broke my driver side rear axle yesterday

[jack250r]

took my bronco out yesterday for its 2nd voyage in the 6 months ive owned it. just easing around trying to work all the bugs out of it. took a shortcut through a field road heading back home, when snap, and the rear end sits down. get out to look and the whole tire/drum was sitting beside the bronco. loooking closer i can tell that it has been broken for a long time, only a slither of shiney metal had been holding it on. so after a mile long walk back home, (because of AT&T's service, or should i say lack of). i give dad a call to come help me retrieve it. luckily he has a backhoe (not the 1st time ive had to call upon him, but at least this time it was not in the middle of the night). so after bout an hour we had it on a trailer and back to the shop. so now im searching for axles. Man i had forgotten what it was like to have old toys!!!!

 

[bmc69]

That is a very atypical break! At least in all my years of breaking 9" axles....

The axles normally fail somewhere in the 'slender part' and usually close to the center..the splined end. That almost looks like it might have been caused by bearing seizure..??

 

[chadomatic]

looks like time for an upgrade. I stripped the splines on mine shortly after i got mine on its second voyage. At least i got to limp home on the front axle.

 

[DonaldDouchebag]

I broke my driver's side rear in the very same spot. I was taking off from a stoplight when I heard a boom. I looked to my left and watched my tire pass me and roll a few hundred feet into a parking lot. Whee!

 

[DirtDonk]

It's so much more fun having old toys when good 'ol dad has a backhoe!
And is not afraid to use it....
Good story and pics. Better luck with the next set. At least with those you won't have the PO's damage to contend with.
And give dad a nice dinner out with his favorite beverage too.

Paul

 

[jack250r]

yea i told him to tack it on my bill and i would work it out next time i helped him do a job. Good thing he understanding and remembers his "younger days" .
He has gotten me out of much worse situations when i was a teenager. lets see, he has pulled me out of a beaver slash, a hole a skidder had been stuck in, "I had a chev* w/ 44's and 15" lift, and I could reach out the window and touch the ground", and a lake to name a few. aint no telling what wrecker recovery bills would have been on some of them adventures. haha I wish I had taken a camera with me back in the day, to bad cell phones didnt come along sooner.

 

[dbevans2249]

I broke my driver's side rear in the very same spot. I was making a U turn when I thought I was hit from behind. The tire rolled a few hundred feet and just missed a Mercedies! I went to 31 spline axles after that.

 

[sprdv1]

Dang the luck... Always gonna be something though.

 

[hammer]

I did the exact same thing in my '98 dodge 1/2 ton last monday only passenger side. Except i was in a ski resort 2.5 hrs from my house with no cell phone reception. Did a doughnut in a snow filled parking lot, rear hit a pothole, snap. Sucked. 8 hours later i was home with a $400 tow bill. 2 hours sleep and I was back up to the ski resort to pick up my 2 buddies and continue on our voyage, in a different vehicle.

 

[jack250r]

The luck continues!!!!

After pulling the broke axle out yesterday evening, and twisting the caps off of a few bottles, i decided since the top was off, i might as well take off the doors, just to see how it looked. I noticed there was only 2 bolts in the top and bottom, (should have looked closer, but continued on) needless to say i now how 3 broken bolts, that are going to be fun to get out. started to do passenger side also, but broke the first one of them i tried off. so undone those hinges off of the door side.

Amazing how strong you get by twisting off bottle tops!!!!

 

[JakeAlex]

Hate you broke that axle but probably better it happened where you were than while on the road or steep hill. Would be a great time to go with 31 splines...

 

[jack250r]

yes, i was lucky it happened where it did cause i had just left my dads shop and had been running about 60.

 

[6677ebman]

Wow broke MINE in the same spot once, had just been flying down the road meeting big trucks, eased into a buddys shop/parking lot, and she went to the ground, broke it off flush. Hearing about all of these cases would almost make you wanna invest in some good axles whether you need 'em or not!

 

[smallwonder]

How did you get the axle out?
It's raining like mad here and I'm to get the damn thing out with no luck. Nothing to grab onto. It spins free when I have the read up on stands and spin the other tire.

Do I need to remove the rear diff and pry out from there?

Any help would be nice.

 

[gr8scott]

.

Do I need to remove the rear diff and pry out from there?

The both axles need to come out for the diff to be removed...