Please spare me the "throw away that piece of crap axle" posts because that is not feasible right now. I'm a broke college student who is already in debt because of blown engine and bombed tranny. I have a minor problem...The little 12pt bolt that holds in the cross shaft in the differential is broken off in the cross shaft. There is just enough left in the shaft to not let it budge, even with a hammer. I can't pull the axle shafts out because I can't get to the c-clips, so i can't get the carrier out to drill and ez-out the little bastard. Does anyone have any constructive solutions?

BTW: D35 with C-Clips, and I can't fit a drill in there with everything still in the housing.

Use a small pick or screwdriver and stick it in the hole and try to turn the screw like that:)

that's a bitch.

I was trying to put a lockrite in my girls dana 35 and the damn lock screw broke off.

I haven't found a solution yet... the only thing I can think of is to destroy the carrier and replace it, but I don't like the idea of spending money on it. It's a dana 35 as well.

let me know what you do please ;)

I tried that, I couldn't get it to grab on any part of the bolt though. I even tried to stick a small phillips screwdriver in there and hammer it into the broken piece to get a bite, but no luck.

Will do Perm, i'll keep you posted

If you cant get the bolt out w/ the methods above you gotta destoy the carrier.

I had the same thing happen. A friend wasted a pinion in his XJ. Being the helpfull sort and also wanting to dig into a diff for the first time, we attack the rearend. The bolt broke off and we tried all that stuff to get it out. We took the whole rearend to a Jeep shop where we were getting the parts from. After an hour of doing the same things we tried, the mechanic whipped out the BFH!!! Knocked the pin out a little and spun that sucker around and pulled it out w/ Vice-grips. As luck would have it, he had a spare carrier laying around. FREEBIE, NADA, ZILCH.

You could spend your time and try to dig that bolt out or spend your time scrounging up a used carrier. But then you gotta do the backlash/ shim game.

why can you not take out the c clips? when pushing in the axles do they hit the cross shaft before there is room to remove the c clips? never worked on a d35, but ive seen them break. i sugest driving offroad like shit to break a c clip and that axle shaft will be more than happy to come out:rolleyes: :flipoff2: . i say try to cut the cross shaft, i dunno how, maybe a reciprocating saw (with long metal blade). cut it so you can push the axles in, like real close to the spider gear that is riding on the side where the crossshaft retaining bolt is, then slide out the other half of the cross pin. then you could get the axle shafts out, then remove carrier, use ez out get new cross shaft and retaining bolt. i dunno just an idea.:D good luck man!

The axleshafts are already against the cross-shaft, I don't think there is any room for a reciprocating saw in there (or the like), and i'd have to make the cut basically right against the spidergear. I really wish i could just break the stupid thing and scrap it, but i'm out of $$$.

D35 carriers have got to be a dime a dozen. Beat that cross shaft outta there, pull the axles and get a used one. Swap the gears, set your backlash and be on your way.

Originally posted by withamc
D35 carriers have got to be a dime a dozen. Beat that cross shaft outta there, pull the axles and get a used one. Swap the gears, set your backlash and be on your way.
wouldent it be really hard to pound the cross shatft out with the retaining bolt in there?:confused:

Try Some Heat;)

I ran into this last fall when putting a locker in my exploder. I tried for hours to get that bolt out.. FInaly I just put the broken part back in, and sold the locker on ebay. If I ever need to fix it, I'll beat it out.

Originally posted by tanman2003

wouldent it be really hard to pound the cross shatft out with the retaining bolt in there?:confused:

Considering that my bolt broke and the cross shaft worked it's way out while going 60 MPH at the 101/405 interchange during rush hour :eek: I'm guessing a really big hammer might be able to accomplish the same thing. Sure - the carrier will be toast, but I'm not sure there's any other way to get the thing out.

If you can get at the bolt where the head broke off, use a Dremel tool cut-off wheel and work a screw driver slot into it.
The cross shaft threads probably have that nylon threadlocker stuff on them, heat the fawker up with Oxy/Ace torch or a pencil tip MAPP gas bottle. When the screw is hot enough start working the bolt out.
If this doesn't work just drill the thread portion of the bolt out and get a new carrier.