Will it make it 950 miles?

[ramangain]

RWD.

So you have a removed front driveshaft and the axles and hub flanges are unpowered?

 

[medtro]

So you have a removed front driveshaft and the axles and hub flanges are unpowered?

Yes Sir.

 

[ramangain]

I'd go on a limb and say 60k of CDL wear in that scenario is much "less" than 60k of CDL wear with a connected front driveshaft. If you were in my situation with a busted front axle, would you have driven 950 miles towing a 6k lbs trailer with CDL engaged?

 

[medtro]

I would not drive on pavement with CD locked and both drive shafts connected unless it is an emergency situation or it is a straight line. I would drive it with CD locked and front driveshaft removed as long as the vehicle is not fish tailing.

 

[BnvS]

I run with CD locked on 2 100s with over 60k miles combined, so far no problem yet.

@medtro and why would you run you car with cd locked? For more than necessary? Your axels were toast?

Also how do you drive with cdl locked. I thought you can only do that on 4lo. If you can lock your cdl on 4H that is news to me. I shall try it now.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Also how do you drive with cdl locked. I thought you can only do that on 4lo. If you can lock your cdl on 4H that is news to me. I shall try it now.

Depends on model year. 98-99 requires 4L to engage CDL; 00 and up does not.

 

[ramangain]

Time to order parts, need input from y'all experts

It appears as if the toasted axle is non-OEM. The only damaged areas appear to be the splines in the hub flange and the matching splines on the axle shaft past the snap ring, which have been ground smooth. The groove for the snap ring is gone.

Time for new parts. Hub flange is obvious. Do I need a whole new axle assembly? I'm guessing so if I want to revert back to OEM. If I do the DS axle, should I do the PS axle and hub flange at the same time? Any snap rings that secure the axle to the front diff etc? Oil seals etc? I just replaced the front wheel bearings so all of that is fresh and dandy.

 

[Skidoo]

I have driven about 150 miles in CDL with drive flanges and front driveshaft removed when I broke the front diff.
Know others on this forum have driven way further, so that is pretty well proven.
While towing 6K lbs of trailer adds an unknown to the mix, think it would work as well, its the route I would of gone in your situation.
@ramangain Pretty cool what you came up with, and you are proving it out.

Edit: I will be interested if you feel the axle end and drive flange were more worn from the drive after your field fix.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Time for new parts. Hub flange is obvious. Do I need a whole new axle assembly? I'm guessing so if I want to revert back to OEM. If I do the DS axle, should I do the PS axle and hub flange at the same time? Any snap rings that secure the axle to the front diff etc? Oil seals etc? I just replaced the front wheel bearings so all of that is fresh and dandy.

Drive flange, OEM CV (might as well do PS side too if it’s aftermarket), new circlip (Cruiser Outfitters has a nifty kit), and axle seal at the diff. Check condition of the spindle - I’m sure it’s fine but the outboard shaft banging around for that many miles could cause issues.

 

[ramangain]

Check condition of the spindle - I’m sure it’s fine but the outboard shaft banging around for that many miles could cause issues.

So this is where the story gets weird .. you can't make this part up either.

I heard no odd noises the whole trip. About three minutes before I stopped and heard the infamous whirring of the axle spinning when it has backed out of the flange, I was eating a burger while driving and started choking. This happened around 70mph. After violent hacking, going light headed, and probably blacking out for a short period of time, the speed was down to 20mph and I had somehow gotten the rig and trailer on to the highway shoulder. After stopping, puking, and regaining some semblence of composure, I put the rig in D and heard the whirring. Put it in P, put CDL On, tranny in D, no noise. Got out and looked underneath, axle backed way out. Used tool to reset axle, installed snap ring onto nonexistant groove. Drove 5 miles, whirring came back, then installed tool permanently to hold axle in place. 1k miles later, still as such.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

So this is where the story gets weird .. you can't make this part up either.

I heard no odd noises the whole trip. About three minutes before I stopped and heard the infamous whirring of the axle spinning when it has backed out of the flange, I was eating a burger while driving and started choking. This happened around 70mph. After violent hacking, going light headed, and probably blacking out for a short period of time, the speed was down to 20mph and I had somehow gotten the rig and trailer on to the highway shoulder. After stopping, puking, and regaining some semblence of composure, I put the rig in D and heard the whirring. Put it in P, put CDL On, tranny in D, no noise. Got out and looked underneath, axle backed way out. Used tool to reset axle, installed snap ring onto nonexistant groove. Drove 5 miles, whirring came back, then installed tool permanently to hold axle in place. 1k miles later, still as such.

I hope it was an In-N-Out burger

 

[ramangain]

It was Carls Jr. Although I was shocked to see in n out in Southern OR off of i-5

 

[MJK]

That is my normal reaction to Carls Jr too. Although, my LX has never sympathized.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Depends on model year. 98-99 requires 4L to engage CDL; 00 and up does not.

An 98 owner reporting here: CDL works in hi and lo. The only thing peculiar about pre-2000 is that it automatically locks CDL in Lo. You just have to make the pin-8 mode to make CDL selectable in LO.

 

[medtro]

@medtro and why would you run you car with cd locked? For more than necessary? Your axels were toast?

Axles are fine. I have the front drive shaft removed. Why do you think it is more than necessary?

Also how do you drive with cdl locked. I thought you can only do that on 4lo. If you can lock your cdl on 4H that is news to me. I shall try it now.

I am running it in H with CDL switched ON.

 

[medtro]

That would work well.

Or, remove the front driveshaft, remove both front drive flanges and replace with @BenCC "dummy flanges" and drive with the CDL locked.

My concern with this dummy flange is it doesn't hold the axle in place with no snap ring on axle.

 

[medtro]

I’m not trying to hijack this thread so there’s more info in my cv axle puller tool thread about this. But I’ve been working on a spindle grease tool that doesn’t require the removal of the adjusting/locking nuts and messing with the preload. I’m thinking if I left the flange in place, forgot about the grease fitting and bracket, and just drilled a hole at the end to accept a M8x1.25 bolt w/appropriate washer it would basically be exactly what you’re talking about. It would certainly be a smaller moment on that wheel. Let me try to work something out.

View attachment 2498379

To be fair Ben’s dummy flange is awesome and would work perfectly in that regard. You just gotta carry the tools required to remove the driveshaft but IMO everyone should have those in their recovery bag.

The axle is pushed in in this picture. I would prefer axle not pushed in for driving. May be add a coupler with the right length?

 

[ramangain]

My concern with this dummy flange is it doesn't hold the axle in place with no snap ring on axle.

On that note, I'm yapping with TheForger about him fabricating a more robust "fix" for the issue in this thread. Hopefully I can do some longevity testing of his prototype soon. I'd argue my rig is as good a testbed as any at this point.

 

[medtro]

On that note, I'm yapping with TheForger about him fabricating a more robust "fix" for the issue in this thread. Hopefully I can do some longevity testing of his prototype soon. I'd argue my rig is as good a testbed as any at this point.

For AWD or RWD?

 

[ramangain]

An emergency robust kit to hold a front axle in the hub flange in case snap rings fail to work anymore. He'd probably be open to other ideas, but I can't speak for Steve.