Think I broke an axle..

[jim lee]

One of my kids took the M37 out for some fun and frivolity. Got a call about an hour later that he thought he broke the truck. Not sure how it happened, but now the driveline spins and the truck doesn't go anywhere. So I showed him the "lock the front hubs and limp home" trick. Off road vehicles are still a new and amazing thing for these poor sheltered kiddies.

I'm betting an axle broke. Are they still available anywhere?

Thanks!

-jim lee

[combat32]

Yeah Midwest has them for sure, probably some others.

[Kaegi]

lesson is he probably broke it because the front axle was not engaged. off-roading in 2 wheel drive puts way too much stresss on rear axle.

[RMS]

Ive dragged cars in 2lo on lose and 4lo on hard surfaces, slipped and gripped bouncing on rocks and rock faces, churned through mud and pushed through 4ft of snow. Ive pulled rail cars and pushed shipping cans. Ive broken ujays and a clutch disk but knock on wood never an axle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpVVGa_gqbg

please post the tear down. I'm interested in what and why it failed. was the proper third member gasket used? do the wheel bearing still have pre-load ? was there a preexisting crack or flaw ? was it a compression skid that snapped it or a slip and grip scenario ?


if its the third or long side I can help.

[jim lee]

He said he was trying to get it in gear (gravel parking lot). He thought it was in neutral and was having trouble shifting into reverse so he let the clutch out some to spin the tranny innards a little. He said there was this big bang and then nothing.

We'll see..

-jim lee

[jim lee]

Here's the axle..


Found the driver's side rear axle has snapped at the 3rd member. Making magnet on stick now to attempt to pull out the end.

We're in Anacortes WA, wondering if anyone is in the area that has one of these we can buy.

408 340-0352
jimlee*leftcoast.biz

Also posted on the Swap Meet forum

Thanks!

-jim lee

[W_A_Watson_II]

Yikes, that's not pretty, but looks like no big chunks to float around. I just broke my second rear long Foote Axle in Iowa.

[m-11]

PM sent

[jim lee]

52 M-42 called this morning. He has one and is only a couple hours away.

Now, where can I find the torque specs for the 3-rd member carriage bolts?

Thanks millions everyone!

-jim lee

[MSeriesRebuild]

Let me share a bit of good advice, don't replace the broken axle until you pull the diff and clean EVERYTHING very thoroughly. There may not be any large pieces, but it is the small chards of metal that will circulate with the oil destroying bearing rollers, races and gear teeth. Axles shatter when a break happens; very similar to broken glass. Small bits are many, thus they are picked up immediately a go everywhere the oil goes. They will also clog the oil galley ways in the housing, and small holes in the double cup center that carry oil to the double cup bearing cone assemblies on the pinion shaft. The double cup will have to come out of the housing in order to access that mess and clean it up. Bearings for a diff are high $$, you don't want to destroy them. The worst immediate damage will be to the 4 spider gear thrust washers that are made from much softer bronze material.

Another tip: If you have not checked out any of those components, now is the time to become wise. Loose motion in the spider/side gear set up due to wear on gear teeth and thrust washer thickness is a sure way to break axles. If loose motion is present in the set up, it causes a slapping action every time you let out on that clutch pedal as the loose slack in the set up must be accounted for before any power is transferred to the ground. Loose motion in this area is absolutely the biggest cause of broken axle shafts, with the exception of running a Lock-Rite locker on paved roads. I think they likely hold the all time record as the main cause for broken axles. Looseness may have been the ultimate cause of your break this time. If this is going on and is ignored, you will have only more broken axle shafts in your future. Many search for what they believe are stronger shafts when they are plagued with breakage issues. Based on the many I've looked at over many years; what I've just described above is far and beyond the biggest cause of shaft failures. If you have these issues going on; any shaft you install will fail.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Charles is right, pull and clean everything very well. All the chunks in the picture below was resting in the bottom of the axle housing, and got there when I pulled the broken shaft out. The fine silver flecks in the bottom picture are what I wiped out of the housing while cleaning it before re-assembling everything,