Busted a 12 bolt axleshaft...A few ?'s

[MaverickToy81]

This is the truck in my sig line...Narrowed Corp. 12bolt...I busted my drivers side rear shaft today...At least, thats what I think it is. It still drives, but it pulls to the left, and clunks like a washing machine. I wasnt even doing anything hardcore...I was coming out of the fawking 7-Eleven parking lot after getting gas Whats next? Im new to Chevys, (Im a Toyota guy, at heart...) How do I pull the axleshaft? Its a narrowed 12 bolt, but the lug pattern is 5 lug...Im not certain on what to do next. How do I go about shortening it? Can any machine shop do it? Any info in the right direction is certainly helpful.

Thanks,

[Gonecheenin]

12 bolt is C-clip, you'll have to drop the carrier center pin & push the shafts in to pop the C-clips out

If you really broke a 12 bolt shaft your tire should have walked out very quickly since there was nothing to retain it anymore


What size tires you running on it?

If its actually broke I'd imagine you broke it before & just now finished it off

[MaverickToy81]

Originally Posted by Gonecheenin

12 bolt is C-clip, you'll have to drop the carrier center pin & push the shafts in to pop the C-clips out

If you really broke a 12 bolt shaft your tire should have walked out very quickly since there was nothing to retain it anymore


What size tires you running on it?

If its actually broke I'd imagine you broke it before & just now finished it off

Ive got 35's on it. The rear is spooled, and its clunking to high holy fawk...It still drives, and the tire didnt walk out on me, but I think its only pushing the right tire, because, when I give it gas, it pulls to the left (Pushing from the right?)

[aaronr10]

Do you have rear disc brakes? If so that may be the reason the tire is staying put. You are gonna have to do some investigating, remove the rear diff cover and have a look. Jack up the rear end and spin the tires to see what's moving and whats not. Need info man. It doesn't sound (to me at least) you are very knowledgable so maybe a buddy or a shop can help you out. I had a 12 bolt for years on 36's with HD shafts and never broke one, only the housing 2 times before I went bigger. Narrow shaft puts you into cust made and could be a little more than off the shelf but worth doing. Good luck and post some pics of what you find.

[theydontstop]

If it's a full spool, you have to have c-clip eliminators. Mini-spools do not need c-clip eliminators. If you have a full spool, odds are you broke a shaft. If it's a mini-spool, you messed up something on the one side of it. Amazingly enough the only 2 things I never broke in my 12 bolt before I swapped to a 14 was the R&P and the shafts. I bent the housing 3 times, broke a detroit in half, broke a stock open carrier in half and stripped 2 sets of spider gears. Now that I saw that, you could have even broke the spool or carrier if it's mini-spooled. Mine still drove and made an horrible noise, and somehow didn't destroy the R&P.

[rcurrier44]

Originally Posted by MaverickToy81

Whats next? Im new to Chevys, (Im a Toyota guy, at heart...)
,

If you are a toy guy you might look at swaping in a V6 toy axle...they are amazingly strong.

Originally Posted by MaverickToy81

How do I go about shortening it? Can any machine shop do it? Any info in the right direction is certainly helpful.

Thanks,

You are better off getting a custome axle shaft, not shortening another...

[GMCTruxrule]

Originally Posted by rcurrier44

If you are a toy guy you might look at swaping in a V6 toy axle...they are amazingly strong.



You are better off getting a custome axle shaft, not shortening another...

Fawk swapping Toy parts into a Chevy. Too much trouble. Just 14FF the damn thing and be done with it.

[rcurrier44]

Originally Posted by GMCTruxrule

Fawk swapping Toy parts into a Chevy. Too much trouble. Just 14FF the damn thing and be done with it.

Well I guess he might be able to do that with a C&C 14bolt since he has narrowed axles....

Considering what I gather from his level of experience the Toy axle would be pretty cheep&easy& match the needs of his rig very well.

[porterwagner]

Its pretty funny looking at this as I'm building another toyota and my last one I had toy axles and I bent the front housing twice. On my next build on my 90 yota I'm going fullwidth w/ a dana 44 front and a 12 bolt sf in the rear. You guys are saying to go to a toyota rear axle v6 which I just sold! Holy moly!! Well hopefully my toyota won't bust up the 12 bolt w/ 37s and the skinny pedal. I guess you just gotta wheel it till it breaks then fix it and if it's a pain in the ass when it breaks, go bigger.

[rcurrier44]

Originally Posted by porterwagner

Its pretty funny looking at this as I'm building another toyota and my last one I had toy axles and I bent the front housing twice. On my next build on my 90 yota I'm going fullwidth w/ a dana 44 front and a 12 bolt sf in the rear. You guys are saying to go to a toyota rear axle v6 which I just sold! Holy moly!! Well hopefully my toyota won't bust up the 12 bolt w/ 37s and the skinny pedal. I guess you just gotta wheel it till it breaks then fix it and if it's a pain in the ass when it breaks, go bigger.

