Axel doesn’t spin… at all (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Threads
3
Messages
20
Location
australia
First Post!!

Hi everyone, I’ve got a second hand 1HZJ80R ‘94.

I’ve started replacing the back rotors and silly me, decided to pull off the axel. Ok, I now know I don’t need to do that. Anyhow, I did… and I removed the calliper and drum. The drums were intense to get off. 3 hours of hammering and using bolts to push it off. I even threaded a bolt hole. Ended up smashing the drum on the outer flange to get it off with a heap of CRC.

I found silicon between the axel cap and the hub (no gasket). Probably because the face of the axel is slightly bent (from a hammer abuse) Ok, a bit doggey.

Also discovered the seals need replacing (black syrup pouring out).

Decided to clean, and put it back together, as I don’t have a seal kit yet (vehicle not RWC and I live far away from town).

When I put the axel back in, it won’t push all the way in. So I pulled it in with the bolts. Success! However, now I can’t spin the axel assembly at all.

So pulled it all off again and now it spins, put it back together and no turning.

I’m a day or two away from getting it towed to mechanic. Pulling my hair out.

Should the axel/hub spin freely when all bolted up? YouTube vids have peeps spinning by hand. I can’t spin even with a arm extension

(Hand brake off and vehicle out of gear)

Staring to think I need a new axel and hub assembly, as things aren’t lining up perfectly

Any help much appreciated
 
Solution
G’day Nemesis. No, but the transfer is in neutral now. And if I put a long screwdriver through the wheel bolts, and give it everything I got, I can just turn the rotor. Not sure I tried that hard before.

Only one wheel off the ground. That could be my problem. Wish I had a better jacks.
OK, so your vehicle most likely originally had a limited slip differential in the rear. If you give the VIN or the axle code from the compliance plate that can be confirmed. Although the LSD on these rigs is notoriously weak and usually wears out, it's possible you've found one where it still has some bite. In that case, you'll need to lift both rear wheels off the ground in order to be able to turn the axles. If your transfer case was in H4 or...
Did you have the transfer case in neutral too? Did you have both the rear wheels off the ground, or just the one you were working on?
G’day Nemesis. No, but the transfer is in neutral now. And if I put a long screwdriver through the wheel bolts, and give it everything I got, I can just turn the rotor. Not sure I tried that hard before.

Only one wheel off the ground. That could be my problem. Wish I had a better jacks.
 
G’day Nemesis. No, but the transfer is in neutral now. And if I put a long screwdriver through the wheel bolts, and give it everything I got, I can just turn the rotor. Not sure I tried that hard before.

Only one wheel off the ground. That could be my problem. Wish I had a better jacks.
OK, so your vehicle most likely originally had a limited slip differential in the rear. If you give the VIN or the axle code from the compliance plate that can be confirmed. Although the LSD on these rigs is notoriously weak and usually wears out, it's possible you've found one where it still has some bite. In that case, you'll need to lift both rear wheels off the ground in order to be able to turn the axles. If your transfer case was in H4 or L4, the front wheels could also have been preventing the rear wheels from turning if you've got a part time 80 with manually locking hubs which were currently engaged. Even if it was in H2 or the hubs were unlocked though, you'd have had to apply extra force to spin the gears inside the transfer case.

I'd suggest getting yourself some jack stands. That'll allow you to jack up both rear wheels safely just from the factory jack.
 
Solution
OK, so your vehicle most likely originally had a limited slip differential in the rear. If you give the VIN or the axle code from the compliance plate that can be confirmed. Although the LSD on these rigs is notoriously weak and usually wears out, it's possible you've found one where it still has some bite. In that case, you'll need to lift both rear wheels off the ground in order to be able to turn the axles. If your transfer case was in H4 or L4, the front wheels could also have been preventing the rear wheels from turning if you've got a part time 80 with manually locking hubs which were currently engaged. Even if it was in H2 or the hubs were unlocked though, you'd have had to apply extra force to spin the gears inside the transfer case.

I'd suggest getting yourself some jack stands. That'll allow you to jack up both rear wheels safely just from the factory jack.
Yup! You’re right, at least I think you are. Even after jacking both wheels up, and having the vehicle in neutral and H2, it did make spinning the back axel much easier, however, not as easy as I saw in the YouTube vids. It still requires a bit of strength even with the drum brakes backed off entirely. Either way, I got the job done, got the car registered 🎉!!

Thank you both for your help. Not sure I did a bang up job, but did the best I could. Still working out how to tune both drum brakes perfectly.
 
Yup! You’re right, at least I think you are. Even after jacking both wheels up, and having the vehicle in neutral and H2, it did make spinning the back axel much easier, however, not as easy as I saw in the YouTube vids. It still requires a bit of strength even with the drum brakes backed off entirely. Either way, I got the job done, got the car registered 🎉!!

Thank you both for your help. Not sure I did a bang up job, but did the best I could. Still working out how to tune both drum brakes perfectly.
Haha, I meant, thanks Nemesis
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom