Shop Day?

[mlp141]

Is anyone even remotely near me in Barnegat?

I believe I broke a half-shaft yesterday and will need to replace it. I've never done it and I am a bit leery about attacking it solo since the diff will probably need to come apart. I could use some help!

Anyone up for some help?

[galen211]

Didn't you tell me your ~45 min from Philly? There should be plenty of people close by.

[mlp141]

Didn't you tell me your ~45 min from Philly? There should be plenty of people close by. It's about that. And only about 4 hours from State College. ?

[Disco96JSWB]

I think we have sufficient collective wisdom to talk you through this repair, especially if you post pictures if you run into problems.
This is a pretty simple problem and one you will want to be able to repair in the future.

What have you done to confirm it is a broken rear axle shaft?
Do you have a spare pair already or are you going to be buying one?

The problem you might encounter is removing the broken-off piece of the shaft, depending upon where it broke.
You might end up being creative with a combination of a magnet on a stick and possibly a piece of long, stiff wire.

You can't really do any harm (famous last words) and if you don't feel you can try it with our help then you probably might want to get it done professionally.

[galen211]

Jeremy is right, this is easier than you think. I'm surprised this has never happened to me considering the way I have been known to flog a Series truck.

[mlp141]

Since it broke must I remove the diff and wipe everything out in the housing? That's what intimidates me.

[rvrsrvc]

It's very likely the shaft broke at it's weakest point in shear. Not always likely to leave shards, but at the very least, jack it up one rear wheel at a time and see if either free spin. If one does, pull that drive flange, pull the axle shaft and post pix? Then, maybe we can help make a decision whether to keep going, or .....

You wont make it worse jumping into it at least that far!

[mlp141]

I'm going to see what's what this afternoon. Have a bowling tournament this morning and need to hit Sears to buy my nephew his first real tool chest. I'm hoping to be home by 1.

Quick question- more likely to break - short or long side. I'll start there.

[mlp141]

OK - now I'm not sure what the deal is.

I didn't have a ton of daylight left when I finally go home but ...

Regardless if it was in or out of gear, each rear tire would spin freely when lifted (the other on the ground). Each would spin forward with no issues but did not want to turn backwards very easily.

Again with one wheel in the air, if I put it in first and let off the clutch nothing spun. The drive-shaft turned and there was a whirring noise. Trevor suggested pulling the shafts regardless of all of this but suggested it might be the rear diff. I hope not.

That said, if it is the diff, it might make sense to upgrade while I'm in there, right?

[mlp141]

Update -- with not too much effort I was able to remove the driver side shaft -- it was not broken.

Then onto the passenger side. I couldn't get the axle to come out. It was stuck -- I pulled, pried, and made a great effort but it wouldn't pull out. So, I packed it all up (after some swearing and frustration) and came inside to so grad school work.


Grrrrr

[Disco96JSWB]

Update -- with not too much effort I was able to remove the driver side shaft -- it was not broken.

Then onto the passenger side. I couldn't get the axle to come out. It was stuck -- I pulled, pried, and made a great effort but it wouldn't pull out. So, I packed it all up (after some swearing and frustration) and came inside to so grad school work.


Grrrrr

It's good that you've eliminated the driver side shaft as a possible problem.

Did you remove the six bolts holding the other drive flange to the hub? I'd be thinking of removing the axle shaft complete with the drive flange. You might need to pry or even gently tap the flange to get it loose. You'll probably need a gasket or sealant to prevent leaks when you reassemble it.

Report back on your efforts.

[Tom Bache]

I can help. Tomorrow ( Sat) I will be home early afternoon and can reload and head your direction. Perhaps I can leave here at 1PM. Text me if you want to get into it and do you have everything ( including the half shaft) If not, I will have an idea what to bring.
6108881260

Tom

[mlp141]

I can help. Tomorrow ( Sat) I will be home early afternoon and can reload and head your direction. Perhaps I can leave here at 1PM. Text me if you want to get into it and do you have everything ( including the half shaft) If not, I will have an idea what to bring.
6108881260

Tom

Hi Tom -- Thank you so much for the offer, but tomorrow I will not be around. I coach HS bowling and we have an all day tournament tomorrow and I won't get home until after dark. I really do appreciate your offer.

[mlp141]

It's good that you've eliminated the driver side shaft as a possible problem.

Did you remove the six bolts holding the other drive flange to the hub? I'd be thinking of removing the axle shaft complete with the drive flange. You might need to pry or even gently tap the flange to get it loose. You'll probably need a gasket or sealant to prevent leaks when you reassemble it.

Report back on your efforts.

Here's the update. I tried to remove the pass side both ways -- with and without the flange on the hub. I was able to remove the driver side as one assembly with no issues. When I tried that on the other side it didn't work. At that point I removed the hub from the axle and attempted to just pull the axle out. No joy.

[galen211]

You may try and rent a slide hammer from Advance Auto. If I remember correctly the end of the axle is threaded.

Others can chime in if this is the wrong approach, but it's what I would do next. :)

[bossongs]

Dealing with a broken passenger side rear axle myself. Fortunately, mine sheared at the flange. That made it easy to extract, although the bits from the axle contaminated the bearing... I'll refresh the entire end. (Very affordable complete 'kits' at DAP.)

Sounds like yours has some bent splines on the diff side. Bummer. Yes, The outer end is threaded and a slide hammer will do. Hopefully, you can pull it without damaging the diff. I do have some spare parts if you do, as I swapped the rover parts our for a Truetrac.

Steve B

[bossongs]

Hey QQ,

Where did you land with sorting out your axle and diff?

Mine turned into a bit more of a mess than expected. While it broke at the drive flange which made for an easy extraction of the half shaft...the 'bits' from the broken axle made a mess of my stub axle/spindle (exposed threads destroyed), bearing nuts (rounded down and needed to be cut off), bearings (these I expected) ...so, entire right rear had to be rebuilt. I ended-up doing bearings, seals and brakes on both sides while I had her apart.

Check out the picture ...broken axles w/bits next to new axle.

Steve B.

2375

[mlp141]

Mine is unfinished and should be tackled this week since I am off of school. I don't have a garage so working over the winter was touch and go at best.

I do have a slide hammer so that is the plan of attack for the right side. I am hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

If it's toast I don't think I'd tackle it alone and would probably drag her out to Trevor. At that point I'd probably consider upgrading to a higher spline count and maybe a locker of some sort. Not too certain on the latter but it will be discussed.

[bossongs]

I was toying with a couple of upgrade options for my rear axle as well ....this is the most interesting:

http://www.seriestrek.com/toyotadiffs.html

of course, you could go with an ARB/Detroit/TrueTrac lockers and 24 spline shafts as well. The lingering question for me was ...would this simply shift the failure point forward into the gearbox? I'm running a TrueTrac in the back with stock axles, a standard gearbox and transfer case and a 200Di engine with a lot more torque than the 2.25 petrol.

This is only my second rear axle break in 27 years of driving a Series...the last one was in 1993 headed out of Death Valley via Goler Wash. I got stuck cross axle in a 1964 with an ope rear diff ...and suddenly caught traction on a spinning wheel ...my fault. Just like this recent occurrence, I drove it back in Front Wheel Drive.

2 in 27 year ...not too shabby. i opted to stick with stock shafts.

For the record, I blame this incident on my 15 year-old daughter. I was giving her driving lessons the prior weekend and she had managed to smoke the back tires a few times on our driveway when she popped the clutch. I commended her and told her she had done something I didn't think was possible in a Series truck.

Best of luck with your repair!

Steve B.