Using Chaffin's restoring guide, I'm working to over haul a rear axle that I got cheap. Just about everything inside needs to be replaced. Long story short, took the whole thing apart and found a crack in a place I had not read about before. One of the two differential gears has a crack that goes through the shoulder. The key doesn't look right in the keyway but the axle is shot anyway and will be replaced along with the gear. I wonder how cars have this problem and don't know it?
Another angle. The line on the vertical surface is a reflection.
I wonder how often that happens. I have seen a lot of axles and the axle gears were almost never worn are cracked.
I dont think anybody makes axle gears as they are pretty common.
Maybe I hadent been around much but havent seen any gears with worn teeh to be noticicable.
I guess I didnt look that close? But anything can happen.
I have taken apart many rear axles that were totally destroyed but I have never seen a cracked axle gear. In fact I have never seen one that was so badly worn that it could not be reused.
When we deal with nearly hundred year old well used machinery, there are probably a lot of unknown potentially serious bad parts running around. But that one? I had not yet seen, and I have been through a few T rear ends and parts.
This is why we need to try to be vigilant and carefully inspect parts when we have a reasonable opportunity to do so. On the other hand, I do not intend to worry too much about the "unknowns" inside. I sometimes play the odds, we all have to. Axles do break. Springs and perches do break. But considering the number of miles driven, they don't break very often. Crankshafts do break, a lot more often. But still not that much, considering.
Always drive defensively. Not only against the modern idiots, but also the unexpected failures. Keep those "outs" in mind. The place to duck into could save your life.
This is why I usually close;
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I had a new shaft that it was hell to get the gear into it , it bent the shaft with all the preasure that i had to use to get it on
and when i removed it [because the bent shaft] the axle was scraped and gouged ,the gear was torn up inside too.
I think the shaft was cut too thick
Best to measure the shaft before installing it
Don't know the size ...ill look it up next time
Maybe the gear was too tight of a fit on the axle or the key was the wrong size and it split the gear. The gear could have been damaged during a panic stop situation also.
Stephen