!!! MASSIVE research effort -please post pics/stories of ALL your broken axles !!!

[BillaVista]

I'm trying to compile enough data to actually be statistically relevant - or at the very least be enough to qualify as strong anecdotal evidence.

Please post pics of any and all axle shaft breaks.

Front and rear.

No big story required - just what axle it is, and it's age if you know it.

Stories without pics are ok and desired to (but will require more story to describe what/where the break was)

Between us, we have to have broken a huge number of axles - I bet nowhere else could you amass more data.

I'd love to collect as much info as possible on this.

Thanks very much for your help

[jp junkie]

Dana 44 front. Broke right behind the yolk. Seen 3 others break at the same spot. Sorry no pics. Axles were less than 2 years old.

[Keith]

44 front stub, right behind the yoke. Tire turned full lock, and bound up. Barely let the clutch out and...snap!

[ramv]

Stock '01 Ram front dana 44.

5-760X Ujoint tore the ears out of the shaft.

Locked up, full turn, backing up

[MR4WD]

10 bolt short side axle and stubs- always the ears on the yoke.

Dana 60 30 spline stubs, always shattered the splines, usually pulling sombody out with the wheels straight.

Dana 60 35 spline stub, stretched the ears, popped out the bearing cap under a full throttle turn going up hill.

14 bolt. Three passenger side shafts where the axle necks down from the machined area by the flange to the raw uncut axle. without posting the pic, but only showing the link- http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...e/DCP_6517.jpg right where the axle necks down.

No pics.

[BigBlueWrangler]

2 Dana 35s from a 92 wrangler, broke right at the splines, 2 dana 44 front stub shafts at the yoke from a 90 grand waggy.

[ZAG]

d44 35" and v8 do i have to tell more

[liveaxle]

Dana 44 front, stock shafts (~20 years old), 760 u-joint.

My tack welds on the u-joint caps tore, then the ears egged out, then the caps shot out or broke up, then the ears broke. This is in my Toyota, 100:1 gearing, 37" tires, front locker, happened while backing up a ledge.

[CA_YJ]

Broke several sets when i was running 40" mtr's. Not single u-joint failure. All the breaks were on the shaft itself. Probably due to sever fatigue (ie. big ass tires). I have had good luck with 760's.

I am now running cromo inners from Randy's. They are holding up great. the spicer outers are doing what they do best...ovelizing. I've got two trips this new set. One at Cougar Buttes, one at JV an its time for new outers. Inners look great

[Lars915]

D44, Warn CroMo's, Spicer joints. 37" tire, bound up at full lock. Not sure what went first, suspect the joint. Took out one ear on the stub and bent the other. Inner shaft was still usable. Took out the knuckle as well.

[Old Scout]

Long side at the neck down on a stock Scout D44 front. 35" tires on Cadillac hill. U-joint went as well.

[Old Scout]

The ears are broken as well.

[Todd W]

D44 U-Joint & Long Side Shaft (at once)
37" MTRs Stock i6
Vehicle: YJ
Trail: Rubicon
Locked: Yes/Detroit

Front diff. high-centered turned into a tree root got traction with that one tire and snap.


35" BFGs
D30 Stock Axle
Broke U-JOINT

Pulling someone up a hill in reverse from the top using a front tow hook, barely giving it any gas and kaboom.

[BillaVista]

Awesome guys - keep it coming

Yes, twisted and stripped splines too.

Also - get the word out to others that maybe don't frequent PBB, maybe other boards you;re on.

ask them to post here or collect data yourself and post it up, it will be very helpful.

We can amass a huge amount of data - which will make it quite useful.

[will m]

currie 9" front. currie inner shaft, 1/2 ton chevy stub. ears broke off u-joint first which took out the ears on the inner and outer shafts. less then 1 yr old. bounceing while on gas with wheels slighty turned. this is with 33's, 4.10's, detroit, and I-6
personaly i blame the autozone shitty ass u-joint.
60 in the near future.

[281 Quad Cam]

are we bothering with D30 and D35 stuff? (not that i have those stories personally )

[Aggro]

Warn stub about 1 year old. idling, first gear, tire under the snow 39+ inches deep.

[Aggro]

spicer respline maybe 3 years old, winching in snow, 38" tire nearly under the snow. axle ear ripped off then ujoint broke due to bind (as best I could tell.)


edit: these were both 44's.

