"Snap" goes the axle!

[rdublt1]

My friend is in the middle of a project and needing something to drive. I let him use the FJ40 until his vehicle is done. He called me and said that he was just pulling out of the parking lot at work and the long side rear axle shaft broke. We pulled it out and it broke about 6" in from the hub. My questions are:

My Friend claims he was not on the throttle hard or hot rodding when it broke. Do you think it could just break like that when driving normal?

Is this a common spot for LC axles to break?

What would be the replacement shaft?

350, NV4500, 3speed T-case, 4:11 gears, 35" tires, Lot of rust!

 

[atoyot]

I have put my cruiser through some fairly dificult situations. I have yet to snap an axle. Call it luck or just careful wheeling. Then again I'm not turning my axles with a 350 and 35" tires. You probably have to find out if it is a stock axle or one of the aftermarket.

 

[mattcobb]

When one snaps is is sometimes best to replace both. The remaining axle may have been shock loaded and is now waiting to break. I broke an axle (not LC) going from a stop to slow move on a soft dozer road. I replaced it and then a few week later broke the other (this time doing lots of damage). Also - if the rig got driven after the break you may have melted junk in the axle housing. There are special guys that can clean that. If it did not get driven after then just one axle (cheap) or both (more $ but better in the long run). There are links for the tech here at this site. Pirate 4X4 may have some too.

 

[beanz2]

Was he making a left turn? Maybe he spun the inside wheel coming off the curb and when the tire hit the asphalt it grabbed and snapped the axle?

I thought semi floater axles never break?

Dave

 

[Cruiserdrew]

That's a very atypical break spot. Normally they break at the splines where they exit the side gear. I don't know if your friend was hotrodding or not, but it takes a whole lot of torque to break one. I've broken one when bound up tight, in compound low with the locker on. I think it would be nearly impossible to break one in high range-there simply isn't enough torque unless you do something stupid. At least make him buy you a new axle shaft-that shouldn't be too expensive.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

This must be JC from FTM Motorsports... They have called a couple times about shafts, but I am all out of 40 Series long rear...

This isn't the first time I have heard of a shaft breaking on the road during normal driving conditions... usually on Jeeps, but could happen on a Cruiser...

BTW, I have broken 3 long-side rears... and one other guy here (Olly) has broken 3 as well...
Now we run full-floats...

 

[Trevor]

A friend of mine broke his in a stock '67 FJ40 while on the road. He was running a locker. I guess you can't expect everything on a Cruiser to last forever.