Violent shaking from front on D90 TDi300

plook · Feb 1, 2011

I was just driving home when there was a very violent shaking up front and it really felt like a wheel was coming off. I looked underneath and the front left wheel axle-thingy has split. I'm just about to try and find an exploded drawing of it to see if I can replace part of if it's the whole front axle. Looks like it's a whole axle to me.

Can anyone tell me how serious this is, as in, whole front axle replacement or a part. Can anyone point me towards a diagram from a manual for the area.

Help!

Trewey · Feb 1, 2011

Fook me! I've never seen one like that before.
Start looking for a decent 2nd hand axle for sale.

GRATCH · Feb 1, 2011

This is what ya want 042 o s front axle 54 mm part A radius arm part B panhard bracket welded together
Must've taken some force to shear it like that.

plook · Feb 1, 2011

Wow, is that a bolt on or weld on part? I do have a mig welder but currently don't have a bottle contract, but if i need to...

GRATCH · Feb 1, 2011

Errr...it bolts onto the panhard rod and radius arm and welds to the axle. I would try to investigate why it failed first, though.

plook · Feb 1, 2011

Old, rusty, went too fast over rough terrain 10 mins before it happened.

andy mcd · Feb 2, 2011

I had that problem years ago. I just cut out all of th erust metal and fabricated a new bracket simillar to the one above and welded it in. Also changed all of the front bushes while i was there

mundungus · Feb 2, 2011

Check the other side also, for hairline cracks etc. Preferably with a club hammer.

Probably best to do both sides at the same time.

Recently did my rear shock mounts. One had sheared apart and left the shock dangling. The other looked ok at first sight, but on closer inspection had a hairline crack in it.

I ordered new brackets for both sides anyway, lucky I did because the hairline crack snapped off completely a week later.

All good now though. It was a bit of a pain in the arse job, laying upside down under it to grind the old brackets off, but piece of **** to weld the new ones on.

plook · Feb 2, 2011

Did you have to drain the front axle to weld the bracket on?

mundungus · Feb 2, 2011

No.

It was the rear axle

But also no. It would have been an easy job if not for the upside down bit really straining the neck mussles, and the difficultly getting the grinder in the right positions. All surface work on the axle casing, so couldn't really imagine the penetration of the weld would cause a problem inside the axle. Actually I didn't even consider it. I guess that those casings are pretty thick metal (although I've not had it apart).

Disconnect the battery though obviously.

And you'll need a relatively beefy welder, as the steel brackets are 5mm thick steel.

andy mcd · Feb 2, 2011

You dont need to drain it if the work is a t the top of the axle The level of oil will be below the drain plug which is only at part of the axle tube, If i n doubt strip it all of and wipe out the inside, Oil doesnt really burn to easily when welding, but can cause problems if the metal is thin and it seeps through the casing

plook · Feb 3, 2011

Do I really NEED argon with a MIG welder to weld this bracket on? My contract expired a couple of years ago and until now have not needed to re-new it.

Boris113 · Feb 3, 2011

I don't think you need argon, my mate does a lot of fabrication on a mig with just co2, gets it from a pub for about a tenner a bottle

mundungus · Feb 3, 2011

No, its mild steel. So either Argon or Argon/CO2 mix. Pretty sure the mix one is most commonly used for steel.

If you dont have a gasless welder and dont use gas, you'll find you'll get spatter and ****e all over the place and the welds will be crap and wont penetrate very well (if at all). That's my experience anyway.

If its just for this one job, you could always just get one of those little disposable bottles of gas. Welding shops will sell them. So does machine mart. Possibly even a good B and Q (if they sell welders).

Costs about 10 to 15 quid. Not sure how long they last, but might be enough for the job and you dont need an account for them.

CO2 / Argon Mix Gas Cylinder - Machine Mart

plook · Feb 3, 2011

I didn't know about the disposable bottles, that'll do it as long as i can sort out how to attach my tap and gauges to it.

Thanks for all this help, really appreciated.

mundungus · Feb 3, 2011

Cant answer that one I'm afraid. Never used them.

Violent shaking from front on D90 TDi300

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