No mater witch one you put in you should truss it. I have seen more 12bolts bend that yota rears....But I have seen more yota fronts bend that D44's (unless we are talking scout d44's...then I think they are bent from the factory ) Yota fronts also show their bending easier than d44's because it is so much tighter when getting the birf out of the front of a toy than a axle shaft from a d44.

They both have their advantages & disadvantages...as long as you don't need the extra width toyota axles will end up being stronger/cheeper after they are upgraded. Toy fronts also seam have problems with their high steer arms and hubs shearing off that d44's have. However they seam to have found easy/cheep ways around that.

[MaverickToy81]

Originally Posted by aaronr10

Do you have rear disc brakes? If so that may be the reason the tire is staying put. You are gonna have to do some investigating, remove the rear diff cover and have a look. Jack up the rear end and spin the tires to see what's moving and whats not. Need info man. It doesn't sound (to me at least) you are very knowledgable so maybe a buddy or a shop can help you out. I had a 12 bolt for years on 36's with HD shafts and never broke one, only the housing 2 times before I went bigger. Narrow shaft puts you into cust made and could be a little more than off the shelf but worth doing. Good luck and post some pics of what you find.

Just got back from the long weekend. I digress:

Im fairly mechanical, so that isnt a problem, I have the correct tools and whatnot, but your are right, I have almost no knowlegde of Chevy parts. I have no friends who are the chevy knowledgeable and I dont have the money or trust a shop around here enough to leave it in their hands. I like to do all my repairs myself. Im still learning at this Chevy business, as its my first Chevy 4x4.

I know its a 12 bolt,Im pretty sure its a full spool, I think I have 4.56 gears. The axle is a Summers Brother's axle and it came out of a Vega dragster. The shafts are rated at 1000hp...very HD, so I doubt I broke the shafts now that I stop and think about it. I thought it may be the ring and pinion, but then it would be grinding and drive pretty shitty, right? It drives fine, but now pulls to the left, and there is no grinding, its just thumping, like a washing machine that got loaded to much to one side...

Ill email the guy I traded trucks with and get more info...my truck used to be Trialsntrigger's (Kris, he is on this board) truck. Ill jack it up tomorrow and see what I can see. This is the first built rig Ive owned, so Im fairly new on what to look for when it comes to broken spools and such.

Thanks so far...hope to get more info,

[rcurrier44]

There is realy not much that can go wrong. It could have bent the flange or striped the splines.

The clunking sounds like it could be a missing tooth off of the ring gear....but that should not cause it to pull.

As long as your axle shafts are in one piece it shoulden't pull if there is something wrong in the rear and you have a full spool...You realy need to pull it appart and see what it broken.

[aaronr10]

I'm sure you'll find something when you get to pulling the diff cover off. If your 12 bolt came out of a Vega drag car and you stated you had 5 lug also it is possible that you have a pass. car 12 bolt which is good. Pinion stem diameter is much bigger on the pass. 12 bolt than the truck 12 bolt. My suggestion would be to stick weld the tubes to the housing (properly) and then truss it and should be a good axle for you. Good luck.

[MaverickToy81]

Ok, so I jacked it up today and rotated the wheels. When I rotate the passenger side, it turns the driveshaft, like it should, but the driver side does not rotate. It also has the proper amount of drag, like its turning the pinion and ring gear. There is nothing wrong with the passenger side...BUT when I rotate the driver side, it freely turns with no drag, the wheel is wobbly and it doesnt turn the driveshaft. Thats what I know so far, I didnt get to crack the diff cover today. I should be able to do that tomorrow. Ill keep everyone updated. Thanks for the info so far. Please keep looking and helping me out, I really appreciate it.

Thanks,

[jackedupjimmy]

if u jacked it up and turned the wheel and both didnt turn i dont think its a spool because a spool locks both rear wheels together, sounds to me like u have a open deifferential rear which the spider gears may be broken or missing teeth i would suggest taking the tires and everything off to inspect brakes and everything

[theydontstop]

Originally Posted by jackedupjimmy

if u jacked it up and turned the wheel and both didnt turn i dont think its a spool because a spool locks both rear wheels together

Or it could be a spool with a c-clip eliminator kit, which is required to run a spool and the driver's side axle shaft is broke, hence why it is a little wobbly.

[rcurrier44]

Originally Posted by MaverickToy81

Im fairly mechanical, so that isnt a problem,

Dude, its one of your 1000hp axle shafts Unless your lugnuts are loose that is the only thing that will cause the tire to wobble around.

EDIT: Oh and whoever said your 12 bolt shafts were good for 1000hp was so blowing smoke up your a$$....not like the rest of the 12 bolt could take that much anyway. I would go back to the seller and ask who he got the axle shafts from and what kind of warranty they have.

