I blew a CV yesterday

[DesertSpive]

Yesterday I went wheeling and blew the inner CV on the driver's side. Coming around a corner kinda hot, we hit a whoops section pretty hard, but nothing stupid fast or major. After a couple hard hits we heard a loud clunking sound underneath. Looke dunder the truck to see the inner CV only being held together by the boot.

It tooks us over 2 hours to drive the 8 or so miles back to the trailhead at walking speed, while listening to the axle clunck around. This is the worst thing about live axle trucks. Without hubs, if you blow and axle you are fuked.

Anyway, I removed the sway bar endlink to give the shaft more clearance, and once we hit the road, I pulled the rest of the axle out of the housing. Allowing me to limp home at about 40mph without the shaft hitting anything.

There is no reason that I can tell why it broke, the geometry was fine, sway bars were on , limiting travel, etc. The only thing that I can think that happened is that I was in 4WD when I should have been in 2WD. I think the locker was engaged, and when we came down the wheel was slightly turned. So one wheel wanted to go faster than the other one, and we came down hard enough, that there wasn't any slip to release the bind, so the CV joint let me know it was the weakest link.

So, for future reference, I know where I should be in 4WD (slower) and where I should be in 2WD (faster). I think if I was in 2WD it wouldn't have been a problem at all.

Question is, do you think I hurt anything in the differential by pulling that axle half shaft and driving home. I took it really easy and speeds down. I didn't see alot of axle grease blow back on the truck either.

Any idea what an axle shaft costs? I have to take care of it this week so I can go to Truckhaven.

--Sean

 

[jimbo74]

halfshafts on an import anything is about $150, so they shouldnt be too much more than that, hopefully..... i am not sure how the explorers are, but completely removing may or may not be ok.... some diffs use the shaft as a plug to the diff (meaning if it is removed, it will leak fluid out till there is none), while others just have them bolted to a flange that is permanently connected to the differential that doesnt matter if it is removed... since you have permanently locked hubs though, and a locker... i wonder if 1 side spinning and the other not would make the truck drift at all?.....

 

[John_Rock]

Sean, I hope you have a friend at the dealership. I think normal price is around $300.
My friend price cost me after taxes I think about $250.

 

[Jefe]

Good going Sean. . now we know it can happen

Too bad I wasn't with you. I carry spares. . . and can replace one in less than 1.5 hrs

I've replaced the ford half axles with GCK's. I get them from http://www.automotive-axles.com/ for $150 a piece. They ship them from GCK in So Cal, so you can have a new one on your doorstep in a day However I've already repaced my first replacement at 10k mi so they might not be the best, but I'm gonna see what their "Limited Lifetime" warranty does for me.

As for removing the shaft and driving: I wouldn't think you would have done anything to the diff unless all the fluid drained out. How much did you remove? Just the inside of the inner joint and then let the half axle flop around?

 

[DesertSpive]

Originally posted by Johnstone
Sean, I hope you have a friend at the dealership. I think normal price is around $300.
My friend price cost me after taxes I think about $250.

Fortunately, I do. I used to work for Ford, so my old dealership still gives me cost +10. My biggest concern is whether or not I can get one in time.

Originally posted by Jefe
Good going Sean. . now we know it can happen

Too bad I wasn't with you. I carry spares. . . and can replace one in less than 1.5 hrs

I've replaced the ford half axles with GCK's. I get them from http://www.automotive-axles.com/ for $150 a piece. They ship them from GCK in So Cal, so you can have a new one on your doorstep in a day However I've already repaced my first replacement at 10k mi so they might not be the best, but I'm gonna see what their "Limited Lifetime" warranty does for me.

As for removing the shaft and driving: I wouldn't think you would have done anything to the diff unless all the fluid drained out. How much did you remove? Just the inside of the inner joint and then let the half axle flop around?

Yeah, I tend to do things like this. Remind me to invite you next time, lol (and I did get your PM, thanks). I didn't drain any fluid out. I just pulled the inner axle and let the half axle flop. Actually, it didn't do too much damage once the needle bearings were beat in to submission. The half shaft actually sat in such a a way that it spun without hitting anything at 40 or so. And the truck drove normally, no noises from the front diff.

I checked out that website, it looks good. Are you sure they can get it to you in a day? That may be my best bet if I can't find it locally.

--Sean

 

[Ray Lobato]

The only thing that I can think that happened is that I was in 4WD when I should have been in 2WD. I think the locker was engaged, and when we came down the wheel was slightly turned. So one wheel wanted to go faster than the other one, and we came down hard enough, that there wasn't any slip to release the bind, so the CV joint let me know it was the weakest link.

Sean,
Do you have a Powertracs noslip locker in front?
That may be one reason why a selectable locker would be more desirable.

 

[DesertSpive]

Originally posted by Ray Lobato
Sean,
Do you have a Powertracs noslip locker in front?
That may be one reason why a selectable locker would be more desirable.

I agree, too bad there isn't much of a choice. I should have known better than to be in 4WD, though. I had enough traction in 2WD to be fine, but I liked the added security of 4WD on fast trail where there is a 2000 foot drop off on the side, lol. Oh well, chalk one up to learning.

