need help-blew up front drive stuff

expo5.0 · April 15, 2005

yep, it lasted like 6 days with the bags.

guess it didn't have a prayer of handling the angles (even though i drove with it up relatively high) and the tq of my truck

i'm not sure yet what i did damage wise though

I was accelerating away from a stop sign on campus when the front end dropped, an started shaking like the wheel was falling off. The inner cv had pulled out and blew its fluid crap all over everything. it had also punctured my air bag. the bumper was about 4 fingers off the ground so i couldn't see much. i talked my friend, tyler, into coming down and bringing a bunch of tools and we spent about 3 hours disassmbling and reassembling everything (we were tryign to pull the cv out from the wheel hub assembly, but failed) when we put it all back together we put the cv below its inner housing (we figured that would be better for crawling back home than having it in the triangular housing). that turned out to be true, and it was fairly driveable, albeit very low. we removed the inner fender and it didn't rub much so i decided to drive it home like that. there was a faint clcking all the way home presumably from the cv rotating. then about half way home a bang, and something fell off and there was no longer any noises. however when i got home there was a steady stream of tranny fluid looking fluid pooring out (i of course can't see it at all in the dark without jacking it up) and for now i don't know what it is for sure. i'm 98% certain i blew up the front differential and that is where the fluid is pouring out of. I drove a couple laps around my parking lot to make sure it wasn't hte tranny and i'm pretty darn sure it isnt.

so...

1.. what is broken. i know the extent of the damage wont' be known until i jack it up and get some more info etc., but let me know if you have any ideas etc.

2. how do i fix it- do i convert to 2wd? rebuild it as it was? is it cheaper to sort of half convert to 2wd? what do i need to do in the mean time to drive it safely, etc. etc.?

3. i bet ya'll will want pictures of the damage eh?

boominXplorer · April 15, 2005

convert to 2wd. it cost me about 200$ for the front goodies. If you need a new pumpkin for up front I got a case if you want it.

gijoecam · April 15, 2005

expo5.0 said:
yep, it lasted like 6 days with the bags.

guess it didn't have a prayer of handling the angles (even though i drove with it up relatively high) and the tq of my truck

i'm not sure yet what i did damage wise though

I was accelerating away from a stop sign on campus when the front end dropped, an started shaking like the wheel was falling off. The inner cv had pulled out and blew its fluid crap all over everything. it had also punctured my air bag. the bumper was about 4 fingers off the ground so i couldn't see much. i talked my friend, tyler, into coming down and bringing a bunch of tools and we spent about 3 hours disassmbling and reassembling everything (we were tryign to pull the cv out from the wheel hub assembly, but failed) when we put it all back together we put the cv below its inner housing (we figured that would be better for crawling back home than having it in the triangular housing). that turned out to be true, and it was fairly driveable, albeit very low. we removed the inner fender and it didn't rub much so i decided to drive it home like that. there was a faint clcking all the way home presumably from the cv rotating. then about half way home a bang, and something fell off and there was no longer any noises. however when i got home there was a steady stream of tranny fluid looking fluid pooring out (i of course can't see it at all in the dark without jacking it up) and for now i don't know what it is for sure. i'm 98% certain i blew up the front differential and that is where the fluid is pouring out of. I drove a couple laps around my parking lot to make sure it wasn't hte tranny and i'm pretty darn sure it isnt.

so...

1.. what is broken. i know the extent of the damage wont' be known until i jack it up and get some more info etc., but let me know if you have any ideas etc.

2. how do i fix it- do i convert to 2wd? rebuild it as it was? is it cheaper to sort of half convert to 2wd? what do i need to do in the mean time to drive it safely, etc. etc.?

3. i bet ya'll will want pictures of the damage eh?

Oooh, I can't wait to see what let loose on it..... Can I get an "I told'ja' so!!"

Just kidding, man.....

Bummer on the breakage.... Make sure you get some pics of the carnage.... I want to see exactly what let loose on the suspension.