[MaverickToy81]

Originally Posted by jackedupjimmy

if u jacked it up and turned the wheel and both didnt turn i dont think its a spool because a spool locks both rear wheels together, sounds to me like u have a open deifferential rear which the spider gears may be broken or missing teeth i would suggest taking the tires and everything off to inspect brakes and everything

Um, it does have a spool...I KNOW it has a spool. It used to chirp tires going around corners...just because Im not familiar with Chevrolets doesnt mean I dont know the difference between an open, locked or spooled rear end. I dont think it is the spiders or the ring and pinion.

Originally Posted by rcurrier44

Dude, its one of your 1000hp axle shafts Unless your lugnuts are loose that is the only thing that will cause the tire to wobble around.

EDIT: Oh and whoever said your 12 bolt shafts were good for 1000hp was so blowing smoke up your a$$....not like the rest of the 12 bolt could take that much anyway. I would go back to the seller and ask who he got the axle shafts from and what kind of warranty they have.

I will again reiterate (sp?)...Im not that knowlegdeable when it comes to Chevrolet stuff . As stated before, they are Summers Brothers axles. The lugs are fine, I tightned them when I got the truck, and check them weekly. Guess its an axleshaft then...cool...now I get to shell out cash for that!

Thanks for the help, I'll try to crack the diff open today and take a look.

[aaronr10]

Okay, The guy who sold the rear axle to you stated that it was a spool, right? It could be that he said it was a spool but just welded up the spiders and made a "spool". It may be possible that the welds broke off, or you did snap an axle. You will find out when you remove the diff cover.

[6.2Blazer]

Originally Posted by aaronr10

Okay, The guy who sold the rear axle to you stated that it was a spool, right? It could be that he said it was a spool but just welded up the spiders and made a "spool". It may be possible that the welds broke off, or you did snap an axle. You will find out when you remove the diff cover.

Based on what he is saying, it's not possible that the welds simply broke off. If it was welded and the welds broke free it would act like an open diff, meaning that turning the one side tire would either have to rotate the other tire in the opposite direction or turn the driveshaft......or the broken pieces of weld would cause binding/clunking.

As already mentioned, the fact that the one side wheel feels wobbly is pretty much a given that the axleshaft if broke and thus only supported at one location (end of housing).

[rcurrier44]

Originally Posted by MaverickToy81

I will again reiterate (sp?)...Im not that knowlegdeable when it comes to Chevrolet stuff . As stated before, they are Summers Brothers axles. The lugs are fine, I tightned them when I got the truck, and check them weekly. Guess its an axleshaft then...cool...now I get to shell out cash for that!

Thanks for the help, I'll try to crack the diff open today and take a look.

You say you are farmilar with toys...the rear axle is retained the same...

You should also see about getting another c-clip eliminator kit. After an axle blows they bearings are definatly junk...and I woulden't trust the rest of the system on that side.

[MaverickToy81]

Originally Posted by aaronr10

Okay, The guy who sold the rear axle to you stated that it was a spool, right? It could be that he said it was a spool but just welded up the spiders and made a "spool". It may be possible that the welds broke off, or you did snap an axle. You will find out when you remove the diff cover.

Its a spool...the axle came off a pro-built drag car, Im pretty sure they didnt weld the spiders. The guy that built this didnt cut any corners that I can see on this truck, so I dont think he would with the rear axle.

Originally Posted by rcurrier44

You say you are farmilar with toys...the rear axle is retained the same...

You should also see about getting another c-clip eliminator kit. After an axle blows they bearings are definatly junk...and I woulden't trust the rest of the system on that side.

Who sells those and what do they cost? And how much to axle shafts normally run?

[rcurrier44]

The only eliminator I have experience with cam in a d60 that we use in the mud rail. It was built by strange years ago so I would assume it is theirs....never broke it...and its running atleast 1000hp - supercharged on alcahol.

Maybe try strange or summit.... Custom alloy axles have been getting realy cheep recently. There are alot of people out there selling this stuff.

You should pull the BOM off of the axle and make sure you know what you got....make sure it hasn't been cut down from whatever car it origionaly came from.

[Badburn]

If the tire wobbles, it has to be a broken axleshaft. Call Moser engineering, they have been good to me, and are cheaper than sommers bros. I have a street driven camaro with 1500 HP and Moser shafts. Some aftermarket axles are made form steel that is too hard for street driving.(brittle)

PS post some pics

[MaverickToy81]

Originally Posted by Badburn

If the tire wobbles, it has to be a broken axleshaft. Call Moser engineering, they have been good to me, and are cheaper than sommers bros. I have a street driven camaro with 1500 HP and Moser shafts. Some aftermarket axles are made form steel that is too hard for street driving.(brittle)

PS post some pics

Thanks. What do you wanna see pics of? The truck or the "carnage"? Here's some of the truck: