Broken Axle

[plateaucal]

I wouldn't think a loose bearing would cause this. Misaligned bearings might. If you stick a new shaft in there see if it assembles with ease and then rotates without any variations in rotational force (in other words smoothly.) Maybe check the runout at the shaft flange with a dial indicator on both the flat and edge surfaces.

[Peter60]

I've been thinking about what has been posted.

So we are saying that the axle was bent to cause this type of break. It wasn't due to 'twisting' - diff turning and axle/wheel being held.


I do have a complete replacement rear axle. I was planning to just remove the axles and put then in the old housing. But it sounds like I should use the replacement housing/rear end as is (with new bearings) - just to be safe.

[plateaucal]

All I can say is that it was a fatigue failure (it took time). Possible causes would include bent parts, long term overloading, or it may have been a defective part. It looks like a rotating-bending fatigue failure. My best guess. It definitely was not a one time occurrence that caused a sudden failure. I would think that torsion in the shaft contributed to the fatigue.

[Peter60]

OK. Thanks for the posts Plateaucal. It all helps explain what happened. I was a bit stunned the axle broke - these big diff/axles just don't fail - so I have been told. So I guess I am just unlucky it failed but lucky it failed not far from home and not out 4WDing.