First breakdown.

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Bobsticle

De Villes Advocaat
Posts
26,334
Location
Manchester
After 6 years of pottering about I’ve just had my first breakdown in Henry.

got home so not officially catastrophic but it looks like I’ve lost a half shaft. No hard driving involved, I just pulled forward as the lights changed and clunk. Thankfully the 4 wheel drive worked to backtrack home a quarter of a mile.
Guess I’m extracting halfshafts this afternoon :(
 
After 6 years of pottering about I’ve just had my first breakdown in Henry.

got home so not officially catastrophic but it looks like I’ve lost a half shaft. No hard driving involved, I just pulled forward as the lights changed and clunk. Thankfully the 4 wheel drive worked to backtrack home a quarter of a mile.
Guess I’m extracting halfshafts this afternoon :(
Not to bad I suppose given its age.
Yours lasted longer than mine :p
20200906_101127.jpg
 
Must admit, the oil that came out wont great.

Bit like that black sludge at the bottom of a stagnant pond :oops:. I bet it sounds like a spin dryer with new stuff in. :(
 
Something must be in the air - had exactly the same thing happen to me yesterday. Just pulling away from a T-junction on a quiet country road so nothing even remotely rough, clunk and then no drive. Not too far from home so had a mate pull me back to save any possible further damage. Exact same place on rear offside shaft (see photo, almost exactly same pattern), shafts and diff now stripped out and ready for new shaft. Diff oil was pretty clean, no swarf visible out will pressure wash just in case. I understand from previous posts on the forum that there are tougher shafts available (expensive) but it has been suggested that this will just transfer any future potential damage to a more expensive part of the drive train and just replace with the standard as they are cheap and easy to replace. Any advice gratefully received before i go ahead and order a replacment tomorrow.
Cheers......Ian
MRPO9762.JPG
 
Something must be in the air - had exactly the same thing happen to me yesterday. Just pulling away from a T-junction on a quiet country road so nothing even remotely rough, clunk and then no drive. Not too far from home so had a mate pull me back to save any possible further damage. Exact same place on rear offside shaft (see photo, almost exactly same pattern), shafts and diff now stripped out and ready for new shaft. Diff oil was pretty clean, no swarf visible out will pressure wash just in case. I understand from previous posts on the forum that there are tougher shafts available (expensive) but it has been suggested that this will just transfer any future potential damage to a more expensive part of the drive train and just replace with the standard as they are cheap and easy to replace. Any advice gratefully received before i go ahead and order a replacment tomorrow.
Cheers......IanView attachment 219729
Hell fire, that is similar. :eek: No bits at all in the oil on mine. I had to use a bottle brush and thinners on mine to get the thick greasy sludge off the walls of the axle.
That’s another gallon of oil I’ve had to buy :mad:

WTF don’t they make the weak point on the wheel end. :mad::p
 
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He’ll fire, that is similar. :eek: No bits at all in the oil on mine. I had to use a bottle brush and thinners on mine to get the thick greasy sludge off the walls of the axle.
That’s another gallon of oil I’ve had to buy :mad:

WTF don’t they make the weak point on the wheel end. :mad::p
Better still, don't bother with a weak point. Anywhere!!
 
Better still, don't bother with a weak point. Anywhere!!
At twenty five quid a bash, I doubt there’s a strong point in the one I’ve just ordered. It’s the usual nonsense when I phoned round for one. None in stock but we can have one with us tomorrow. None of them would give me their suppliers details so I could cut out the middle man and it could be ‘with me’ tomorrow. :rolleyes:
I’m half expecting it to arrive direct in a blue box :mad:. Oh and I ordered both sides and will replace both. The break looks more like a fatigue fracture to me so worth doing both if they have been in there for donkeys.
 
At twenty five quid a bash, I doubt there’s a strong point in the one I’ve just ordered. It’s the usual nonsense when I phoned round for one. None in stock but we can have one with us tomorrow. None of them would give me their suppliers details so I could cut out the middle man and it could be ‘with me’ tomorrow. :rolleyes:
I’m half expecting it to arrive direct in a blue box :mad:. Oh and I ordered both sides and will replace both. The break looks more like a fatigue fracture to me so worth doing both if they have been in there for donkeys.
Does look like a fatigue fracture - both your and Moorhouse's have a break which seems to go to a point in the middle, suggesting flexing as the shaft turns which started a fatigue crack round the outside, flexing over the years and moving the crack further in until there's not enough metal left to transfer the power. Clunk.
 
Snapped one whilst trialling awhile back and strangely it went on the outer end.
Same shaft though off side rear.
Fitted a second hand one I picked up cheap one ebay , still fine.
 

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I agree with 6spot, all look like fatigue breaks that give up in the end in a quietish way. One breaking as a result of massive overload goes with a hell of a bang.
When trialling I once came down from a big bounce with power still on, there was no noise but the axle locked solid [ front ] To get home I removed drive flange bolts. The half shaft would not come out even with the axle fixed to a stanchion and the shaft to a tractor! At this point I just swapped the axle for a spare.
Later I cut the old axle open to see, and found the long shaft had twisted around like an old candy stick, Amazing :eek:, wish I had kept it.
 
They arrived this morning. You guessed it, britpart. They look awful. :(

The gallon of EP90 should be with me tomorrow so with a bit of luck back on the road this weekend. :)
 
I agree with 6spot, all look like fatigue breaks that give up in the end in a quietish way. One breaking as a result of massive overload goes with a hell of a bang.
When trialling I once came down from a big bounce with power still on, there was no noise but the axle locked solid [ front ] To get home I removed drive flange bolts. The half shaft would not come out even with the axle fixed to a stanchion and the shaft to a tractor! At this point I just swapped the axle for a spare.
Later I cut the old axle open to see, and found the long shaft had twisted around like an old candy stick, Amazing :eek:, wish I had kept it.
Sounds unlucky, you must have just happened to really abrubtly stop that wheel as it hit the ground and you had enough power on to twist it. Pretty rare though? Pity you didn't keep it.

I recall a section of the driving instructions for diesel railcars (don't ask) which states that if the stationary train should start to roll back, apply the brake to halt and restart, do not apply power to halt it or move off while rolling back, because it could twist a drive shaft (or several). Bear in mind we are talking about much bigger drive shafts as well.
 
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