Front axle issue

Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
Broke my driver side ft axle last weekend. Ordered and installed right side Revolution chromoly shaft. Having trouble getting driver side in. Will not slide right in, hitting bottom of knuckle. Acts as if knuckle is bent. Note: I did notice the bottom ball joint had come loose and had considerable slop as if hole might even be wallowed out. Tightened ball joint nut. Axle still does not slide in, hitting bottom in knuckle opening. Can the knuckle be bent? I do have c-gussets welded in, would not think c would be bent. Anyone have this happen? Need suggestions. Thanks.
 
Speedy_RCW

Speedy_RCW

Hooked
Slimebones said:
Broke my driver side ft axle last weekend. Ordered and installed right side Revolution chromoly shaft. Having trouble getting driver side in. Will not slide right in, hitting bottom of knuckle. Acts as if knuckle is bent. Note: I did notice the bottom ball joint had come loose and had considerable slop as if hole might even be wallowed out. Tightened ball joint nut. Axle still does not slide in, hitting bottom in knuckle opening. Can the knuckle be bent? I do have c-gussets welded in, would not think c would be bent. Anyone have this happen? Need suggestions. Thanks.
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Are the yokes of the axle shaft just not sliding through the hole in the knuckle? On my ten factory shafts I had to slightly clearance the shaft yokes to get them to slide through. But you should make sure it's the right shaft first. And you could always remove the knuckle then install the shaft.


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WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Here's an old thread of another member that had an issue with a TenFactory axle, may be related.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?32867-Yoke-knuckle-won-t-fit

I noticed after your axle broke that it left a mark on the lower ball joint, but it looked cosmetic to me, nothing more. Are you saying the ball joint was loose in the knuckle? Either way, that shouldn't affect the axle going in.

And is it hitting on the inner knuckle? As in the "C" ? Or hitting going through the large hole in the steering knuckle?
 
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Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
Thanks for your input guys. Ran out of time today. Left drivers axle out and will check your recommendations on my next day off. Will post up with results. Had to put it back together incomplete as this is my daily driver.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Slimebones said:
Thanks for your input guys. Ran out of time today. Left drivers axle out and will check your recommendations on my next day off. Will post up with results. Had to put it back together incomplete as this is my daily driver.
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What a bummer, man. As far as the loose ball joint, was it loose where it presses into the c or loose where the steering knuckle slides onto the tapered stud?
 
Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
WJCO said:
OK. That's better than the other. As long as the nut tightened up and the play is gone, you should be OK.
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That is what I thought. With the nut loose I was able to coerce the shaft in, but when tightening the unit bearing 3 bolts down, things got very stiff. Removed the unit bearing. loosened the ball joint nut, removed the shaft , and everything ok again. Something binding.
 
Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
Slimebones said:
That is what I thought. With the nut loose I was able to coerce the shaft in, but when tightening the unit bearing 3 bolts down, things got very stiff. Removed the unit bearing. loosened the ball joint nut, removed the shaft , and everything ok again. Something binding.
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Seems to me the knuckle axis is off. but not sure. Do not know how to determine
 
Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
Did not mean to say everything is ok. Shaft is now out because of before mentioned binding. Rambling now, need sleep
 
J

JKDream

Guest
Your axle is likely bent. I had the same issue when I bent the short side. The shaft would go into the tube cockeyed, and when I pulled it center to get the unit bearing bolted in it would bind. Be careful driving it with the shaft in like that because you'll chew up your spider gears.

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WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
JKDream said:
Your axle is likely bent. I had the same issue when I bent the short side. The shaft would go into the tube cockeyed, and when I pulled it center to get the unit bearing bolted in it would bind. Be careful driving it with the shaft in like that because you'll chew up your spider gears.

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You mean you think the tube is bent? Or the new axle shaft is bent? I don't see how a tube bend could have happened. We didn't even go over 15mph that day on the trail and we were in the snow all day. When it happened, his wheels were fully turned to the left and he was winching. He had been winching for a good 10 minutes and with his wheel turned to the left the whole time. When it went, I was standing off to the side and heard the pop. It was a typical ujoint failure. He posted in another thread that when he got home, he checked the other side and the clips were already starting to walk out (not full circle clips). In the parking lot everything came out smoothly. Also, he told me that he had just put new ujoints in about 1000 miles ago just for preventative maintenance, so I think he would have noticed something at that time. I just can't see the tube being bent.

