So last August my carrier finally went out after 4 drag passes and when it did it grenaded everything! Lucky I have a warranty and they covered everything for free.

Well today after going shooting I think I killed my pinion this time. Here is the story.

Went out shooting and probaby spent 30mins or so down dirt roads/trails which included one larger mud puddle that of course I had to go into and sling some mud around but nothing even deep enough to get the bottom of the diff dirty. On the way home I had a small vibration at highway speeds due to some mud built up in one or all of my wheels which is common and I wasnt worried about it until I could get home to wash it out because it wasnt that bad and I had done it many times before. About 10 mins from home I left a stop sign and at about 5mph got on it pretty good maybe 80% throttle and Imediantly it started to hop As soon as I felt the first hop I let off but it was to late.

Heard 2 loud pops and couldnt go anywhere in any forward gears. Tried reverse and it worked fine. Ended up limping home in 4X4 which drove like normal the rear end didnt catch or pop or make anyother weird noises or signs. Nothing is visually broken from looking underneith and nothing is leaking.
Could it be the pinion?
Is it likely that a bolt on 4.8 could really destroy a rear end with less then 3k miles on it?
Or could it have been a weak part or bad install?

No doubt it was mostly caused by wheel hop/axle wrap and that needs to be taken care of so what are my options?
TCurrently there are no lift blocks just stock leafs with an add a leaf.
Rear end has a factory LSD and 4.10s.
Would I gain any benifit from a diff girdle?
Should I go ahead and order trac bars?

If it is the carrier It will be replaced with a trutrac for sure!

 

Also probably going to order new rear shocks because it also likes to hop alot on wash board roads and over rail road tracks.

Any suggestions on brands? I figured Bilsteins.

 

Talked to the shop today they said the pinion snapped clean off. They think it may have been a weak part. Lucky its covered and the replacment will be free.

But now that I have learned my lesson a second time I am going to fix this wheel hop issue and hopefully make this rear end last a little longer.

I ordered a Moiser rear girdle, Bilstien 5100s and a ladder bar from off road design that I am going to build a custom cross member to mount with.

Am I missing anything important or does anyone have any other suggestions to help with wheel hop? besides spring under? That will come down the road.

 

Got a pic or link for the ladder bars??? Reading your first two posts almost sounded like t case output shaft coming apart which ive seen before...

 

I thought it was the output shaft at first to. Kinda surprised it broke again but I guess all good things come to the end.

Heres a link to the ladder bar.

Rear Traction Bar Kit K5 Blazer Chevy GM 4x4 from ORD

 

That bar looks beastly, where would it mount on our trucks though???

 

Dan I think your going the right direction to solve wheel hop. Old school says add a little lead to the rear bumper (some mo weight behind axle to bumper). In my pro stock days I snapped several pinions off just behind the gear head. Each time it was due to wheel hop when launching. What brand gear r u using? I just got a set of 4.56 Motives and checked ring saddle to pinion and I don't like gear mesh. Pinion is meshing about a 1/4" high from ring saddle on the 10.5. The 9.25 set didn't have machineing #s on either gear.

 

Just got the truck back today very pleased with the speed of the shop! Had the shop throw on some new BFG KO2s because my older gen BFGs kept having balancing issues. Also got my girdle and shocks in today. Dropped it off to get it realigned and will pick it up tomorrow to begin measurments for the ladder bar so I know to order the 55 or 49in.

Tankhauler- The brand is just OEM my warranty will only cover OEM but if they blow out again I will for out my own mony and get G2 probably.

Wolftrk- They are super beefy! That shop does some seriously high quality work and beats the snot out of their products everyweekend. Tomorrow I am going to look at where a cross member could be made to fit. Shouldnt be to hard but then again I havent really looked. If I have to I will change my exhaust set up a little.

What gear break in do you guys recommend? I plan to install this girdle after a decent amount of break in time and fill it with redline fluids.

 

Gear break in??? Heres what i do, back out of shop, come out of parking lot sideways, run the hell out of it, if it breaks i pull it back in if not i keep running it.... Long story short get em good and warmed up let em cool and then beat the hell out of em.... Really not much break in on gears.... Some say 500 miles change fluid yadda yadda yadda, i am overdue for a fluid change but i want to order a girdle and will do it all at once.... Not to mention the fact i need to use some kinda mineral oil i need to get on eatons website and figure out what i need....

 

Works for me I guess haha I will probably wait 2 tanks of gas or so or and then swap it in. Maybe by then it will be warm enough to go outside in flip flops. I am not doing anything even remotely sideways until my ladder bar and everything is installed and the bugs are worked out. Tired of rearend problems

Also going to do some measurments on the front end tomorrow and figure out all I need for Atomics coilover swap. That way I can get it back leveled out.