[bigjeep Maine]

I have broken 3 axles in my Jeep in 7 years,front model 30 with detroit,35 bfg mt's and q-78 swampers.
all times it was the u-joint that let go,last time took the detroit with it

Jim

[desertCJ]

Dana 44 front with 38.5" tires, 6 cyl engine.....broke a stock inner off at the neck down. Was at idle or a little more, side that broke had really good traction and the other side was in loose dirt. Broke a stub shaft into 3 pieces right at the yoke. I think the u-joint caps went first, then the jont kept twisting in the axle yoke until it just twisted/broke the yoke in half off the axle. This happened climbing a loose hill, but I wasn't really on the throttle. Also egged out the yoke on a stock inner axle...I just junked it and now I have Warns.

[white knight]

God, have broken way. Her are only some pics from different trips

Dana 60 rear axles- at least 8
Front 30 spline stubbys - 7 in 2002-2001
None last year- had upgraded to 35 spline front and 14 bolt rear

[Jrod-13]

I have another set just like it..

on had 3 wheeling trips, the other broke on its first trip.

Both had the caps tacked.

306 motor

dana 28

31" tires

Both times it was going straight pulling out of a mud hole, about 1/2 throttle.

[BillaVista]

Dana 60 30 spline stubs, always shattered the splines

By shattered - you mean fractured into may pieces/ Or "stripped" or ??

10 bolt short side axle and stubs- always the ears on the yoke.

Dana 60 30 spline stubs, always shattered the splines, usually pulling sombody out with the wheels straight.

Can you estimate numbers?

2 Dana 35s from a 92 wrangler, broke right at the splines

By "at the splines" do you mean within the area that is splined or right at the transition from splined to non-splined?

d44 35" and v8 do i have to tell more

If you could - like - I see many destroyed yokes - any stripped splines or fractured shafts in that heap o' carange?

Broke several sets when i was running 40" mtr's

Can u put a number on "several"? Inners and stubs?

All the breaks were on the shaft itself

Can u say where on the shaft?

D44 U-Joint & Long Side Shaft (at once)

Confirm shaft failure was ears/yoke?

are we bothering with D30 and D35 stuff?

yes, please. Annonymously if u have to

Dana 44 front with 38.5" tires, 6 cyl engine.....broke a stock inner off at the neck down.

Do you remember long or short side

Dana 60 rear axles- at least 8
Front 30 spline stubbys - 7 in 2002-2001

Where do they break? Is it consistant?

[mudtruck44]

I broke 3 Warn stubs that looked almost just like that. What was I doing? Well it seemed like when they broke I was doing something minor. Then I would think about the day before when I was hammering it to get up a ledge, bouncing it of the ground, on the gas, and it didn't break. But there was never a time where I broke a shaft because a tire was bound up. All shock loading.

[psychobilly]

I can provide some insight into this topic or rather maybe throw a monkey wrench into the works. We know most front breaks are caused when the caps work out of the shaft and it looks like this pic from above.



Me and my regular crew began welding our caps on the u-joints about 5 years ago we still break but since we have started this we have very few failures that look like like that one pictured above; more importatly somthing began to catch my attention. We run mostly D30's and D44's each and every one locked. The 44's very seldom break a joint anymore but break quite often at the necked down area on the shaft clean and smooth, very often actually in comparision, probably 8-10 shafts to 1 joint. The 30 shafts seldom break (occasionally at the end of the splines) but we still have u-joint failure on the 30's most all run 297's or 760's and the ratio of shafts to joints is about 5 joints to one shaft. Being the same u joint I believe this tells us the stock 30 shaft is stronger than the stock 44 as the joints fail more often than the shaft in the 30's and the shafts fail most often before the joint in the 44's (also the 30 shaft is about a 1/16 larger than the 44 at each shafts smallest point) I know this defies all that is holly in the world of 4x4's but real word use and abuse tells me it is the truth. I have a 30, 44 and a 60. 44 and 30 in use and 60 in waiting so I am not biased in my comparision. I would like to see real (not engineered) breaking strengths on every popular axle and see what part fails first, I think a lot of people would be surprized in the results.
On to u-joints, we did run nothing but spicers but have had issues with the needle bearings crushing. I began to look for a better (but cheap....hey I gotta support my drinkin habbits) joint and am going to try a precision joint out. By just visualy comparing them the precision joints seem (keyword..seems) to be better. I have a set now I will be putting to the test when the snows gone. The precsion joints have a thinner but longer bearing and a bigger journal on the joint itself, this will create a larger area to displace the crushing forces and seems in theory should be stronger but I wont know till I get some time with them. I cant wait to see what ya come up with BillaVista you do some great work and great articles.