Here's pics of the break in this thread:

Post 29, 30, and 37.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?42976-Light-wheeling-possible-snow-northern-Colorado-1-28

 
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Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
WJCO said:
You mean you think the tube is bent? Or the new axle shaft is bent? I don't see how a tube bend could have happened. We didn't even go over 15mph that day on the trail and we were in the snow all day. When it happened, his wheels were fully turned to the left and he was winching. He had been winching for a good 10 minutes and with his wheel turned to the left the whole time. When it went, I was standing off to the side and heard the pop. It was a typical ujoint failure. He posted in another thread that when he got home, he checked the other side and the clips were already starting to walk out (not full circle clips). In the parking lot everything came out smoothly. Also, he told me that he had just put new ujoints in about 1000 miles ago just for preventative maintenance, so I think he would have noticed something at that time. I just can't see the tube being bent.

Here's pics of the break in this thread:

Post 29, 30, and 37.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?42976-Light-wheeling-possible-snow-northern-Colorado-1-28

Click to expand...

That's my thoughts exactly. Seems like the gusseted "C"s should have prevented the bend there. Incidentally, I put an inclinometer on top of the top ball joint on each side and the reading is the same, indicating to me the tube is not bent there. Is it possible the bend is in the knuckle?
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Slimebones said:
That's my thoughts exactly. Seems like the gusseted "C"s should have prevented the bend there. Incidentally, I put an inclinometer on top of the top ball joint on each side and the reading is the same, indicating to me the tube is not bent there. Is it possible the bend is in the knuckle?
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I guess it's possible, but can't say I've ever seen one. Especially being that the break was mechanical in nature. I mean if you had hit a large bump at high speed or a tree or something, that's usually what would cause a bend to a part like that. I just can't see it in this case. When you drove home, did anything feel weird, like vibration or pulling at all?
 
Slimebones

Slimebones

Active Member
WJCO said:
I guess it's possible, but can't say I've ever seen one. Especially being that the break was mechanical in nature. I mean if you had hit a large bump at high speed or a tree or something, that's usually what would cause a bend to a part like that. I just can't see it in this case. When you drove home, did anything feel weird, like vibration or pulling at all?
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Funny you ask. Thought it strange that the steering wheel was then a little off center. Turned slightly to the left. Jeep pulls ever so slightly left now. Have corrected the steering wheel centering by adjusting tie rod. For some reason the alignment was off some. Strange, as I always keep it right on. Still pulls left slightly. Otherwise Jeep drives nice, no noticeable problems.
 
bigcale

bigcale

Caught the Bug
Slimebones said:
Broke my driver side ft axle last weekend. Ordered and installed right side Revolution chromoly shaft. Having trouble getting driver side in. Will not slide right in, hitting bottom of knuckle. Acts as if knuckle is bent. Note: I did notice the bottom ball joint had come loose and had considerable slop as if hole might even be wallowed out. Tightened ball joint nut. Axle still does not slide in, hitting bottom in knuckle opening. Can the knuckle be bent? I do have c-gussets welded in, would not think c would be bent. Anyone have this happen? Need suggestions. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Is it hitting in the same area you guys were prying on when trying to get it out?
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
bigcale said:
Is it hitting in the same area you guys were prying on when trying to get it out?
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I hope it's not related. However, the main reason we were prying was that the old axle shaft actually bent at the yoke ear where the ujoint came apart It bent the shaft enough where it wouldn't fit through the knuckle hole. Either way, I hope the knuckle isn't bent.
 
J

JKDream

Guest
WJCO - I think the tube is bent. It could have been bent for quite some time and you are just noticing now because you pulled the shaft.

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WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
JKDream said:
WJCO - I think the tube is bent. It could have been bent for quite some time and you are just noticing now because you pulled the shaft.

Sent from my Le X821 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

Wouldn't he have noticed it when he changed the ujoint about 1000 miles ago? Unless he's been on a rough trail since then, which I do not know.
 
bigcale

bigcale

Caught the Bug
WJCO said:
I hope it's not related. However, the main reason we were prying was that the old axle shaft actually bent at the yoke ear where the ujoint came apart It bent the shaft enough where it wouldn't fit through the knuckle hole. Either way, I hope the knuckle isn't bent.
Click to expand...

Just wondering if it is still hitting on the bottom of the knuckle, if so it might be related to the break. Either a bent tube or hub, since he did have that apart not long before the break.

I was watching when it was coming out, seemed like it was just because of the bent ear. Although that also could just be because of the difference with the new axle shafts being bigger at the u joint. Might be interesting to see what the difference between them is.
 
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