Broken ring gear teeth...damn

[sherpaJL]

Nearly everything these days is 2 cut.

Most failures are due to setup or abuse. Easily 95%+, anyway.

proper setup is always key to a smooth running gear set
The latest 2-cut manufacturing process, which benefits manufacturers by speeding up production, is not optimal for gear loading.
I'm not surprised that the teeth are failing at the top.
at this stage, I expect them to.. just take a look at the patterns below

5 cut (Face Milled) traditional method

2 Cut (Face Hobbed) latest technique

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[WillysMeow]

I did some bouncing around one time (Honey Badger)... broke my driveshaft clean. This was at the top of Top of the World trying a stupid line I knew better than to try. Lol. It bounced one time and snap. I thought it was the gearset at first but was relieved to see it was just the driveshaft.

Driving from the top all the way to the campsite in Moab in front wheel drive was a good time (Oh, also at night.) Lol.

Wow, good job on the driveshaft surprised it just sheared off so easily, love that light looking into it. Last time we were out and it rained hard, we noticed need to buy or fab a flexible piece between the lift gate glass and the roof shell. Rear interior got all wet from dripping rain water and spashed all in the back cargo area.

You wouldn't be able to tell, I had this happen on a toyota 8" diff. Only found it when trying to measure the crush sleeve with calipers trying to guess a starting point on a solid sleeve and shim.

Not sure if solid spacers are a thing on the m220.

Loved the stock Toyota 8" solid pinion sleeves with shims in my 1981 shorbed 4x4, once setup you can change pinion flanges and never worry about pinion preload, great design!

Most likely occurred from bouncing then hooking up. I had similar breakage on mine (around the outer edges of the teeth) and the shop said that typically occurs from a bounce to a full on hook up.

Used to occasionally bounce my Toyota with front and rear lockers and 36x12.50x15 TSL/SXs and never had a problem, however didn't let it just sit and bounce....that always said time to check the line I chose.

On another Toyota had a shop re-gear and they failed...about 2 years later all the ring gear bolts backed out and bye bye went the rear diff....no signs of locktight on the bolt and no sheetmetal fold over bolt head retention used!

 

[kah.mun.rah]

I once had to drive a Jeep over 100 miles home with a broken tooth. This is what the ring gear looked like when I got home:

 

[WillysMeow]

@kah.mun.rah Zoiks! Reminds me of driving home from our first Rubicon trip, my buddies Toyota Xtrracab with front IFS, 4" lift and 35s...after hitting pavement, air up and starting up highway 89 his trucks sounded like a heavily loaded helicopter coming in hot! Pulled over couple times and knew the rear gears were already done, so he drove couple hours back to my house, where he stayed for couple days while getting a new ring and pinion setup to reinstall and drive home. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do and we were just happy to make it all the way to my house. :/

Edit: and after looking at two cut vs five cut it's easy to see why 2-cut is way inferior.

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