Something cracked off on the front axle

[klesk32]

So on the backside of the pumpkin on my front axle of my 91 explorer sport there seems to be a rather large chunk missing out of the top of the bell shaped bit that the shaft goes into. Do I need to change out the entire axle or is there a way to change out just the bell thing? Also can someone fill me in on the terminology here?

Thanks guys

 

[Maniak]

Can you take a picture of what your talking about? I'm not sure what you mean by "bell thing".

I "think" you might be talking about the 3rd member.

The driver side axle shaft has the 3rd member bolted to it. The part the axle shafts go into that is bolt to the drivers side axle beam is the 3rd member.

If you have a rough country lift kit, most likely the drop bracket that is on the driver side of the vehicle (passenger beam mount) punched a hole in the top of your diff.

You can use JB weld etc to at least fill the hole for now but the only real fix is to replace the 3rd member up front.

~Mark

 

[klesk32]

Here is a picture of what I am talking about. I have another explorer, would I be able to swap this out? Its an automatic 93

 

[Maniak]

Holy crap.. the only choice is to replace the 3rd member.

In that case, you first need to figure out what gear ratio you have now. If you still have the stock gears, what is the gear code on the sticker on the door jamb. IIRC, you may also have a tag on one of the diff bolts (you can check it on the rear axle if you want).

Once you know what gear ratio you have we will be able to tell you if you are likely to find that in a junk yard or if it matches your other X. If not, you'll need to buy a 3rd member at a junk yard (or use the one out of the other X) and have gears put in it. The gear ratio of the front and rear axle must match.

~Mark

 

[snoranger]

Ouch... JB weld aint gonna fix that.

Hopefully you can pick one up from a local JY or someone on here may have one for you.

 

[wood1]

Wow, how the heck did you do that?

 

[klesk32]

Do you think I could swap the gears myself? I like to think of myself as at least handy with mechanical things with a poorly armed knowledge of nomenclature. As for how I did it, I have no idea. Didn't even hear it, just went under to change out the starter and found it that way.

 

[safn1949]

Do you think I could swap the gears myself? I like to think of myself as at least handy with mechanical things with a poorly armed knowledge of nomenclature. As for how I did it, I have no idea. Didn't even hear it, just went under to change out the starter and found it that way.

Swapping gears is a time consuming and exacting process needing a fair amount of skill and oddball tools.....so I doubt it.Don't take that the wrong way,it's just not a job for the average Joe with limited tools.

Best bet is buy a 3rd member with the same gear ratio from a wreck,lots easier.