broken front axle ?s

JUICED COUPE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Location
Belmont
Ok here is the deal. Im not very familiar with the internals on a dana 30. But I broke the front driverside inner and outer axle shafts at the universal on my jeep last night. I got stuck and it was hopping a little bit and it broke. I drove it like a mile back to my buddys house like this. What else did I tear up? Do you guys think there is anything else inside that could have messed up? Thanks in advance.
 
Easy fix as soon as you get a new set of axles. It can be changed in about 30 min. Sound's like you just broke the universal joint, maybe the ears? Anyway, pull wheel/caliper and get a 16py 13mm socket and take the three bolts out of the back of the knuckle. Remove the large axle nut, 23mm I believe, and use a slide hammer or chain/sledge to remove the unit bearing. Once you've done that, you can remove the axle and insert the new. May sound complicated, but I have had to do it on the trail before,
 
Time to hit the junkyard and get some spare shafts. I got a complete D30 for $65. If you buy a complete axle at the junkyard, you'll have spare unit bearings, shafts, gear set and housing.
 
John where did you find one for that price. I looked at pullaparts website and it looks like there like 165 from there. I thought that was crazy.
 
all you need is the new axles. Prob won't even need fluid if you're careful and quick.
 
yup, don't even have to pull the cover off the diff. get the parts and contact me and maybe i can swing by and help. I've broken so many of those I can change it in my sleep
 
untchabl said:
From what I was told, all the D30's in XJ's are the same except the vaccum-disco ones.
Click to expand...

Yes and no.

Spline count is the same across years (vac disco years included). The obvious difference in disco axles is the 2piece long side axle shaft and shi(f)t motor.

Somewhere around 94-5 the u-joint size gets bigger (from 260 to 297/760). Depends on ABS or not, etc.

If you're looking for pull-a-part spares, shoot for 96+ and hook them up with some 5-760 u-joints. That's the strongest stock setup available.

Oh, and definitely examine for other damage. I broke the short side shaft and took out some spider teeth and one tooth on the ring gear.
 
Yes both shafts broke at the ujoint. Im not sure if the ujoint failed and the shafts broke while I had it in 4wd or how or when they actually broke but both are broke.
 
Stay away from CV, it is even weaker than a U-joint.
 
good to hear!! Where did you get your new shafts??
 
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