Broken Axle on Trail ride

[daking]

Well on a trail ride, I got stuck between a rock, and a rock. Front tire pressed up on a rock, and one rear wheel pressed up on a rock. The wheel base was just perfect to get jammed up. 

 

Gave it some throttle (just off idle), and POP! Guy behind me heard it. Said after the pop, only one of my rear tires spun. I have a locker, so both should turn. 

 

I make some adjustments, and I'm able to drive out. At this point, I'm thinking something in the locker popped. But as I keep going, the tire stays in the axle housing, but still only one tire has power. I'm in the middle of this run, and decide to keep on going. I had to use the winch, once, due to lack of traction. 

 

I then drive ~7mi or so home, at 60MPH. Jeep wonders on the road, kinda odd.

 

Get it home, jack it up, and discover I had actually broken an axle shaft. Had I known this, I would have put it on a trailer..  Considering the difficulty of the trail, I was shocked it made it on a broken axle. Its like an athlete finishing a race with a broken leg :)   

 

The reason the whole axle assembly did not fall out, is cause I converted the 8.25 to disks. The calipers and disks held it in place. Good reason to switch to rear disks. 

 

Lesson : Stock axles can break with 32" tires. I have up-graded all the axle shafts to Alloys (Front and Rear). Also, because I lost one rear axle, and had an open front diff, I had traction issues. So I also added an Eaton E-Locker to the front. That way I have 2 lockers, and should I loose another shaft, I should be able to limp off the trail. 

 

Here is one of the obstetrical I went through. Just before the break. 

 

 

 

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[gogmorgo]

You've got a 27-spline 8.25 out of a '91 if I recall from your MJOTM post? Supposedly not much better than a D35, or so I've read. I bet there's some pretty crazy wear on the pads/rotor now, but I'm definitely happier knowing the 8.25 I chose has discs on it already.

[daking]

You've got a 27-spline 8.25 out of a '91 if I recall from your MJOTM post? Supposedly not much better than a D35, or so I've read. I bet there's some pretty crazy wear on the pads/rotor now, but I'm definitely happier knowing the 8.25 I chose has discs on it already.

 

Yea, its a 91 8.25 Axle :/  The later axles have slightly larger splines. I was going to get the larger axles, but then I'd have the change the locker to match. I'm thinking the Alloy shafts will be strong enough. If they break, I'll go with a Dana 44 or swap the locker and shafts to the lager 8.25. 

 

Actually, I was thought the disk and pads would be all tore up, but they both looked fine. 

[89eliminator]

been there done that.  always an interesting sound.  luckily my D44 has been good to me and i've only broken a stock shaft (have alloys now).  when i broke that shaft, i also ripped the traction bar mount off the axle and blew up the detroit locker.  

[mvusse]

 

You've got a 27-spline 8.25 out of a '91 if I recall from your MJOTM post? Supposedly not much better than a D35, or so I've read. I bet there's some pretty crazy wear on the pads/rotor now, but I'm definitely happier knowing the 8.25 I chose has discs on it already.

 

Yea, its a 91 8.25 Axle :/  The later axles have slightly larger splines. I was going to get the larger axles, but then I'd have the change the locker to match. I'm thinking the Alloy shafts will be strong enough. If they break, I'll go with a Dana 44 or swap the locker and shafts to the lager 8.25. 

 

Actually, I was thought the disk and pads would be all tore up, but they both looked fine. 

 

 

The slightly larger 29 spline shafts on the late 96 and newer 8.25s are a lot stronger. I used to run one, locked, with aggressive 35" tires. At one time I had the truck bouncing on the rear axle with the front wheels completely off the ground. Axle held, but on the 3rd or 4th bounce I lost all power to the back due to the driveshaft having been twisted in half.

[daking]

Well, good to know that the newer 8.25 will handle some crazy stuff.  If / When I break stuff on my current 8.25, I'll choose ether a 44 or newer 8.25. I also hear the ford 8.8 is a good option. 

 

I just took my jeep for a test run with the new front locker. Holy crap!, My jeep went from an Animal, to a straight up BEAST! With both ends locked, it just goes where ever. I'm going to name the selectable locker switch, "Beast Mode"   :)