Front Axle Rebuild...the hard way....

[woody]

Note to others, if you haven't re-greased your wheel bearings, this is NOT the proper way to do it....I suggest checking them prior to the carnage pictured below...

Scenario: it's a Saturday night...you'd done a 700 mile trip earlier in the week to see family and had spent your entire day taking part in a local clubs poker rally...you've been so busy over the past couple months with work and fixing the other rigs that the 'daily driver' was on the next weeks list, but just hadn't made it into the shop yet.

So, stop out for a couple martini's with the girlfriend and decide your exhausted...start heading home about 10pm. Hop on the freeway (441, for those who know Appleton) and stick 'close' to the speed limit of 55mph as you cross the long bridge....

about this time, make mental note to self that ever since you returned from your 9 month stint on Trail Teams, the steering wheel has had a 'slight' lean to the left, and despite having it on the rack and doing a full inspection (only to find nothing wrong), it IS likely time to tear into it further before you leave for TX and UT in 10 days...

Finish the first sweeping right curve on 441 and begin to straighten....only to discover that the truck is going right DESPITE your input...steer gently left, and back off the throttle through the next sweeping right turn...coast gently to a stop, watching your passenger front tire/hub/rotor hat pass you in the ditch, in flames...

yeah, entertaining...

Now, for some photos....

 

[woody]

tearing into things, it's not as bad as you'd think....

spindle, junk...no surprise there...

rotor, junk...the 'hat' is still attached to the hub, the vented rotor wedged in the caliper....

 

[woody]

more photos...

 

[woody]

aahh...more carnage.....

caliper appears fine, as does the knuckle....

 

[woody]

obviously, the birfield is junk....magically, the inner axle is fine...

even the hub itself 'might' be ok as a trail spare....will probably hang onto it, just in case...

 

[bpassmore]

Holy smokes. Glad you are safe!

 

[blzrfn]

Ouch, what a nightmare! Glad you made it to edge safely.

 

[woody]

so, obviously a few repair parts are necessary....

called up Kurt with Cruiser Outfitters, and a full 80-series service kit with Koyo bearings is already here...

called up Oleg with Irbis Offroad and they are parting out some 80-series stuff...a knuckle-out setup from a 1996-range rig should be enroute...

and finally, as an 'experiment', I bought a pair of Birfields on EBay via CV Unlimited...they DO have them in the correct size for this year, and they include the ABS ring....

stalling now to see what all arrives for parts...


think I should service the drivers side while I'm working on it?

 

[SpillmanCruiser]

Wow. I've had the play in my bearings for a few weeks and been putting off the work. I know how my weekend is going now.

Glad you are OK.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Damn . I'm glad I got that knocked out as preventative, rather than reactionary maintenance.

 

[Lugboot]

think I should service the drivers side while I'm working on it?

nah. I'm sure it's good to go.

Glad you got stopped safely. Wow, that's some havoc you wreaked.

 

[woody]

parts that are 'guaranteed' bad:

spindle
rotor
pads
birfield
and, obviously, bearings/seals

really, the balance is all appears fine, and will be saved away for trail repair parts...

------------
if you get in this situation, one key is to REMAIN CALM...I never touched the brakes OR the throttle, but simple steered the rig using small/easy input to get myself to the edge of the road....the wheel separated somewhere around 40mph...

a Highway Patrolman stopped just after I had contacted AAA for a tow....gave him the short story, and he seemed impressed that there was no further damage...the tow truck driver was in shock...amazed that the rig wasn't upside down in the ditch....

eh....just another day....lol

 

[Beowulf]

Woody,

That appears to be a wheel bearing failure. Do you think a knuckle bearing failed?

-B-

 

[woody]

good point, made a couple edits....

the steering on the truck had been 'off' since October...guessing the spindle had a small bend to it, and side loaded everything...I'd inspected a PILE of things and had assumed that the tie rod or drag link had a tweak to them...

guess not

 

[96r50]

Well at least this way you won't have to fix it in the middle of a trail somewhere! Glad you were able to control the truck and make it to the side of the road.

What part(s) of the passenger side axle was in contact with the road? It looks like the brake backing plate took a hit; did the truck ride on the knuckle studs, the control arm or the diff?

 

[woody]

knuckle studs/backing plate/rotor...

I was at the edge of the pavement when it dropped, so the impact was to gravel....left a nice straight line too

 

[Brentbba]

Wow - glad you stopped safely!!! Total soup in there!

 

[CreeperSleeper]

That's incredable, Woody... Glad nobody got hurt.

 

[agomez]

how many miles since the last birf job? glad your okay yikes....

 

[Atoyot1031]

It doesn't look that bad, really...

Holy crap! I once had a wheel come loose due to a loose wheel spacer, but no flames.