Front Axle Issue

[mudgudgeon]

you'll get better advice if you can clean the end of the axle housing knuckle more thoroughly, and take some clearly focused pictures.

Really hard to see what's what in those blurry pics

 

[Broski]

I am going to check my nuts

And grease your balls.

I think the only Guy not laughing is the Guy who left his balls in the street ..

 

[ChaseTruck]

you'll get better advice if you can clean the end of the axle housing knuckle more thoroughly, and take some clearly focused pictures.

Really hard to see what's what in those blurry pics

Out-of-focus pics don't count...

How did the trunnion bearings make it down there - shattered races?

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Don't forget to lube your shaft!

And grease your balls.

A special operation has been performed so I don't really need to lube my front shaft anymore because I hardly ever use it.

But I definitley still like to check my nuts and grease my balls quite often. They always need to be maintained in case I do decide to use my shaft again....

Usually the rig identifies as 2wd, but sometimes it likes to go back to 4wd.

 

[claudiosalva]

you'll get better advice if you can clean the end of the axle housing knuckle more thoroughly, and take some clearly focused pictures.

Really hard to see what's what in those blurry pics

I will, the truck is in the shop right now. I took those pictures at the moment of the accident and definitively will keep people posted on what was the cause and how we solved it.

 

[claudiosalva]

 

[BILT4ME]

View attachment 2656770

Well, at least two studs sheared off and it appears two had fallen out and are missing.

This is exactly what everyone talks about when they say " Check Your Nuts!"

On my truck, I had one sheared off, two had fallen out, and the last one was less than finger tight and was only holding by a few threads. I caught mine in a parking lot at work when I looked under the truck for something else.

Now I regularly check them.

Since yours broke while on the road, you may have some serious damage, including damage to the ball and end of your axle housing. That would mean repairing or replacing the axle housing.

Good Luck!

 

[claudiosalva]

Well, at least two studs sheared off and it appears two had fallen out and are missing.

This is exactly what everyone talks about when they say " Check Your Nuts!"

On my truck, I had one sheared off, two had fallen out, and the last one was less than finger tight and was only holding by a few threads. I caught mine in a parking lot at work when I looked under the truck for something else.

Now I regularly check them.

Since yours broke while on the road, you may have some serious damage, including damage to the ball and end of your axle housing. That would mean repairing or replacing the axle housing.

Good Luck!

Got it, thanks for the advice. I now will be more careful about checking and making sure that everything is in place. This is a common issue in all LC'S or at least 80 series? How often they sheared off the truck? I guess depends on the usage and a lot of factors but now will be more careful. Any advice on the ball and end of the axle housing reconstruction?
Thank you

 

[BILT4ME]

Got it, thanks for the advice. I now will be more careful about checking and making sure that everything is in place. This is a common issue in all LC'S or at least 80 series? How often they sheared off the truck? I guess depends on the usage and a lot of factors but now will be more careful. Any advice on the ball and end of the axle housing reconstruction?
Thank you

1) Look for obvious damage: deep scratches in the ball, bent ball end of housing, broken race area on ball, broken knuckle housing
2) You may have to replace all the parts and rebuild only to find out your alignment is way off (camber and/or caster) due to the end being tweaked hard.
3) Yes, this is an issue on all 80 series trucks. There have been a few here that have documented their failures and repairs. Most have been caught early or happened at very low speed in or near the driveway.
4) There is debate here on using Loctite to seat the studs to keep them from falling out, but there are many thoughts on that and you must make your own decision based on your usage.

Make sure to have all parts properly reassembled per the FSM and read many of the threads here about the steering arm and making sure it is tight and how that procedure works. (dead blow hammer while torquing)

Get a copy of the FSM (see resources above) and read all about this disassembly / reassembly.

If you recently paid a shop to do the front on the truck, they will be re-doing this work and it should be for free if it's within a reasonable time / mileage frame.

 

[flintknapper]

I wouldn't even fool with that axle at all. Find a complete replacement from a salvage yard and use that. Just go over it before installing it. Then its a 'bolt in' proposition.

 

[claudiosalva]

1) Look for obvious damage: deep scratches in the ball, bent ball end of housing, broken race area on ball, broken knuckle housing
2) You may have to replace all the parts and rebuild only to find out your alignment is way off (camber and/or caster) due to the end being tweaked hard.
3) Yes, this is an issue on all 80 series trucks. There have been a few here that have documented their failures and repairs. Most have been caught early or happened at very low speed in or near the driveway.
4) There is debate here on using Loctite to seat the studs to keep them from falling out, but there are many thoughts on that and you must make your own decision based on your usage.

Make sure to have all parts properly reassembled per the FSM and read many of the threads here about the steering arm and making sure it is tight and how that procedure works. (dead blow hammer while torquing)

Get a copy of the FSM (see resources above) and read all about this disassembly / reassembly.

If you recently paid a shop to do the front on the truck, they will be re-doing this work and it should be for free if it's within a reasonable time / mileage frame.

Appreciate your help. I will make sure that all of these steps are properly executed and give these instructions to the shop that is helping me with the reassembly as well.

 

[BILT4ME]

Appreciate your help. I will make sure that all of these steps are properly executed and give these instructions to the shop that is helping me with the reassembly as well.

They can use 'Mud as a cross-reference if they don't know.

They also need to properly adjust your wheel bearings when done. On this, the FSM is wrong. Tighten to 30-35 LB-FT on the inner nut while rotating. Outer nut still gets 45 LB-FT.
This is well documented in this forum.

 

[claudiosalva]

They can use 'Mud as a cross-reference if they don't know.

They also need to properly adjust your wheel bearings when done. On this, the FSM is wrong. Tighten to 30-35 LB-FT on the inner nut while rotating. Outer nut still gets 45 LB-FT.
This is well documented in this forum.

Got it,
Thank you, I will keep you posted after the repair is done.

 

[claudiosalva]

I will attach these images here, hope this might help someone who is looking into this in the future.
(Images might not be in the right order)

 

[mudgudgeon]

This is a sort of common issue for 80 series but seems to be limited to vehicles that have had the knuckle taken apart. 100's of thousands of these vehicles will never have this issue.

I think two things are critical.
- Removing, cleaning studs and threads in knuckles.
- reinstall studs, and torque the nuts to factory specifications.

 

[mudgudgeon]

View attachment 2656770

Much more useful pic.

It needs a thorough clean up, and inspection for damage to threaded holes, burring, gouges, or scarring to any machined surfaces, or bearing recesses.