I broke the front axle

[porkysplace]

From the looks of that wheel bearing all 6 wheels need to come apart .

 

[73m819]

Looks like grease worms got to that bearing, I WOULD check the other 5 hubs for worm attacks.

 

[Karl kostman]

WOW the last time I saw bearings that looked like that they were on a car that had been sitting on the edge of a lake for the last 43 years! Those bearings and races are not even remotely serviceable, have they EVER been greased? I repeat WOW!!! if you have many more parts on your truck that look like these bearings you have a VERY SHORT LIFE truck on your hands! Good luck is all I can say!
KK

 

[Pugsley]

That's just it.. the one on the other side looked brand new and had great looking grease. I do plan to at least take the rear 4 hubs off and have a look before I call this project done. I hope that one is the only fluke.

Seems my stupidity saves the day!

 

[The King Machine]

That bearing is roasted, you saved yourself a lot of work by changing it out before it welded itself to the spindle. Unfortunately the rest of the bearings on the truck could be in the same condition.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have found it best to inspect your bearings and brakes after EVERY foray into mud. After every haspin or Ga rally, I go through each hub. Its amazing how much mud and crap gets in there.

Even if its just to wash the mud and sand off the brake pads. Imagine how fast the pads wear with all that sand in there.

 

[m109a2]

How old are you?

 

[gimpyrobb]

I fail to see how age comes into play here.

 

[tommys2patrick]

That's just it.. the one on the other side looked brand new and had great looking grease. I do plan to at least take the rear 4 hubs off and have a look before I call this project done. I hope that one is the only fluke.

Seems my stupidity saves the day!

Amazing forces at play that it can distort and snap that half shaft. When I do things like that, I like to make yard art from the broken parts. I don't intend to quit trying to learn and having fun. I say go speed racer!

 

[Pugsley]

Yeah I am thinking of something to do with the chunk that broke off. Maybe drill and tap it and make a knob out of it... I do plan to take the other end and hang it in the garage as a reminder.

At the time it was fun so I don't really care.

 

[rflegal]

Definitely less work than swapping out a whole front axle quickly. And now you know the job's done right and is good to go. Great job - I always learn so much more when I have to clean up my own mess.

 

[Another Ahab]

How old are you?

Also, how tall are you?

And do you dream in color!?

 

[Another Ahab]

Definitely less work than swapping out a whole front axle quickly. And now you know the job's done right and is good to go. Great job - I always learn so much more when I have to clean up my own mess.

Agreed. Kindergarten really WAS crucial wasn't it!?

 

[saddamsnightmare]

September 16th, 2015.


Running over cars can be so fun, and so painful.... Someone's been watching too many car crush shows on YouTube! Good luck with rebuilding your front axle, and tray to stay off the cars, unless it's a Fiat 500 or a Prius! Locomotives do much better at crushing cars and most trucks without all that collateral damage!

 

[gimpyrobb]

Well, I'm sure it didn't help the axle any when he tried to unstick a bobbed deuce from a hole 3ft deep at June Haspin!

 

[Pugsley]

Oh that wasn't that bad. It never hopped at all doing that and I had help!

I had been planning to smash this car for a year. We put a bunch of holes in it before attempting to run it over, so that was fun at least.

 

[Another Ahab]

Oh that wasn't that bad. It never hopped at all doing that and I had help!

I had been planning to smash this car for a year. We put a bunch of holes in it before attempting to run it over, so that was fun at least.

I hear you; trashing stuff can be GREAT fun:

- You reminded me of my reserve days when three of us (Seabees) shot-up an old empty fuel tank and reduced it to just the thinnest of scraps.

- We were all squad machine-gunners (M-60), at the range for training that day, and a the end of the training the Master Sergeant was looking for volunteers to use up the ammunition that hadn't been already used (these were the Reagan years when budgets were FAT). Because whatever wasn't used would be discounted off the NEXT year's budget (crazy accounting right, but that's your government for you).

- Everyone else wanted to leave, but me and two buddies said "sure", and I can't tell you how many belts we ran through (but it was a LOT).

- That tank was big, like 40-50 feet long, and 10-15 feet in diameter, solid plate steel; just laying in this field way down range. And by the time we were all done, it was reduced to nothing but scraps of metal laying ALL over that field (this was Quantico). We had a blast!

So, yeah, smashing stuff IS fun! Thanks for giving an old sailor a treat pulling up an old memory.

 

[Wildchild467]

I have found it best to inspect your bearings and brakes after EVERY foray into mud. After every haspin or Ga rally, I go through each hub. Its amazing how much mud and crap gets in there.

Even if its just to wash the mud and sand off the brake pads. Imagine how fast the pads wear with all that sand in there.

Yup, That's why I keep my truck out of the deep mud. I put too many miles on it for all that shenanigans.

 

[icecreamman]

@ anotherAhab------Picture a bunch of guys at the beach drinking copious amounts of beer and "de-milling" a B-28 nosecone with a sledgehammer.

 

[Tracer]

If you really like car crushing, you might consider upgrading to a Sherman. But I agree with some of the other posts here, pull your axles and fix what's wrong. Also I would change the oil in all 3 differentials!