Rear Axle Broke off.

[RunnerLimited]

So I was just headed out of town (3hr drive) to watch a concert with my gf
and just driving just a bit over an hour of driving the rear axle decided to completely shear off. Scary experience but luckily no one was beside us or behind us on the highway. At first it felt like I hit a big pot hole on the ground and then got a flat tire, then the moment we saw the rim rolling on the road beside us :wow2::wow2:

Now I was wondering WTH happened and what cause the rear axle to break right off. I have taken this wheeling and I do a lot of flexing parking jobs (parking on big piles of snow). I was wondering if all that stress during those parking jobs may have cracked the axle.

ONE THING that really Is on my mind to what actually might have caused this.
Previous thread I started a month ago I complained about how when I accelerate, the car shifts to the right and when I let go of the gas pedal the car goes back to its normal position and shifts to the left. MAYBE all the stress of being on the throttle the whole time at speeds of 110 km/h for a whole hour put that much stress on the right axle which later caused it to fail.

If anyone has any input that would be greatly appreciated, cause not I have to fix this problem and maybe buy new Rear LCAS and maybe a panhard bar to stop the shifting. The tow sucked thought 600$ my wallet is hurting reeeal bad

Here are some pictures. Not much because it was -27C and id rather call a tow truck and stay inside the car lol

 

[JayRolla]

All I have to say is WTF!

 

[RunnerLimited]

All I have to say is WTF!

Me too is this a normal thing?

 

[Pauly Walnuts]

No, not normal at all. Can't say I've seen a 3rd gen axle snap like that, especially just highway driving.

What rear locker are you using?

 

[nevada]

typically Toyota rear axles are very strong. ive never seen anything like that before. but, I can tell you its not from flexing/parking on snow piles.

by chance have you had any work done recently? rear wheel bearings/seals or the like?

maybe it was somehow damaged during the work?

 

[shootmymime]

check that the axle bolting mounts are plane the axle is perpendicular to the mounting surface. the axle bearing is not worn nor stuck or seized, causing excessive heat.

 

[RunnerLimited]

No, not normal at all. Can't say I've seen a 3rd gen axle snap like that, especially just highway driving.

What rear locker are you using?

Yeah my buddy who has a 3rd gen who I go out wheeling to was as surprised as me, so I towed it to his shop for now.

The THING is my aussie rear locker recently just stopped engaging, after the last last wheeling trip I did a couple months back. Never bothered to look to much into it since everyone said I can run open diffs for now since I didn't hear any grinding or anything (I have a glasspack so maybe that's why I never heard it). So I wonder if it was the broken rear locker that did this. OR was my locker ok the whole time and the axle was the problem causing the locker not to engage.

typically Toyota rear axles are very strong. ive never seen anything like that before. but, I can tell you its not from flexing/parking on snow piles.

by chance have you had any work done recently? rear wheel bearings/seals or the like?

maybe it was somehow damaged during the work?

No, haven't had work done recently and even when I did replace the bearings and seals last year I dove to Vancouver (12 hr drive) with no problems at all.

That's why I THINK and I am probably wrong but that side to side body roll that was previously mentioned put a lot of stress into my rear passenger axle.
Im planning to do all the L&R bearings, seals and LCA all at once and see if that body roll goes away.

Anything else you guys recommend fixing while im working on the rear of the vehicle?

 

[JayRolla]

check that the axle bolting mounts are plane the axle is perpendicular to the mounting surface. the axle bearing is not worn nor stuck or seized, causing excessive heat.

Ive ran stuck seized bearings for very long time adn never had this happen. LOL.

 

[02SE]

Well, all metal can fatigue and fail if it is subjected to stress that exceeds it's design parameters. I've seen lots of broken axle shafts in the dragracing world. And more than a few from the Fourwheeling world.

Aggressive FourWheeling absolutely can place extreme stress on axle shafts. I recall watching one guy in an open-open diff rig trying to make it up a rutted hill. One rear tire was in the air spinning, when it came down and contacted the ground it stopped with a loud SNAP, as the axle sheared instantly.

At some point your axle was subjected to excessive stress. Most likely multiple times. It just took awhile for it to fail completely.

 

[RunnerLimited]

Well, all metal can fatigue and fail if it is subjected to stress that exceeds it's design parameters. I've seen lots of broken axle shafts in the dragracing world. And more than a few from the Fourwheeling world.

