Even after seeing several other vehicles with similar failures, I always thought, "This will never happen to my vehicle." This will hopefully be a great wake up call to anyone who hasn't been checking their ball joints/bushings on a some what consistent basis.
The Story
I had just gotten home from a 200 mile trip to help further break the engine in from the restoration project (218 miles on the rebuilt engine at this point). I went to test my 4WD and saw that the light would not turn on in my dash even though the transfer case was engaging. I bypassed the vacuum valve system and forced the ADD actuator to lock into place while in 4 low. One more thing to note would be that the vehicle is double locked, so it puts a crazy amount of strain on the steering/suspension/drive train when it gets put into 4 low. I pulled it out of the driveway and it started to steer diagonally when I was straight on the steering wheel. I went 30 Feet down the road before I heard some pretty bad sounds, so I decided I should put it back into the driveway before I did anything too bad. So I shifted the vehicle into reverse and heard a thundering boom as the vehicle fell down on the passenger side. I went out to inspect the damage and the photos below show what I was greeted by.
What was the failure?
The failure point was the 4 mounting bolts for the LBJ plate to the spindle hub. Half of the bolts were missing, so I am assuming they fell out while I was on my 200 mile test drive. The third bolt was ripped completely out and stretched to a 90 degree angle and the fourth bolt was broken off inside of the spindle hub.
What was the damage?
-Broken LBJ
-Destroyed UBJ
-Destroyed mounting hardware
-Hard brake line got ripped off
-Bolts broken off in spindle hub had to be drilled/tapped
-Broken CV axle
-Destroyed what was left of the UCA bushings
-Took a chunk out of the rim with the LCA
-Brake fluid took a bunch of paint of of the hub, LCA, and frame.
Thanks to some amazing help from neighbors and family, we were able to replace and repair everything in about 6 hours. This could have failed at any time during that 200 mile test drive, I would not be here writing this post out if that was the case. Check your suspension before this happens to you!