Had my first real breakdown, and it had nothing to do with the engine swap!
The wife and I were headed out to do some shopping the other day when I heard some rather disconcerting noises. Slowly drove back home and began to investigate.
You're not going to believe this...
Pulled the rear differential cover and found bolts mixed in with the gear oil. Some were bent, others were broken, but they were bolts! As it turns out, they were ring gear bolts!
Thank God, none ended up between the ring and pinion, but the fact remains that several ring gear bolts had backed out and made contact with the housing, or got pinched between the housing and the carrier.
Now, I haven't opened the differential since I purchased the thing, much less pulled a ring gear bolt. My guess is that some previous owner/mechanic worked on the rear and didn't use Loctite and/or failed to clean the ring gear threads properly before installing the bolts.
The thing is, however, I've put nearly 50,000 miles on the Jeep since buying it, including trips to New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland. Can you imagine what would have happened if, out on the highway, a bolt made its way between the ring and pinion!
Fortunately, there are only a couple of small chips on the trailing edge of the ring gear. The rear is still quiet, and so the chances of anything bad happening are very slim. I have a Dana 60 to swap in, and plan on doing so later this year.
Whew, dodged that bullet!