Aggressive FourWheeling absolutely can place extreme stress on axle shafts. I recall watching one guy in an open-open diff rig trying to make it up a rutted hill. One rear tire was in the air spinning, when it came down and contacted the ground it stopped with a loud SNAP, as the axle sheared instantly.

At some point your axle was subjected to excessive stress. Most likely multiple times. It just took awhile for it to fail completely.

Yeah you have avery good point maybe thats the day when I noticed my rear locker wasn't engaging anymore, I bet the axle already took some damage.

Im just really hoping its not the locker either sucks to replace the whole back end like that , axles,bearings,seals,LCA and now the locker :ak472::ak472::flipoff::flipoff:

 

[KidVermicious]

If you or a previous owner flogged it hard enough to damage the axle like that, you might want to check the housing for straight before you put a new shaft in there.

 

[JaredCrow9879]

Yeah my buddy who has a 3rd gen who I go out wheeling to was as surprised as me, so I towed it to his shop for now.

The THING is my aussie rear locker recently just stopped engaging, after the last last wheeling trip I did a couple months back. Never bothered to look to much into it since everyone said I can run open diffs for now since I didn't hear any grinding or anything (I have a glasspack so maybe that's why I never heard it). So I wonder if it was the broken rear locker that did this. OR was my locker ok the whole time and the axle was the problem causing the locker not to engage.



No, haven't had work done recently and even when I did replace the bearings and seals last year I dove to Vancouver (12 hr drive) with no problems at all.

That's why I THINK and I am probably wrong but that side to side body roll that was previously mentioned put a lot of stress into my rear passenger axle.
Im planning to do all the L&R bearings, seals and LCA all at once and see if that body roll goes away.

Anything else you guys recommend fixing while im working on the rear of the vehicle?

sounds like your locker is working just fine and your axle has been snapped for a little bit and finally came loose.

 

[Pauly Walnuts]

sounds like your locker is working just fine and your axle has been snapped for a little bit and finally came loose.

This is what I'm thinking as well. It's been busted for a while and when your locker "stopped working" it was actually this snapped axle. If so I'm suprised it didn't fly off sooner.

 

[MStudt]

That's why I THINK and I am probably wrong but that side to side body roll that was previously mentioned put a lot of stress into my rear passenger axle.

Anything else you guys recommend fixing while im working on the rear of the vehicle?

I doubt this is the issue. That's only going to provide minimum stress, and nothing that I would ever worry about happening (even with a crappy Dana 35).

That's the shear spot on those axles. I've seen a couple brake in that exact spot in the past, but it's been a couple years. If you were to pull out the other side you'll see a blueish looking ring around the shaft. That ring will be in the exact location where your other side broke.

I still can't tell you why it happens though.

 

[nevada]

I doubt this is the issue. That's only going to provide minimum stress, and nothing that I would ever worry about happening (even with a crappy Dana 35).

That's the shear spot on those axles. I've seen a couple brake in that exact spot in the past, but it's been a couple years. If you were to pull out the other side you'll see a blueish looking ring around the shaft. That ring will be in the exact location where your other side broke.

I still can't tell you why it happens though.

his picture shows it broke out by the tire, not in by the differential.

 

[MStudt]

his picture shows it broke out by the tire, not in by the differential.

I'm an idiot.

 

[Doc2012]

his picture shows it broke out by the tire, not in by the differential.

Never mind. I made the same mistake [MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION] made.

We're both idiots. Lol.

 

[02SE]

your axle has been snapped for a little bit and finally came loose.

No, it's semi-floating axle. As soon as the axle shaft broke all the way through, everything past the break on the wheel end departed.

 

[Mynameistommy510]

No, it's semi-floating axle. As soon as the axle shaft broke all the way through, everything past the break on the wheel end departed.

I'm guessing something did bind on that side of the differential and the shaft snapped at that weak point.
I'm willing to bet opening up your differential will reveal the answer.

 

[RunnerLimited]

I'm guessing something did bind on that side of the differential and the shaft snapped at that weak point.
I'm willing to bet opening up your differential will reveal the answer.

So what should I be looking for when I fix it?
the differentital, locker? or can I fix the axle and get it back on the road for now without checking the differential?