--Sean

 

[Ray Lobato]

Sean,
I agree it is nicer(mindwise) to be in 4wd, and not have to switch into 2wd to do things like this. This just confirms what I was thinking about for so long. Having a selectable locker allows you to switch it off and still be in 4wd (actually 3wheel drive) for turning in a situation like you were in and not destroy anything. Since we don't have hubs to blow, the next thing would be the CV's, then the ujoints and finally the transfercase chain.

 

[go off road]

That sucks Sean, so how sharp of a turn did you make too blow a CV joint? I have had mine going 55mph but not on a sharp turn, did you hit the gas on the turn?

 

[John_Rock]

Sean, is your outer CV joint still good?
Back in October, I cratered the driver's side outer CV joint. So I still have a good inner CV joint. I just need a new boot for it. For my trip home from Las Cruces to Houston, I cut the boot off the inner CV joint so that I could pull the shaft out of it and leave the very end portion of the CV joint in the Axle so that fluid didn't come out. So, between my inner CV and your outer CV, we could make a nice spare. Which ever one of us ends up with it, could pay the other like $75 for it.
I just need to see if I can purchase that inner boot.

Cya,
John

 

[DesertSpive]

Originally posted by go off road
That sucks Sean, so how sharp of a turn did you make too blow a CV joint? I have had mine going 55mph but not on a sharp turn, did you hit the gas on the turn?

Wade,

The thing was that the wheels weren't turned much. But we bottomed out a couple hard times in a row, so I think that with the wheels turned slightly (accelerator applied) and the hard impact not allowing slippage caused the breakage. I am pretty certain that it happened right when we landed. Damn whoops!

Originally posted by Johnstone
Sean, is your outer CV joint still good?
Back in October, I cratered the driver's side outer CV joint. So I still have a good inner CV joint. I just need a new boot for it. For my trip home from Las Cruces to Houston, I cut the boot off the inner CV joint so that I could pull the shaft out of it and leave the very end portion of the CV joint in the Axle so that fluid didn't come out. So, between my inner CV and your outer CV, we could make a nice spare. Which ever one of us ends up with it, could pay the other like $75 for it.
I just need to see if I can purchase that inner boot.

John,

Yeah the outer CV is built like Fort Knox. I was telling Jefe how hard I tried to pull that sucker apart and couldn't. If you used mine, you would need to get an outer boot too. If you want me to bring my leftover pieces to T-haven for your inspection, I would be more than happy to. I have a line on a complete spare I think, so let me know if you want my pieces.

And special thanks to Jefe who really came through for me tonight. I am hoping the shaft I got from him works. The p/ns are different, but everything I have reads says that 97+ axle shafts will fit 2000+ Rangers...

I'll give you an update tommorrow when I know more. Wish me luck...

--Sean

 

[DesertSpive]

Well, I fixed it in my garage today. Took about an hour, not bad at all! So, the truck is ready for T-haven, can't wait...

--Sean

 

[John_Rock]

Jefe,

Were you running any of the GCK axles this weekend?
If so, how do you think they held up? Were you leaving the front diff locked in on the Atlas II during the hard cornering on the trails?

I'm debating whether I should get the GCK $150 CV joint next or get the $250 Ford dealership one.

Thanks,
John

 

[John_Rock]

Here's the picture Rick took of my chewed up splines that went into the CV joint.

 

[DesertSpive]

Originally posted by Johnstone
Jefe,

Were you running any of the GCK axles this weekend?
If so, how do you think they held up? Were you leaving the front diff locked in on the Atlas II during the hard cornering on the trails?

I'm debating whether I should get the GCK $150 CV joint next or get the $250 Ford dealership one.

John,

Jeff was running GCK, I am also curious how they did with the locker and Atlas. I have now blown both a Ford and GCK axle, but since it blew in the same spot, I think it is all bracketry related now (update on this post for new readers, I think the breakage was cause by my bending of RCD's diff bracket. They have redesigned it, and hopefully it will be in next week). Because of this, i went ahead and bought another GCK axle, so I will let you guys know how it hols up once I am back up and running again. I just don't think the one I installed got a fair shake, considering the circumstances...

--Sean

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by Johnstone
Jefe,

Were you running any of the GCK axles this weekend?
If so, how do you think they held up? Were you leaving the front diff locked in on the Atlas II during the hard cornering on the trails?

I'm debating whether I should get the GCK $150 CV joint next or get the $250 Ford dealership one.

Thanks,
John

yup, both sides are GCK, one was brand new though. They are both still nice and tight, no play, so I think they did well. I only used 4wd when I needed it. otherwise I'd leave it in 2lo. . easier on the steering that way.

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by Johnstone
Here's the picture Rick took of my chewed up splines that went into the CV joint.

Thanks for confirming that it is just a circlip on the outide of that shaft. So in theory you can pull the shaft out, then take apart the outer CV from there. . .although I did try to pull the shaft out of my ford spare with no luck. . . maybe I need to put it in a vice and pry the sucker out. (I'm wanting to have an inner and outer CV "cup" to put in place of a half shaft if I break one on the trail.)

 

[mrboyle]

Jefe, you usually can't pull the shaft out of the joint. With the axle shaft in a vice, it takes a good wack with a hammer to knock the outer joint off the shaft.

 

[axleman2]

Don't let that little clip fool you. They can be a pain to get off.

 

[DesertSpive]

Originally posted by axleman2
Don't let that little clip fool you. They can be a pain to get off.

As I have discovered on the trail...

--Sean