Might be time for a new axle housing

[Broski]

Well Seem your not alone. I was doing my pre-run inspection and found this

The crack runs down both sides.
I was planning of leaving Thursday to run the Dusy Eshim trail. This could have been a disaster as it's a tough trail way off the beaten path a long way from help and zero cell service.

I running caster plates fully welded & fully welded the brackets to the axle. That was supposed to help this from happening.

I have a lot invested in this axle.
And now have some hard decisions to make.

 

[Kernal]

Is the crack at the base of the bracket under the dirt?

 

[Broski]

Is the crack at the base of the bracket under the dirt?

View attachment 3732796

Yes, Passenger behind the axle looking down. E-locker to the right in the picture.

I keep everything Clean, made it easy to spot the issue.

 

[AgentOrange]

Yes, Passenger behind the axle looking down. E-locker to the right in the picture.

I keep everything Clean, made it easy to spot the issue.

A RuffStuff 9.5 starts sounding really nice about now. That's what I'm planning to get done this winter. I can still use my RCVs, hubs and spare 9.5 I have on the storage shelf and add Hellfire knuckles. Isn't cheap or fast unfortunately

 

[chappysfj40]

so you would ditch the high pinion for the 9.5? just asking

 

[AgentOrange]

so you would ditch the high pinion for the 9.5? just asking

I'm collecting parts to do so, yes. It's not a very low pinion on the 9.5 anyways, so I'm not losing a ton of clearance there. Not worrying about stripping teeth off the ring gear is kind of worth the trade off for me. It won't be worth it to everyone depending on how and where you wheel

 

[chappysfj40]

I'm collecting parts to do so, yes. It's not a very low pinion on the 9.5 anyways, so I'm not losing a ton of clearance there. Not worrying about stripping teeth off the ring gear is kind of worth the trade off for me. It won't be worth it to everyone depending on how and where you wheel

for sure. just thought i would ask. and great strength upgrade

 

[Broski]

A RuffStuff 9.5 starts sounding really nice about now. That's what I'm planning to get done this winter. I can still use my RCVs, hubs and spare 9.5 I have on the storage shelf and add Hellfire knuckles. Isn't cheap or fast unfortunately

That's a big rabbit hole, If I went that direction I would want to 3 Link it.
I also think I could build Dana 60 for about the same money

Right now I'm thinking I want to try to fix what I got. Nothing to lose

 

[CharlieS]

Why not clean it up, grind a notch and weld it?

 

[Marvelicious]

So, speaking to the concern of unseen cracking...
I rarely hear anyone on various motorsport forums talk about using dye penetrant and I really don't know why. This is almost an ideal application and it isn't really expensive. Drop the axle out, get it stripped down like Broski's welding pic and de-grease the hell out of it, then dye-pen it. You probably want to watch a few YouTube vids on how to do that - better to see it done than puzzle through me explaining it - but if you do it properly, it should show you the extent of the cracking in ways you naked eye would never catch. You can get it at welding shops and I'd recommend the visible, water washable stuff (Magnaflux SKL-WP2 dye, SKC-S cleaner and SKD-S2 developer). You can dye the whole housing, use a garden hose to wash off the dye (don't use pressure, but you almost can't over-clean if you just use running water), let it dry thoroughly (spraying it lightly with compressed air won't hurt), then spray the whole thing with the developer. Cracks that are too small to see will bleed out into the white developer. Then you really know what you have and you can make an informed decision on whether to move forward.

That's a big rabbit hole, If I went that direction I would want to 3 Link it.
I also think I could build Dana 60 for about the same money

Right now I'm thinking I want to try to fix what I got. Nothing to lose

That's one of those, "well, if you're going to go that far, you might as well..." recursive traps that ends with a full tube rock buggy.

 

[baldilocks]

Why not clean it up, grind a notch and weld it?

My left bracket broke clean in two vertically just aft of the housing a couple years or so ago but didn’t get into the housing. I wondered why my axle articulation was so good for the remainder of that Rubicon run.

I’m with Charlie on this …. It’s a hunk of steel on a car not a flying machine. Yank the housing out, disassemble, clean it, remove any paint from all suspect areas for a thorough inspection with at least a good light and magnifier or dye penetrant as already suggested, grind out cracks, weld cracks, reinforce suspect areas, put axle together, install in 80, go wheeling.

Wheeling tough terrain with sway bar installed is certainly not conducive to keeping all tires on the ground but I don’t think it had anything to do with your current issue.

 

[alia176]

View attachment 3732796

@thegadgetguy
That is also where mine separated and ripped the "skin" off. There is probably more damages that will come to light once it has been removed from the vehicle. The axle bracket on that (pass) side is cracked on both side going in the vertical direction, which is typical.

I got a good used housing from @Tank5. Oh that reminds me, I need to PP him some funds
@Broski - sharp eye young fella! Sorry about this but so glad you didn't find this out on Dusy. That'd been such a royal PITA project to deal with out there.

In my case, i was hearing sounds that was foreign to me so this is where it was coming from. On the drive home, she felt "off" on the hwy, which was a surprise to me since an alignment was done two weeks prior. Upon further inspection, the rear tie rod has an interesting bend, but not from an impact. I'll take a picture to help you visualize. These two things contributed to a subtle degradation in hwy manners.

 

[alia176]

Cut off all ABS wiring tabs, sand blasted, and looks like no cracks at a quick glance. Will take my time this evening after dinner and see if I notice anything weird.

 

[Marvelicious]

Cut off all ABS wiring tabs, sand blasted, and looks like no cracks at a quick glance. Will take my time this evening after dinner and see if I notice anything weird.



View attachment 3734474

View attachment 3734475

Another cheap weld inspection tip: If you see anything suspect, and you've got a decent camera on your phone, blowing it up can really make things more clear. Also, a flashlight held at an angle can sometimes reflect on the edges of a crack that was hiding.

 

[alia176]

So far, so good. Metal looks nice and virgin

 

[baldilocks]

What’s the general plan of attack and your vision for the final outcome once you shut the welder off?

 

[alia176]

What’s the general plan of attack and your vision for the final outcome once you shut the welder off?

I have the concept of a plan

 

[Irish Reiver]

Or go raw dawg like @Broski . I think his was fixed in 2 hours. Can't confirm if alcohol was involved but ...

 

[alia176]

Or go raw dawg like @Broski . I think his was fixed in 2 hours. Can't confirm if alcohol was involved but ...

The only thing I raw dawg can't be mentioned here; otherwise, it's analysis paralysis time, as you can see

 

[Broski]

Haha

Back together 5.5 hours this morning
If I wasn’t leaving to go run the Dusy midday tomorrow I’m sure I would’ve done things differently.