Oil baffles on BOTH sides of front axle housing? (7 Viewers)

[IronYuppy]

When Upside Down and I stripped the front axle in his shop, we found a few bits of crunched steel in the housing. It wasn't hardened steel, and there didn't seem to be much of it. What was left looked as if it could have been round at some point (I say bearing race, but he says no). None of the parts of tha assembly appeared to be damaged or missing. I suspect these were pieces of metal left over from a previous incident, and not cleaned-up well. One of the birfs is obvisously newer than the other one, so I suspect there was a birf swap at some point in the Cruiser's life. I bet whoever did the previous repair didn't fluch the housing. So that metal could have come from anywhere. When we looked down the axle housing, there was only one baffle (on the right side). Is it possible there were two from the factory at one point and one came loose and got scrunched?

 

[GXO]

hmm, by baffle do you mean the inner lip of the birfield cup? There are two lips, front and rear that have a space for grease behind them...

 

[IronYuppy]

hmm, by baffle do you mean the inner lip of the birfield cup? There are two lips, front and rear that have a space for grease behind them...

Hmmm. Maybe "baffle" isn't the right term. It's a sort of flap/tongue that's welded to the top-side of the inside of the axle housing. The one on the right is about 8" from the end of the axle housing. I understand it's to slow the circulation of the oil, (to keep it all from collecting on one side of the housing, for example).

What ever it's called, you can call me baffled.

 

[landtank]

yes there should be one on each side. they are in there to help guide the axle into the diff without damaging the oil seal.

they aren't available unless you buy an axle.

having the one on the long side missing is going to make getting that shaft with the the birf on it in place a real chore.

good luck

 

[IronYuppy]

yes there should be one on each side. they are in there to help guide the axle into the diff without damaging the oil seal.

they aren't available unless you buy an axle.

having the one on the long side missing is going to make getting that shaft with the the birf on it in place a real chore.

good luck

D'oh!

Luckily I have an expert doing most of the work!

Just curious, if that's what they're for, why are they on the top and not the bottom? I would think that They should work with gravity; you slide the birf along the tab and right into the diff.

Or maybe Mr. T assembles the axles upside-down?

 

[landtank]

what I'm talking about is a ring of sorts that is pressed in place just inside the housing out at the ends, You can see them once the oil seal is removed.

You might consider buying a star on this site so you can freely post pics to help make it clear what you are talking about.

 

[Shipwreck]

It sounds like maybe the one you still have in place is damaged also. The guide is a piece of sheet steel with a circular hole punched through the center of it. It spans the inside of the axle housing from the both the bottom to the top side. Perhaps your remaining guide is broken in half?

 

[cruiser88]

compare the good side to the bad side,if you have a good side and try to set it as best as you can.maybe you can find the depth somehowgood luck,never heard of this happening

 

[Beowulf]

what I'm talking about is a ring of sorts that is pressed in place just inside the housing out at the ends, You can see them once the oil seal is removed.

Here is a picture of the axle tube indexing ring.

-B-

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Old thread revival. Found in the bottom of my diff housing. It was probably riding/spinning on the axle shaft up against the ring gear until I swapped a broken axle on the trail and it fell into the diff.

 

[Shipwreck]

Old thread revival. Found in the bottom of my diff housing. It was probably riding/spinning on the axle shaft up against the ring gear until I swapped a broken axle on the trail and it fell into the diff.View attachment 3829314

Bummer. If I recall, this was the long side axle that you broke on the Rubicon. If you have the axle torn down now, it might be worthwhile to try to hammer that ring back into shape and slide it back into position. You'll need to fabricate a long rod, hook, slide hammer thing to move it from the diff to the axle end. Without the indexing ring, it will be more difficult to stab the axle into the diff without damaging the axle oil seal.
I had to do this once a long time ago on the short side; which is easier.
Alternatively, some people have slipped a loop of string trimmer line into the axle housing through the vent hole. Then used that to pull up on the axle shaft to position it. Once the axle is in, pull the trimmer line back out through the vent hole.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

I tried to hammer it and reinstall but the size is just wrong. RCVs are a bit smaller, see if that gives me enough angle (or loosen the top bearing cap which seemed to help with alignment on the trail).

 

[whiskeytooth]

Old thread revival. Found in the bottom of my diff housing. It was probably riding/spinning on the axle shaft up against the ring gear until I swapped a broken axle on the trail and it fell into the diff.View attachment 3829314

I've had issues with these, my short side ring looks like this one now. Found it in the diff housing, so I guess my tack welds didn't hold. Did you end up getting it back in? And if not, how are the seals doing without it?

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

It’s gone, oil seals are fine. Truck is also part time so not much is moving in the front end most of the time.

 

[Broski]

This is how I got mine back in with stuff I had around the shop. I tacked welded a peace of 3/4 square tube in to a peace 1" square tube and then used a 3/4" socket the right size to tap the ring back into place.

Of course the hole housing need to be empty for this to work.

 

[whiskeytooth]

This is how I got mine back in with stuff I had around the shop. I tacked welded a peace of 3/4 square tube in to a peace 1" square tube and then used a 3/4" socket the right size to tap the ring back into place.
View attachment 3942923
View attachment 3942924
Of course the hole housing need to be empty for this to work.

Well I found a use for my crappy Amazon puller set. I put some large washers on one end to pull the retainer ring/axle guide, and then stacked the puller sleeves so I could tighten them outside the knuckle, (removing the knuckle would have made this easier) I had to hold the threads on my end with large slip joint pliers and tighten the nut til it pressed the ring into its home. Feels very solid. Just posting another solution to this thread for future reference.

 

[Broski]

I also expanded the the axle ring / guide when it was out to help make a super tight fit.

 

[whiskeytooth]

I also expanded the the axle ring / guide when it was out to help make a super tight fit.

I think I compressed that thing so much it formed a bit of a press fit. Time will tell, I seem to open up these knuckles every 6 months for one thing or another. This time was to install a locker.

 

[Broski]

I think I compressed that thing so much it formed a bit of a press fit. Time will tell, I seem to open up these knuckles every 6 months for one thing or another. This time was to install a locker.

Can’t tell you how many times I have been in there.
I know the last time I went from complete truck To bear axle housing sitting on saw horses in three hrs. By myself