Front Halfshaft Broken.... and stuck.

Hi, I have a 1986 Defender 110. The short front half shaft is broken. We dismantled the hub to withdraw the CV joint and shaft. We pulled the CV joint off the shaft, which stayed in situ. Looking through the oil filler hole we can see that the shaft is definitely broken, the shaft (wheel end) turns and the differential pinion, with broken end inside remains stationary. I believe that the shaft is somehow stuck in the differential pinion bearing and the break is between the pinion and the bearing. In the course of breaking, the end has become splayed out and wont pull through the bearing. We have spent the day trying to pull out the shaft to no avail! Is there a tool for this that somehow clamps around the flange on the outer end of the shaft? I can't remove the diff as the shaft is stuck in it. I can't believe I'm the first person this has happened to and I don't really want to have to buy and fit a second hand front axle just because the broken shaft is stuck..........any ideas please?

you could undo chrome ball bolts at other end and pull that wheel station away enough to let half shaft come out of diff ,remove bolts on diff housing and pull diff out

Yes, I could withdraw the other half shaft but my broken one is still stuck in the diff bearings, so I still can't get the diff out!

it should be possible to remove shaft unless very unlucky

unless shaft has broken near wheel end of axkle it should be a simple enough task to remove diff with broken end still in the diff.

Yes, very unlucky! You can imagine how stuck the shaft is as we managed to pull the cv joint off it while it stayed in the axle. We spent all day trying to attach a variety of clamps to the end of the shaft, within the swivel housing, and either trying to pull or hammer it out. No luck, hence my post!

thanks redhand, but the broken shaft is stuck in the diff as well as the broken end! I think the break is between the diff pinion and the bearing through which the shaft passes to enter the splined pinion.

cant you remove swivel housing to get better access ,weld to so you can use slide hammer etc

ncrawshaw said:

Yes, very unlucky! You can imagine how stuck the shaft is as we managed to pull the cv joint off it while it stayed in the axle. We spent all day trying to attach a variety of clamps to the end of the shaft, within the swivel housing, and either trying to pull or hammer it out. No luck, hence my post!

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Have you tried undoing the bolts around the hub to axle casing flange?? this at least would give you approx 8 to 10 inches of shaft to get a hold of.. If all else fails you could then weld a block of metal to the shaft and use this as a point to hammer against.

I'd thought of that but I'm not sure that the swivel housing would come off over the end of the shaft which appears fatter than the hole in the housing.

ncrawshaw said:

I'd thought of that but I'm not sure that the swivel housing would come off over the end of the shaft which appears fatter than the hole in the housing.

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It will come off