Open differential spider gears breaking

Hi I was wondering how likely is it for our rear differentials spider gears to break. I was running 305/70-17 tires on my stock gears when all of a sudden my rear end went out. Pulled the diff apart and saw my spider gears sheared in half. I’ve recently replaced the diff with a 3rd member from ecgs and 4.56 gears. Should I be worried about possibly breaking them again or is it possible they broke due to high mileage and off-road abuse ? I have 130k miles.

 

@stronghammer did similar

 

Running a ~34x12x17 on stock gears, yea I see why they might have broken. Probably abused too.

 

I mean mine snapped pretty simply, stock gears. I installed a locker in the rear when they snapped. Does replacing the R&P gears include replacing the spider gears?

If it's still the "same" gears as stock....then I'd say they break pretty easily.

 

replacing the r&p doesn't change the spiders. Installing the ARB locker does, i think.

 

that's what I thought (well I knew about the locker).

therefore I stand by my later statement that they are pretty susceptible to breakage.

consider upgrading.

 

wait...OP is 2wd as well....and running 34" tires...

spider gears are screwed.

 

Being a rational person I would find the cause of the abuse/breakage and not do that anymore. I.E. Cali sand dune flyer truuck...?

 

2wd not related to spider destruction.

 

um, yes it is?

2wd is when my spider gears snapped.

anyone running 34" tires in a 2wd probably isn't treating the truck lightly either.

 

I forgot you are the expert.

 

didn't say I was, but 2wd is when mine snapped. therefore...they are related...

 

Coincidence, really. You should have been in 4wd, OP doesn't have that luxury. 2wd trucks shouldn't offroad something is bound to break without having the extra traction from the front wheels helping.

So no the spiders aren't weak, they break when in bad situations they shouldn't be put in.

 

but if 2wd and spider gears aren't "related" then he shouldn't have concern for them breaking, as you did say they were not related...correct?

but since they ARE...he will have concern of them breaking.

 

Because obviously nothing 4wd related can break. Being a 2wd vs 4wd truck isn't related.. If you put your truck in a bad situation and don't use extra traction aids you can break anything drivetrain related.

 

I have jumped my truck from time to time, but never more than a couple of feet. Yeah they were fine even after that. It wasn’t until I was sitting at a stop light and when the light turned green I accelerated and all of a sudden (!!BOOM)
I get out to look. My drive shaft is still spinning in drive with the truck not moving

 

Well I never said that. I was simply implying someone in a 2wd on 34s, and who jumps their truck, should worry about their spider gears. They aren't strong enough for that.

OP, I'm willing to bet they were wearing out after all of the abuse the timing was just poor on the road. Any slip or quick grip of traction will put torque on those gears.

 

They weren't fine, they just hadn't broken yet. The wear and tear builds up, and when you were in a high traction situation that's when the final string was broken.

 

Let me get this straight you have jumped your truck multiple times and now are wondering why drivetrain parts are breaking?????

I think we're done here.

 

No i understand why they broke. But I’m saying, now on my new set. I keep it mostly on the street. Should they last me a while? Still running the 34s