily be leaning on a bad housing. That is scapegoat for the aftermarket rather than making a proper gear set. I would be looking into some DANA gears if they can be found but I understand your frustration regardless.

Sponsored