Teraflex CRD60

[waynehartwig]

What's the deal with these? Are they junk? I'm helping out a Iraqi vet that was wounding in service and Teraflex gave hime a BS story about too big of motor, etc. and to get a 14b or Dana 70. The guy is running 35" tires and a mostly stock SBC and he's blowing up gears. The first set the pinion nut came loose but the second set has busted teeth. First set were Precision Gear and the second were Yukon. I personally think both sets of gears were improperly done. Other people he has talked to have told him to dump the CRD60 and go with a regular D60 (or larger).

So whats the deal? Is the CRD60 junk?

 

[Herzog]

Some how I doubt that. I've heard good things about the CRD60.

 

[Greg]

I'd say it's a gear setup problem, CRD60's have been used in Competition much harder than a guy with mild V8's and 35's would. Pretty sure Tracy Jordan has been running CRD60's for quite awhile.

I broke some teeth on a new set of Yukons in my 4Runner, they were properly broken in & had a good amount of time on them before the break. One bad bounce (on the street) and that did the job. Lesson learned, don't power brake with 38's at 8 PSI.

 

[GOAT]

What's the deal with these? Are they junk? I'm helping out a Iraqi vet that was wounding in service and Teraflex gave hime a BS story about too big of motor, etc. and to get a 14b or Dana 70. The guy is running 35" tires and a mostly stock SBC and he's blowing up gears. The first set the pinion nut came loose but the second set has busted teeth. First set were Precision Gear and the second were Yukon. I personally think both sets of gears were improperly done. Other people he has talked to have told him to dump the CRD60 and go with a regular D60 (or larger).

So whats the deal? Is the CRD60 junk?

Is this wildman's rig?

 

[mbryson]

Is this wildman's rig?

Sounds like it to me. Take care of that guy Wayne. He's a good egg.

 

[waynehartwig]

Is this wildman's rig?

Yes.

 

[I Lean]

They're good housings with some cool features. Like any high pinion axle, they aren't as strong in a rear axle as they would be in a front--since you mention D70/14b I'll assume that's what we're talking about.

Also like any axle, bad setup will cause premature failure, no matter what gears are in it.

 

[waynehartwig]

Sounds like it to me. Take care of that guy Wayne. He's a good egg.

I looked at teh pictures, granted they are pictures and not in person, but the gear setups looked poor - both times. Obviously the first was, because the pinion came loose and started hitting the ARB. The pictures it loooks like the pinion was too shallow - or the backlash was way loose, but he says it wasn't clunking and for the gears to be that off, there would have been clunking - especially with his auto. So I offered to take a look at the axle free of charge. I want to check measurements and etc. to see if it really is a bad setup or not. If it is, then I'll install a new set of Precision gears (Ron warranteed the first set!! ). I'll also toss it in my jig and make sure the housing is straight.... He contacted me to build him new axles, front and rear. But he's not had any problems with the HPD44 in the front, so since when does a HPD44 become stronger than a HPD60?

I basically told him (the above) and that if he was willing to trust me to ruin another set of gears, I would donate my labor to fix it. ...It's really GOT to be bad setup!??

 

[mbryson]

I looked at teh pictures, granted they are pictures and not in person, but the gear setups looked poor - both times. Obviously the first was, because the pinion came loose and started hitting the ARB. The pictures it loooks like the pinion was too shallow - or the backlash was way loose, but he says it wasn't clunking and for the gears to be that off, there would have been clunking - especially with his auto. So I offered to take a look at the axle free of charge. I want to check measurements and etc. to see if it really is a bad setup or not. If it is, then I'll install a new set of Precision gears (Ron warranteed the first set!! ). I'll also toss it in my jig and make sure the housing is straight.... He contacted me to build him new axles, front and rear. But he's not had any problems with the HPD44 in the front, so since when does a HPD44 become stronger than a HPD60?

I basically told him (the above) and that if he was willing to trust me to ruin another set of gears, I would donate my labor to fix it. ...It's really GOT to be bad setup!??

That's kind of my take, but I've not opened up his diff. He dragged my junk a couple miles off the road out from Pritchett this spring. (I burned a ground wire to my fuel pump )

 

[waynehartwig]

They're good housings with some cool features. Like any high pinion axle, they aren't as strong in a rear axle as they would be in a front--since you mention D70/14b I'll assume that's what we're talking about.

Also like any axle, bad setup will cause premature failure, no matter what gears are in it.

Exactly!

I believe he's running a Dodge Magnum 5.2 (I said SBC earlier, and I'm really not sure it's not), auto trans and a Stack 3 speed and 35" Toyo MT's with Allied bead locks. Neither set of gears lasted long (I think 3 months total?)

