I haven't been able to use my pickup since the wheels quit turning when the engine does. I suspected what was wrong, and set out to find out if I was right.
The Dodge shop manual said I should use this puller to remove the axle shaft. Yeah, right. I'll just run down to Auto Zone and pick one up.
So I made my own puller, mostly from scraps on hand.
And it pulled out the shaft and bearing as intended.
My suspicion about what was wrong was correct. Now the question is whether I can get the broken-off end of the shaft out without major mechanical surgery. All I can think of is a really strong magnet. Any ideas where I can find one that will fit into the housing and has enough magnetic force to pull out the stump?
If it were my project, absolutely NOTHING on heaven or earth would allow it to come out but once completely disassembled the hard way it would likely then fall out and hit me on the foot, hand, or knuckle. Once had a clutch disc frozen to a pressure plate in my 1967 Corvette. NOTHING would budge it loose. Nine guys rocking the car back and forth - the disc seemed like it was welded to the pressure plate. After pulling the rear jack shafts, transmission, and every possible thing that prevented the pressure plate from being removed, I finally was able to get the pressure plate unbolted from the flywheel with the disc stuck solidly to the flywheel. I crawled under the car (up on jack stands) and was ready to do battle with the disc when a bumped it with my elbow and it fell down and split my lip. You could have bought that '67 sting ray on the spot for about $5 that day. Most unreliable car I ever owned. It had a built in GPS sensor of sorts and knew exactly when I was 50 miles from NoPlace, New Mexico and that is when it would break something. Have to admit that it did come in handy when quail hunting for 2 legged wingless quail but otherwise a POS.
Isn't there a gear on the end of that piece of shaft? How will that fit through the tube? Why not just pull the cover?
LOL... John, my 71 rag top was the same.
You might try a wire noose using some wire thru a 1/4 pipe. Some thing like a animal handler would use to snare a snake or a mean dog.
I have helped remove broken shafts form large truck rear ends by removing the opposite axle and using two broomsticks, one from each side, holding pressure on the stub with both sticks while pushing it out into the axle tube. This only works if you can see the stub through the center like on a Model T. Most smaller rear ends have a spider gear shaft that passes between the ends of the axles.
I have also seen some old timers push the axle back in and attach the arc welder leads to it causing the axle to weld to the broken stub. If you get it to stick to the piece, you may be able to pull it out.
With my luck, either way I would drop the piece before I got it into the tube.
Steve, does your rear axle have a removable center section (pumpkin)? If it does, pull out the other axle shaft, then remove the pumpkin. Once the pumpkin is on the bench, you should be able to knock the broken axle stub out from the good axle side.
For a source of parts or further repair advice, I recommend checking on www.allpar.com, or ask Richard Ehrenberg at Mopar Action magazine for advice, here is a link to his questionaire form:
http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/questions/Street_form.html
Richard is a highly regarded Mopar guru and has always answered my questions promptly.
Here is a fairly active forum for Mopar flathead trucks from those years: http://p15-d24.com/forum/6-mopar-flathead-truck-forum/
Jeff, So with one lead on the axle and the other lead Where? Would it not carry current thru the bearings and pit the races? If I was going to sell it that would work. Scott
My dad allways used a wire noose. He got purdy good at it when he was young as he drag raced anything that would move and he broke alot of axles.
Scott, if the current flowed through the bearings, I agree that it could cause pitting. It could cause some pits in the gears too. As I recall, one lead was on the broken axle, and the other was on the opposite axle so that the current flowed through the axles, spider gears, and carrier, a path where there are usually no bearings.
When I saw this done, it was late one afternoon when a truck was towed in with a broken axle. We happened to have an axle in stock, so we were going to stay late and get it done. One of the old timers said "I'll show you how to do it, and we can still go home on time." We were all surprised when he did it!
Here is something I found on the internet which sounds a little cleaner and easier. You could probably do this with a good hot car battery too:
One of the lesser known tricks of removing a broken axle-end that was still in the diff was to have a piece of round rod 1/2" encased in a length of garden hose, with about 1/2" of rod exposed at the end and enough at the other end to go into an arc welder, feed the insulated rod down the offending axle tube strike an arc, hopefully it will grab the axle and then it can be withdrawn, this was used very successfully at one Leyland dealership in the 60s---80s
Here's another:
When we used to twist off axles on the race car, I would use an arc welder and rod to remove the stub. Just touch the electrode to the stub and let the rod stick to it. Release the rod holder and pull on the welding rod. In my case, the broken stub always pulled out with the rod.
Steve's break looks pretty clean, with no shattering and so no lost little pieces, if he can get the stub out. Of course, the safest way would be to pull the cover, or dropout and clean and check everything, but just removing the stub and flushing the oil would probably work just fine.
As is often said here, "Your mileage may vary."
Steve, looks like your truck has one of the old Houdaille axles with adjustable Timken wheel bearings. If so, the two axles butt together at their inner ends and are splined. The broken end in your pic seems to show the beginning of these splines. If it is this type just pull the axle from the other side and use a piece of 1/2 or 3/4 inch pipe (even pvc might work) and knock the stub right out.
One of the axles will be fixed and the other (right, I think) adjustable. When you reinstall the axles make the fixed one secure first, then install the adjustable one with the adjustment backed off somewhat. When everything is secure then use the adjustment to set the clearance of the two opposing tapered bearings. I don't know the specification for this but just a few thousandths should be good.
I hope this helps. Good luck. Bob
Steve, I like the idea of the noose, but my question for you is between the center section and the outer bearing how/what is the distance of the break from the outside bearing? If very close to the center section, I'd pull the other axle and remove the center section to deal with it. If in the center some where I'd say noose time.
I just relooked at the picture and it lookes like ith is right at where the axle goes into the center section, so if it has a cover on the back time to remove it, if the center section comes out it's time to do that. You will need an axle at the very least.
If the axles butt together as Bob suggests, then the two broomsticks will work. Pull the other axle, slide a broom handle in each side, and with someone else helping, keep pressure on the stub while sliding it out. Don't let off on the pressure or you will drop the stub into the housing.
The noose might work if the stub protrudes from the carrier and you can grab it, but it appears to be broken right at the carrier.
Update: Looks like #33 and #34 will rule out pushing from the other side. I think Jeff's right about the shaft being broken at the carrier. I don't like the looks of the oil in this thing, so I think I'll open it up to remove the stub and maybe clean out any little chunks while I'm at it.
Sounds like a good plan. Have you found a source for replacement axles? I have a Mopar interchange book, but it only covers 1968-1974.
I'd sure take a close look at the splines of the unbroken axle before I put it back in, if you can get a pair of replacement axles you might want to replace them both.
If your axle tubes have an inner oil seal, here's a trick to keep from cutting the seal when you slide the axles in and out - roll up some paper into a tube and stick it into the seal to act as a shield between the axle splines and the seal when you slide the axles in or out. Once the splines have cleared the seal, pull the paper out.