What's wrong with this picture?

[Donner]

IZ, does this mean my scenario could be correct? If so, could the pin be lodged somewhere in there?

 

[gavin]

the cross-pin was in place... I could not remove it. This is why I had assumed there was a bolt with a head that got lost.

I do not currently have a picture, no. It will also be VERY hard to see, as there is, oh, 1/8" clearance between ring gear and case where the piece was cracked out.

I can certainly get one, though.

been workin on cleanin up my 4.10 rear; wire-brushing, painting, removing useless parts, removing axle bearings/seals, etc. Just got finished with all that, though. Takin another breather and gonna try to find some munchies.

I'll attempt to get a picture of that spot this afternoon though.

IZ, does this mean my scenario could be correct? If so, could the pin be lodged somewhere in there?

There is no debris in the case, and there does not appear to be any metal chunks/shavings large enough to see/feel.
Also, the cross-pin does not move but a millimeter; it's still in place. If the pin had fallen out, I would get much more movement out of the cross-pin, no?

 

[IZwack]

Well -- looks like we all stepped into the twilight zone. Nothing in the differential thats out of place and yet we have an odd crack!

The next question is does the cross pin vertically line up with the crack?

 

[Donner]

This is interesting

the cross-pin was in place... I could not remove it. This is why I had assumed there was a bolt with a head that got lost.

I do not currently have a picture, no. It will also be VERY hard to see, as there is, oh, 1/8" clearance between ring gear and case where the piece was cracked out.

I can certainly get one, though.

been workin on cleanin up my 4.10 rear; wire-brushing, painting, removing useless parts, removing axle bearings/seals, etc. Just got finished with all that, though. Takin another breather and gonna try to find some munchies.

I'll attempt to get a picture of that spot this afternoon though.




There is no debris in the case, and there does not appear to be any metal chunks/shavings large enough to see/feel.
Also, the cross-pin does not move but a millimeter; it's still in place. If the pin had fallen out, I would get much more movement out of the cross-pin, no?

Gavin, this is learning situation for me. I'm really interested in what this is about, but I'm no tech at all. So, I'm just trying to see if I understand how this diff works Clear pics by the way!

Well -- looks like we all stepped into the twilight zone. Nothing in the differential thats out of place and yet we have an odd crack!

The next question is does the cross pin vertically line up with the crack?

If the housing is not original, and one side is not the correct fit (just a bit too small or too large) could the pressure cause one side to crack? Or if the bolts were torqued improperly (too tightly or unevenly), could this cause the crack?

 

[gavin]

Donner, it's a bit of a learning experience for me, too. I don't really know diddly about differentials, other than to replace gear lube

it's hard to say may have caused the crack, really.
It's the original axle assy. The truck is a 1997, with a manu date of 07/1997 I believe, so it's a 97.5+
I purchased the truck, used, about 5 yrs ago. I bought it with about 90k on the ticker. It was a commercially-used vehicle, before I purchased it (according to CarFax, and it was originally registered in something like Virginia, or a Caroline or something).

It now has well over 170k (only 159k on the odo).

It's a well-used vehicle. I don't believe I changed the lube in the front axle more than once or twice in the 5yrs I've owned it.

Of course, whatever debris may have been in there, may have fell out through the axle-shaft hole when I let it drain over night. Although I didn't see anything sitting in the top of the pan, the hole in the drain pan is large enough for debris to go through.

Well -- looks like we all stepped into the twilight zone. Nothing in the differential thats out of place and yet we have an odd crack!

The next question is does the cross pin vertically line up with the crack?

I'll check that out next weekend. I'm exhausted. I just finished cleaning up the garage. I need some time to relax, it is the weekend!

 

[IZwack]

If the housing is not original, and one side is not the correct fit (just a bit too small or too large) could the pressure cause one side to crack? Or if the bolts were torqued improperly (too tightly or unevenly), could this cause the crack?

The stresses from those type of mismatched parts or incorrect settings typically wont cause this type of circular crack. Fractures will almost always start from an edge of the part since these are typical ares where stress is concentrated and are often the where a certain part is interfaced with another (such as bolted to, or welded to another part).

 

[gavin]

well rather than start a new thread, I decided to thread-necro this one.

think this housing is still usable if I can somehow manage to patch the hole?

needing to regear soon... gotta be an issue with front and/or rear axle.
And not really able to be without a vehicle for a period, so was hoping I might be able to reuse this housing.

it's not like the front axle sees all that much pressure, right?

 

[Fordguy408]

I know this is an old thread, but that crack really looks like and old repair that came loose to me. If it was an object that struck it, either from the inside or out it wouldnt be round like that, it would be multiple cracks from the center of the crack out. It looks like the whole from a prevoius repair was plug welded, but welded to cold so it eventually came loose. I repaired an aluminum oil pan for the fleet of vehicles I maintain a few years back that had had a piece of rebar punched through it on a constrction sight. It was a low mile vortec 4.3l chevy (6month old Astro van) and the dealership wanted a ton for a pan and no one had one in stock. Guess what I did, yep... I welded it back together and its been fine the last 4 years. You'd be suprised what gets done with "commercial vehicles" because of lack of time to wait for parts. If it were my front end I'd clean it up and reweld it if you're tight on money. Your gears look fine (from what I see in the picture) and there doesnt appear to be any sign that it was differential failure that caused the hole. the trick will be getting ALL the oil off the differential. Aluminum is extremely picky to weld, and any oil contamination will cause pitting and then it will leak. You may have to weld grind and reweld a time or two untill it comes out a clean weld.

 

[gavin]

nope, it was a bearing roller that got "pinched" between the ring gear and the case.

I don't see anyway for a shabby repair to fail in, that location, when there really isn't any force put on that part of the case.