When he contacted TeraFlex they gave him a brush off answer and said that the V8, Stack and gearing caused the failure and he should get out of the HPD60 in the rear and go to a LPD70 or 14b. They didn't offer any help or anything else. His point is that there are guys competing with these things with much larger tires and most likely much more HP.

Dunno.... If there is something you can do to get a better answer out of Teraflex? He's a wounded Iraqi vet with 28 years in the service. Would have retired if he wasn't shot with friendly fire and released on a medical retirement. PM me if you know something or want his name to see what you can do.

 

[waynehartwig]

That's kind of my take, but I've not opened up his diff. He dragged my junk a couple miles off the road out from Pritchett this spring. (I burned a ground wire to my fuel pump )

He's got a nice rig as it is and I can't conciously allow him to buy new axles just because he lost 2 sets of gears in the rear CRD60. I still feel that what he has is very capable with 35" tires and there's no need to upgrade again. Even with a V8, you gotta be able to put the power/torque to the ground and I don't think aired down 35's will do that because of wheel spin. Dunno... Could be wrong!

 

[mbryson]

He's got a nice rig as it is and I can't conciously allow him to buy new axles just because he lost 2 sets of gears in the rear CRD60. I still feel that what he has is very capable with 35" tires and there's no need to upgrade again. Even with a V8, you gotta be able to put the power/torque to the ground and I don't think aired down 35's will do that because of wheel spin. Dunno... Could be wrong!

Nah, you're right. He's not even a throttle junky where he'd be pushing it all the time. With his setup, he'd have to be max throttle all the time for that to be the right deal. I think that housing was new when he got it (third hand or so) and he's not that rough on it. He uses it, but a D35 might hold up to how he drives (not saying it would, but he's not super hard on it) even with the V8.

 

[waynehartwig]

Nah, you're right. He's not even a throttle junky where he'd be pushing it all the time. With his setup, he'd have to be max throttle all the time for that to be the right deal. I think that housing was new when he got it (third hand or so) and he's not that rough on it. He uses it, but a D35 might hold up to how he drives (not saying it would, but he's not super hard on it) even with the V8.

He says he ran 35's on his D35/D30 combo with no issues for ~4 years...

 

[Ohms]

In my humbe opinion. Tera is givin him the brushoff. Now I know that they have had issues around the oiling....ect.....But that wont cause **** to break. Honestly- get in touch with Randy's R&P and talk to someone there with a brain. Send them pics of what you see- They'll propbably be the most help being they are ring and pinion guys. BTA WTF do I know

 

[Bart]

The very early version of the Tera60R had a oiling issue that was addressed and fixed, but I've never heard of it on the CRDs.

 

[rxcarl5]

Hmm this makes me sad to hear. I run the crd 60 in the rear of my 95 wrangler with an atlas 4.3 and just the little 4.0. I push 37 inch mtrs at 8lbs of pressure and have never had a problem like this. Mine has the 4.56 yukon gears in it. The only trouble I have had with my crd is the driver side axle seal likes to leak even after tera replaced it twice. I have had mine for about 3-4 years now.
I hope this trouble turns out ok for the guy.

 

[waynehartwig]

After I get apart, I'm goign to be sending the Yukon's back in for warranty and we'll see what they say. Most likely they will decline it, but they will give an answer and that answer will be heard.

Like I said before, before I tear it apart, I'll take measurements and I'll be able to see right away if it was improper gear setup. If it was, then I'll throw new gears at it. If it wasn't, then...Well, the housing will probably be retired.

Thanks for the help guys! Next is to just tear into and see...

 

[JoeT]

Got a name of who he talked to? Also when did he call?

 

[waynehartwig]

Got a name of who he talked to? Also when did he call?

It was done through email I believe, as the response was in email form. Like Carl and I have talked about lately, Teraflex really doesn't owe this guy anything, as he is the 3rd? owner of the housing. But I don't think he was looking for warranty work as much as information as to why his gears would keep failing so quickly.

I would post the email and persons name, but I don't think it's necessary or productive. I will say though, I wasn't impressed with the brush off. It's very easy to tell a customer, direct or not, to take a leap and buy a bigger axle so the smaller one quits breaking. He doesn't have a Dana 35 busting it up once a month and asking why. This is a D60 that has blown up 2 times in a matter of like 2 months.

...And something else, too, is that the V8 he has in there hasn't been running right either - serious loss of power. On the highway, he's barely reaching 70 and can't maintain the speed limit on hills. He's really had a lot of problems with this thing over the past 6-8 months. 2 sets of gears, 2 or 3 Stack's, new trans/torque converter and lots of stuff with the engine trying to get the power up.

 

[Exalted 4x4]