To put a shovel on my jeep or not

What do you guys think of pinion guards? On one hand the you protect your ujoints, straps, yoke but on the other hand it will act like a rock magnet and scoop mud like a lake dredger and might cause the seal to go bad faster

here is a pic of one

My understanding from my father is that the guard you are talking about is supposed to go on top of the pinion, not underneath it. I asked the same question because I have one that I wanted to use. It relly isn,t a pinion guard & is for something else. Unfortunately I don't remember what for or what he said but I can find out if you want.

Is it just me or does that look like a front drive shaft of a yj being used in the rear?

Hey Matt your going to have to take the pros with the cons If they dont cost much try it out. Hell if you fab it yourself and you dont like it whats lost? just my 2 cents

Quote :

My understanding from my father is that the guard you are talking about is supposed to go on top of the pinion, not underneath it. I asked the same question because I have one that I wanted to use. It relly isn,t a pinion guard & is for something else. Unfortunately I don't remember what for or what he said but I can find out if you want.

Man that was fast. not sure about the on top thing, I have seen a truss that that has a peice like that on top, so it connects the bridge over the diff to the pinion. I think blue torch makes a truss like that. Might be what he is talking about

makitupthehardway wrote:

Is it just me or does that look like a front drive shaft of a yj being used in the rear?

It kind of does. The vehicle in the pic is a cherokee with rear coils. so the wheel base might be long enough to fit a yj shaft in the rear.

Its funny, I see a product in a picture and I buy it. Then when it comes, I look at it and think. WTF I could of made this . I will give it try.

get the full skid plate for the diff that has it built in all ready.

I don't think they make a full skid for my axle. plus I shaved it a 1 1/2. I am not worried about any peal back of the diff cover because it is 3/8" thick. My concern was because I keep breaking straps/ubolts that hold the ujoint in the yoke. the ujoint is going to be bigger then what i have now but I will be going back to straps and that will be the weak link

Okay just to clear this up what kinda axle are we talking about? it looks like a 9 inch in the picture.

it is a 9" in the picture but I am putting in a 14bolt (13 bolt now after being shaved). Its going be draging enough as it is, thats why Im not sure if I want to add a scoop on there

I'd say put one on there. I can see where scraping over a rock can bust the yoke, especially if you back over a rock and drop onto it. as for the shoveling I'd say if it is shoveling then you are deep enough to want to protect it anyway so go for it. I also say don't just order and buy stuff that you can do yourself. I wasted so much money buying stuff that really didn't do what it was supposed to do or was not built as well as what they say it is. if you don't like it later then it is no big loss. Always go with protection where you can.

Hey Kat. This a guard for the Pinion yoke so that if he lands hard on something he doesn't bang the Yoke. What your talking about is a casing that covers the yoke that works with a lader bar or a 5th link like what you had on your jeep. More less what matt is looking for is a pinion yoke skid that doesn't take away his clearance or work as a shovel in the loose dirt and mud.

Thanks Matt for bringing this up I think I'm going to work something like that with my Dana 44 in the rear.