Awwe Crap!

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

As a matter of fact, Vern has a bunch of neat books, all of which can be seen at THIS link below. Besides being less-costly than buying thru Amazon, Vern gets to keep all the money to hisself instead of having to share with "struggling" Amazon. DD

http://www.verntardel.com/collections/books

Thanks Coop...will be ordering the Stromberg 97 book from Vern. I plan on pulling the diff starting first thing in the morning. Need to figure out the tooth count on that axle so I can get one found and purchased.

I plan on buying my gaskets and seals from Van Pelts. In looking at the exploded view of this diff, I see that there's grease seals that mount into the hub and there also appears to be axle shaft seals in the housing. In looking at the broken axle end of the housing, I don't see a seal and the exploded view doesn't help much with location. Where is this axle seal located?

[JM 35 Sedan]

Capt, have you been able to remove that tapered piece of the axle that's shown above in one of your pictures? I'm wondering how tight that is/was in the hub taper? Also if/when it's out, it might be an opertunity to take a better close up shot of the fracture surface. BTW, I can see what appears to be an interesting failure pattern on the break surface of the main part of the axle that's still inside the axle housing.

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Capt, have you been able to remove that tapered piece of the axle that's shown above in one of your pictures? I'm wondering how tight that is/was in the hub taper? Also if/when it's out, it might be an opertunity to take a better close up shot of the fracture surface. BTW, I can see what appears to be an interesting failure pattern on the break surface of the main part of the axle that's still inside the axle housing.

JM, it is an interesting fracture on the long half. Somewhat spiraled. I have a hub puller and will use it when I get my hands dirty tomorrow. I'll be sure to post a better picture and let you know how tight the nut...and the taper was. Not sure how I'm going to get that nut off just yet but I'm guessing the video of me doing so would qualify me for the finals of Funniest Home Video.

[ford38v8]

:Cap, I got some good news for you: You don't need the wheel puller because you already got it off.


...But, you will need it to pull the other wheel off. Check the other axle for cracks at the same area. Any small crack visible makes it trash, no fancy tests required, just eyeball the thing.

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

:Cap, I got some good news for you: You don't need the wheel puller because you already got it off.


...But, you will need it to pull the other wheel off. Check the other axle for cracks at the same area. Any small crack visible makes it trash, no fancy tests required, just eyeball the thing.

38v8...I have some dye penetrant that I used on those crack prone jeep heads when I was building those engines. Will that work on these axles? Would certainly be better than my eye ball.

And to think...I had a brief thought to sell my hub puller because the box has been collecting dust for over a decade...I don't sell tools though. The one who dies with the most tools wins!

[ford38v8]

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You won't need any dye penetrant, there's only one small area to examine, that being the inner terminus of the keyway slot. A crack will start at that location and that's the beginning of the end right thar. I've never seen them break at any other place, though I have had a later axle (49) break at the splines in the pumpkin. I would suppose that the cause is that the machining of the keyway or splines concentrates and directs stress to the slots.


"And to think...I had a brief thought to sell my hub puller because the box has been collecting dust for over a decade...I don't sell tools though. The one who dies with the most tools wins!"

If you drop that dusty box on your foot getting it down off the shelf, you'll wish you were dead.

[jhb]

That exact thing happened to me on my forty as I started a left turn from a light. It turned out to be a broken axle on the drivers side right next to the spline on the wheel side. After inspecting many people said it had to be cracked for a long time. I've never even tried to lay rubber with the car. After this happened to me I installed the clips to prevent the wheel from falling off if it ever happens again.
I found an axle from a '39 and tried to use it but the spline count was different so I had to use both '39 axles and a few more parts to compensate. More than a driveway job. Definitely a heated garage and plenty of room job.
I would also like to add I think the 3.78 is a great axle ratio for these cars. Since I do a lot of expressway driving I also added a Gear-Vendors O/D into the torque tube for that purpose. It brings my RPM's down to 2,600 @ 70mph.
Don't give up on it, just fix it !! Let us know the progress.

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by Capt Kirk

The one who dies with the most tools wins!

The finest ones are the ones handed down or given or third-hand.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by VeryTangled

The finest ones are the ones handed down or given or third-hand.

Now there you've hit a nerve. My father used to sign his name with a stick welder on all his steel tools. Small tools he used a vibrating etch pen. A few remain, and are used with a degree of reverence.

[Capt Kirk]

[QUOTE=ford38v8;1352076] I would suppose that the cause is that the machining of the keyway or splines concentrates and directs stress to the slots.
QUOTE]

38v8. You are correct. I've got a background in Structural Engineering and have been thinking about these fractures. I had asked in a previous post if this is the typical place these axles break and you indicated that it is.

At the taper, the large diameter of the taper is stronger (stiffer) than the small diameter end. Torsional stresses will tend to concentrate more at the stiffer part of the taper...right where the keyway starts. The keyway has sharp 90* corners and stresses don't like to go around a sharp 90* corner...they would prefer to migrate around a rounded 90* corner. If the keyway were a steel dowel, these axles may not be breaking like this.

[Mart]

If you struggle to undo the nut and apply the puller tool, you could put the hub (complete with wheel) back on the axle, and with everything suitably chocked, undo the nut and use the puller on the axle remnant. Using the weight of the car to hold it might be the most efficient way to do it.

Mart.

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by Mart

If you struggle to undo the nut and apply the puller tool, you could put the hub (complete with wheel) back on the axle, and with everything suitably chocked, undo the nut and use the puller on the axle remnant. Using the weight of the car to hold it might be the most efficient way to do it.

Mart.

Good idea mart! I'll put the wheel back on and get a helper to stand on the brakes.
It's raining today...uggg...I miss my shop in Fairbanks!

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by Capt Kirk

Good idea mart! I'll put the wheel back on and get a helper to stand on the brakes.
It's raining today...uggg...I miss my shop in Fairbanks!

Or a high torque impact wrench (rata tat tater) would also do the job, but I'm bettin' the ranch it ain't going to be that tight.

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Or a high torque impact wrench (rata tat tater) would also do the job, but I'm bettin' the ranch it ain't going to be that tight.

JM, looks like you get to keep the ranch. I've got an impact wrench but I rarely use it...it's old and doesn't have the torque as the new ones out this day. I thought I'd give it a try. Both nuts came off using the impact with very little effort...they were snugged up but not super tight.
I rolled the broken side into the shop. With my knees on the tire and one hand on the breaker bar...a quarter turn and the stub popped right out. I've got some pics I'll share in a minute.

[Capt Kirk]

Here ya go

[JSeery]

I'm not very good at stress analysis (never liked it!), but that looks odd to me. The darkened center section with the steep sides does not look like a normal failure mode (but then re-read the first sentence ).

[Capt Kirk]

The other side...also came off with one hand on the breaker bar.

[Ol' Ron]

Not having any idea of why this happens, but I know it was quite common back in my yiut. One cure was to drill a hole in the axles about 12" long. I never did this because we used 3/4 ton axles in the stick car. Now if one of you engineers out there thinks it a good idea. I have a lathe your free to use, bring your own drill.

[JSeery]

Well in this case it was caused by the nuts not being torqued to the correct value (and apparently nowhere near it!). This puts the load on the keyway and not the tapper. If done correctly the keyway should have amost no load on it.

[Capt Kirk]

Originally Posted by JSeery

Well in this case it was caused by the nuts not being torqued to the correct value (and apparently nowhere near it!). This puts the load on the keyway and not the tapper. If done correctly the keyway should have amost no load on it.

I agree 100%. The rear end is freed up and dropped down...now time to deal with the front of the torque tube.