Blew my diff

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

This morning I headed out on a 300km trip to pick up a horse trailer. As I left the house, I thought that I felt a bit of drag from the rearend. Made the trip and picked up the trailer, (Around 2,000 lbs) and headed back. I attributed any unusual handling/driving to the fact I was towing a trailer through twisting mountain roads. Got back and dropped off the trailer. Went to leave the driveway and the drivers side tire locks up slightly as I turn left. This happens every time I turn at low speeds. Grab some oil from the dealership and return home and pop off the cover. It's hard to turn the tires and when you do turn them, with no resistance against they both spin the same way. Bad sign for the Gov-Lok. I have spent the last hour trying to back off the shims and finally decide to wipe the carrier down and look close. All around one side there is a crack right through the carrier. I have a non-posi carrier to swap onto but right now I have to get the old carrier out first. It has spread and is putting pressure on the shims so I can't turn them. Any ideas anyone? I am almost ready to take a grinder and cut them out as it is all shot anyways.
Will post pictures. I didn't think it was possible to crack the 10.5". I haven't done any burnouts or 4xing recently.
Go figure.
Maybe I should go straight to the Detroit Locker

[AKMark]

Gov locks fail so often it's scary and those will crack the carrier. The Detroit is awesome in the 14FF.

I'm surprised it's lasted long at all if you tow or offroad. I've blown 3 in 14FF's and two in 10 bolts.

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

Rarely tow, but I put it through some decent off-roading. Any good spots to pull in a Detroit from for a decent price? They are basically just a bolt in right?

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

Got it out using a mini-sledge and drift pin. It came out in two pieces.

[AKMark]

You need an open carrier to run a detroit. It just goes in the carrier. Weird, but that's the way one of these ones work.

I bought mine from Randy's Ring and Pinion www.ringpinion.com.

It's not too expensive, if you would like I know a good vendor in Alaska that might be able to get you a good price on a Detroit or ARB. His site is www.arcticoffroadsupply.com he doesn't list all his stuff, but if you e-mail him, he can hook you up. He's a really good guy, an Alaska National Guardsman who is an offroader.

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

Ya, I knew that you couldn't put the Detroit into a Gov-Lok carrier, it is weird.
I did get a non-posi unit already and swapped the ring gear onto it. What are the torque specs on the ring gear to carrier and how much back lash is needed on the ring/pinion?

[AKMark]

Call Randy's Ring and Pinion. They can give you the numbers you need.

Otherwise, I need a few days till my buddy comes home from vacation and I can get them for you.

[gophergunner]

Ya, I knew that you couldn't put the Detroit into a Gov-Lok carrier, it is weird.
I did get a non-posi unit already and swapped the ring gear onto it. What are the torque specs on the ring gear to carrier and how much back lash is needed on the ring/pinion?

when i put my detroit in......i had to first get a hold of an open carrier.......but the shop i got the carrier from the guy there put the locker in the carrier and put my gear on for me anyways. he told me 100 ft-lbs for the ring gear and i believe 0.020" backlash. i'm not positive on the backlash, but i'm positive on the torque number the guy told me.

if he was wrong then i'm gonna be a bit surprised....but it has been holding up just fine so far

[JohnC]

If you're going to set it up by backlash, you really ought to use the backlash it had before it broke. Since that's not possible, you should set it by the contact pattern. Once the gears have been running together for a while the factory spec is pretty rough.

[More Power]

The following article hits the highlights for a diff replacement.

http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/randys.htm

Jim