Busted Differential...


IHC in the early to mid-fifties.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Tue Apr 28, 2020 8:33 am

Re: Busted Differential...

I was referring to the center section. 110 &120
http://www.hansenwebdesign.com/truck/fi ... 20Axle.pdf

AZD

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Golden Jubilee
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Post Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:37 am

Re: Busted Differential...

Being that it’s a half ton and I haven’t had time to disassemble everything, the next best option was to drain the oil (metal flakes...) and peer through the fill hole. It looked normal but felt all wrong. After raising one wheel at a time with various combinations of rotating this or that with the other held in place, it’s obvious the right shaft and/or gear spline stripped out.

It’s marginally better than a bunch of broken gears. What I find interesting though is just how good that axle looked when I removed it for brake work. I found a picture I took, and the splines looked perfect. Of course you can’t easily see microscopic defects, but still it seems something went very wrong in less than 400 miles, especially considering my careful adjustment of bearing preload, etc. Perhaps it’s not coincidence that the right side was the one that sidelined the truck in 1993 for brake problems.

Anyhow, before I can consider swapping axle housings I need to get this one working again to haul parts. After that, I have a lead on a complete Mustang 9” (hopefully not a misidentified 8”) with the correct width and bolt pattern. If it’s really a 9 and looks good inside that would be a nice upgrade.
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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Tue Apr 28, 2020 1:20 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

pull, the axle, I was convinced I blew my diff from all the noise coming out of it.,

got a replacement one and when I pulled axles to pull diff, one axle was broken,

I still swapped diff as the replacement one was better ratio
Gentle Men! you can't fight in here! This is the war room!

AZD

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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Tue Apr 28, 2020 1:39 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

Yep, gotta do that still. My more immediate concern was ruined splines may allow the axle to come out, but perhaps not go back in, leaving the whole deal disassembled until parts are in hand. The only difference is maybe I’d end up with a few gears I don’t need (or possibly in better condition), and the donor axle likely has those extra parts anyhow.

Oh, it does squeal like a pig if you let out the clutch. Didn’t suppose a snapped shaft would do that, but your experience speaks otherwise.

Golden Jubilee
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Post Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:12 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

Ok, I don't know how I thought it was a full-floater, I thought someone had said it was, so assumed it was a bigger truck.
Squeal almost sounds like the hub key sheared and the axle is spinning in the hub.
Hard to guess from this end of the keyboard.
Only you can decide how much time and work you are willing to put in on the old axle over replacing with something else.
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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:05 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

^^^yes this^^^
Gentle Men! you can't fight in here! This is the war room!
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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Sat May 16, 2020 1:37 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

what did you find out?
Gentle Men! you can't fight in here! This is the war room!

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Sat May 16, 2020 3:37 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

Anu updates?

AZD

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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Tue May 19, 2020 10:46 pm

Re: Busted Differential...

Sorry for the radio silence, it’s been three busy weeks. I also had a broken washing machine and dishwasher that had to be fixed first.

I knew it was the right side so I removed the shaft to inspect. It was broken right where the splines enter the spider gears. And not a clean break either. It looked a bit like a soft serve ice cream cone. I can only suppose there was a progressive crack working inward, effectively reducing the shaft diameter until the last bit twisted. Very weird. I’ll post pictures this weekend when I get to my computer.

Anyhow, I tracked down a ‘56 being used for parts. The owner has a Travelall in progress, and an immaculate 1950 short bed 110. He’s a body and paint guy by trade. I got the axle, springs, and any hardware just in case, all at a fair price. The “new” axle was in pretty good condition. Decent gears and bearings. I cleaned it, made new gaskets, put in new seals, and used my old backing plates and drums which I rebuilt two years ago. This past weekend I dropped the old one and put in the new one. The only thing left is to tighten the pinion nut once I have a socket that fits. Both had finger-tight pinion nuts, which isn’t good. Fortunately it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage to the new one. But my old ring and pinion are scored and beat looking. There wasn’t enough metal in the oil to cause that.

The whole thing has been pretty cheap, but a huge pain. I’m just glad it’s almost done.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Wed May 20, 2020 7:55 am

Re: Busted Differential...

Axle shafts almost always fail like that, where there is a transition from one diameter to another, or where there are splines starting. Very rarely you will remove an axle and see it just starting to twist, in that case you were lucky enough to get it out before failure. If you look at the break, you can see the grain of the metal.
It is very common to fine a failure right where the splines start.
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