My Next Project (Axle Temperature Gauges)

[DanW]

Great write up and what a nice, tidy factory-looking installation!

I lost rings/pinions to water intrusion in my 93 YJ years ago, which taught me an expen$ive lesson about water crossing and changing gear lube. I wonder if you'd know you had water intrusion just by a spike in temp on the diff guage?

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[CarbonSteel]

Great write up and what a nice, tidy factory-looking installation!

I lost rings/pinions to water intrusion in my 93 YJ years ago, which taught me an expen$ive lesson about water crossing and changing gear lube. I wonder if you'd know you had water intrusion just by a spike in temp on the diff guage?

Thanks for the kind words Dan!
You may be able to tell, but depending on how much water and load, the damage could be done before you would know it. I am not thrilled with the capacity of these axles, but there does not seem to be covers available that substantially increase the volume.

I should have a better idea of what OCI I will use at the 15K UOA and if the temps go too high on longer trips, I will switch to Red Line to see if it makes a difference.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I did about 200 miles today on the open road in 95°F weather. Two passengers and unloaded driving between 80 and 85MPH most of the way. The rear axle temperature hit and sustained 222°F which is pretty warm. I am running 75W-140 in it and have about 1700 miles to go before I UOA it again.

These temperatures make me question what the temps are in axles:

1. Running lower viscosity oil
2. Are loaded down or towing
3. Have lower gears (higher numerically) than 4.10
4. Have larger tires (I am running 33")

@DanW and @rockadile - keeping you guys in the loop.

 

[DanW]

I did about 200 miles today on the open road in 95°F weather. Two passengers and unloaded driving between 80 and 85MPH most of the way. The rear axle temperature hit and sustained 222°F which is pretty warm. I am running 75W-140 in it and have about 1700 miles to go before I UOA it again.

These temperatures make me question what the temps are in axles:

1. Running lower viscosity oil
2. Are loaded down or towing
3. Have lower gears (higher numerically) than 4.10
4. Have larger tires (I am running 33")

@DanW and @rockadile - keeping you guys in the loop.

Man, I love that setup! Are you going to do a UOA on the fluid when you finish the run? I've never done one on gear lube. Should be interesting!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Man, I love that setup! Are you going to do a UOA on the fluid when you finish the run? I've never done one on gear lube. Should be interesting!

Yep; in 1700 miles, I will send in another sample and see how the wear metals are doing. On a per mile basis, there should be a significant reduction this time since the axle will have 15K on it and the oil will have 10K. I will check it one more time at 20K and make a determination for an OCI from there.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I did about 200 miles today on the open road in 95°F weather. Two passengers and unloaded driving between 80 and 85MPH most of the way. The rear axle temperature hit and sustained 222°F which is pretty warm. I am running 75W-140 in it and have about 1700 miles to go before I UOA it again.

These temperatures make me question what the temps are in axles:

1. Running lower viscosity oil
2. Are loaded down or towing
3. Have lower gears (higher numerically) than 4.10
4. Have larger tires (I am running 33")

@DanW and @rockadile - keeping you guys in the loop.

@DanW, @rockadile - tagging you both again. I have been doing some research on gearing and will likely re-gear to 4.88 at some point in the future. While looking at gear sets and kits, I stumbled across this from East Coast Gear.

It is an interesting concept to set the OCI based upon temperature and while I am sure there are a multitude of variations, this does seem to be a good rule of thumb.

At 70MPH, I see 200°F all day, at 75MPH, I see 205°F-210°F most of the time, and at 75+MPH, i see 221°F-225°F (like you see in the photo above). I am running Amsoil 75W-140 in the rear and 75W-110 in the front.

Since I believe that my axle is now fully broken in (at least until I regear), I plan to use the UOA information in combination with the temperature guide below to aid me in determining when to change the oil.

What are your thoughts?

Temp Reference Chart – oil change frequency
o 170 Deg - 100,000 Miles
o 200 Deg - 50,000 Miles
o 220 Deg - 25,000 Miles
o 240 Deg - 12,000 Miles
o 260 Deg - 5,000 Miles
o 260-300 Deg – 500-1000 Miles until Temp is controlled

 

[DanW]

@DanW, @rockadile - tagging you both again. I have been doing some research on gearing and will likely re-gear to 4.88 at some point in the future. While looking at gear sets and kits, I stumbled across this from East Coast Gear.

It is an interesting concept to set the OCI based upon temperature and while I am sure there are a multitude of variations, this does seem to be a good rule of thumb.

At 70MPH, I see 200°F all day, at 75MPH, I see 205°F-210°F most of the time, and at 75+MPH, i see 221°F-225°F (like you see in the photo above). I am running Amsoil 75W-140 in the rear and 75W-110 in the front.

Since I believe that my axle is now fully broken in (at least until I regear), I plan to use the UOA information in combination with the temperature guide below to aid me in determining when to change the oil.

What are your thoughts?

Temp Reference Chart – oil change frequency
o 170 Deg - 100,000 Miles
o 200 Deg - 50,000 Miles
o 220 Deg - 25,000 Miles
o 240 Deg - 12,000 Miles
o 260 Deg - 5,000 Miles
o 260-300 Deg – 500-1000 Miles until Temp is controlled

That's great info! Your data is appreciated, too! I can have a reasonable educated guess as to what mine might be running, given the conditions in which I operate.

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