As for what broke, it could be a bunch of things. I'm really surprised it was able to limp home.... it must have basically been running in awd full-time.

I suspect that one of the CV joints let loose to begin with. On the drive home, it may have busted the inner joint right off. If it didn't, the halfshaft that runs between the inner and outer joint may have wedged itself in somewhere it shouldn't have, and may have snapped the axle shaft clean off. It's also possible it simply popped the inner CV joint right out of the front axle... I can't remember if the Ex has them bolted or if it's just a circlip.... That's probably gear oil it's peeing out, unless you somehow managed to sever a trans fluid line on the other side of the vehicle (not likely).

If it's pink like tranny fluid, look closely at your power steering lines. One of them may have rubbed through if it's routed too close to one of the pieces that broke.

Ooooh, I can't wait to see the pictures!!

Suggestions: 1) Get some heavy-duty high-angle halfshafts made. They're expensive, but probably cheaper than #2) which would be converting to 2wd. That would involve a new tranny, new driveshaft, new uprights and spindles off a 2wd donor truck, which may or may not necessitate new lower control arms, which would then need to be re-modified along with the air bag lower mounts......

Did you get the pictures yet?

I think the main thing to look at would be which came first? The chicken or the egg? Did the airbag fail, sending the halfshaft to obscene angles and lengths it was never designed for, or did the halfshaft let loose and whack the airbag? I think that's what you need to look at a little more closely.

I can't wait for the pictures!

-Joe

expo5.0 · April 15, 2005

yeah, i wish i knew what happened first. i dont' really want to find out by trying again and wasting all the money on the awd stuff.

i'll have to get pictures- its probably pretty bad (a lot of schrapnel rolled down the road behind me heh)

anybody have the 2wd stuff for sale? do i really have to change the tranny... i know it might be a bit ghetto not to.

what are the chances of it working if its 4x4? (i'm guessing not worth worrying about)

as for "i told you so"-- i knew it was likely, but i guess i just had to try.

gijoecam · April 15, 2005

expo5.0 said:
yeah, i wish i knew what happened first. i dont' really want to find out by trying again and wasting all the money on the awd stuff.

i'll have to get pictures- its probably pretty bad (a lot of schrapnel rolled down the road behind me heh)

anybody have the 2wd stuff for sale? do i really have to change the tranny... i know it might be a bit ghetto not to.

what are the chances of it working if its 4x4? (i'm guessing not worth worrying about)

as for "i told you so"-- i knew it was likely, but i guess i just had to try.

I'm just messin' with you man..... I'm not intending to insult you at all.... In fact, I give you an A+ for the concept.... I've stared at it time and time again and not been able to see a way around it.... You came up with a novel solution to the problem. You get an A++ for effort, but a C- for execution.

Someone had to be the first. Now that you've poineered the project, you get to refine it. Learn from your msitakes, re-build it better and stronger, and watch as others follow your footsteps.

If it was up to me, I'd go with what you've got. Instead of yanking the 4wd, I'd say the worst you probably damaged was the halfshaft. ($60 at AutoZone) You may not get your core charge back since it sounds like ther may be nothing left of the old one, that's all.

Here's another thought about what may have happened: (pictures would help) I wonder if the lower mount gave-out on it? If the lower mount let loose, the suspension would drop, and that could have yanked the halfshaft out, or at the very least broken it. If the joints on the halfshaft went to full extension, they would have been trying to support the weight of the vehicle, and wouldn't hold up to that, I'm sure. You could limit some of that travel with a set of limiting straps for the down-travel, and some rubber bumpers for the up-travel. Just some other ideas.....

I vote for saving the 4wd!

-Joe

dreamr · April 15, 2005

You shouldn't need to replace the tranny to convert to 2wd. Find a cheap donor front end, and pull the front driveshaft/t-case. Given there is a little more work to it than that, but not to bad from the few threads I've seen on here doing the 2wd conversion. I believe Boomin's is the most recent one.

I am betting that if you see atf it is either from a tranny hose going to the radiator or a power steering hose. Both run relatively close to the area that appears to have the problem.

As to upgrading to high angle cv's, we're talking a lot of cash!!!!!! Over 600 each easy.

Sorry that this had to happen to you!

gijoecam · April 15, 2005

dreamr said:
You shouldn't need to replace the tranny to convert to 2wd. Find a cheap donor front end, and pull the front driveshaft/t-case. Given there is a little more work to it than that, but not to bad from the few threads I've seen on here doing the 2wd conversion. I believe Boomin's is the most recent one.

I am betting that if you see atf it is either from a tranny hose going to the radiator or a power steering hose. Both run relatively close to the area that appears to have the problem.

As to upgrading to high angle cv's, we're talking a lot of cash!!!!!! Over 600 each easy.

Sorry that this had to happen to you!

I've never heard of going from the all wheel drive to 2wd, just the control-trac 4wd to 2wd. I'm not sure about the internals of that transfer case on the AWD models.... need to do some readin' and ask some dumb questions first I guess.

-Joe

boominXplorer · April 15, 2005

im running a 2wd front end with an awd tranny and transfer case. Im waiting on $$$ to finish the tranny and i can't seem to find a 2wd driveshaft.

ton_e_montana · April 15, 2005

4wd or awd + bags = :nono:

..hated.

expo5.0 · April 15, 2005

are you saying its not cool to have it with bags? if you are your the first person i've run into with that idea.

here are the pictures- i'll need more than just the halfshaft though eh?

please help me ot start to make a list of just what parts i'll need to go with each option for repair...

96limitedX · April 15, 2005

how low where you drving it? if the bag failed that would make me think that it failed causing this all to happen. could you tell?

ton_e_montana · April 15, 2005

expo5.0 said:
are you saying its not cool to have it with bags? if you are your the first person i've run into with that idea.

No, I love the bags. I don't know if yours is 4wd or awd but the thought of a 4wd truck lowered or bagged as well as 2wd's being lifted seems backwards. Btw, I like your truck.

ton_e_montana · April 15, 2005

ton_e_montana said:
4wd or awd + bags = ..hated.

with hated I meant hated that it happened

96limitedX · April 15, 2005

ton_e_montana said:
No, I love the bags. I don't know if yours is 4wd or awd but the thought of a 4wd truck lowered or bagged as well as 2wd's being lifted seems backwards. Btw, I like your truck.

his truck is AWD but fords AWD system is exactly the same as the 4x4 system except a different t-case

ton_e_montana · April 15, 2005

ah....I don't much about ford's 4wd. Al I have ever had are 2wd fords. Anyway, back to his topic.

Jefe · April 15, 2005

Congratulations on being the 3rd person ever* to break the D35 IFS diff housing. :chug:

however the other two were off road

* To the best of my near-infinite knowledge.

expo5.0 · April 15, 2005

woohoo

is it something to be proud of?

how did ya'll fix it? what all is likely broken tha is unseen?

JDraper · April 15, 2005

expo5.0 said:
woohoo

is it something to be proud of?

how did ya'll fix it? what all is likely broken tha is unseen?

When I busted Karol's D35, the only broken components were the housing and the right cv joint. To fix it I dropped a new housing and cv joint in.

To go 2WD cheap, you could remove the front driveshaft, remove the d-35 and then gut the cv's and just leave the axle ends on...

Premier · April 15, 2005

Look up Johnstones threads. I think its called smashing pumpkins or something, and should give you some ideas.

CDW6212R · April 15, 2005

Phfft, just leave out the front axle shaft altogether, if converting to 2WD. It isn't needed for anything besides driving the front wheel.

Have a driveshaft made, if need be.

I'd look hard at the space where the axle has to move. The space in that air bag mount looks very tight. Is there any evidence of the axle rubbing on that mount? You might need to remake the air bag mounts. Limit the amount of CV angle change with the air bags. Good luck,
Don

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