Locker acting up after axle broke. Any advice?

#1 03-17-2003, 07:48 PM

You may have read in my other post here that I broke the driver's side rear axle shaft at the splines. After digging out the axle stub and cleaning & inspecting the 3rd member, we reassembled it and I was able to drive the 60-70 miles home on the highway without any problems.

However, it felt that my rear end was not acting normal. Come to find out once I got back off the highway and into town, that the passenger side of the locker is slipping. If I give it much torque during a right hand turn, the axle goes "pop pop pop" as it slips. I'm trying to figure out what exactly might be causing this one side of the locker to be slipping, but not the driver's side.

Could a shard of metal be wedged in there somewhere to cause the locker to not fully engage against the sidegear? Could the axle breaking in the driver's side sidegear cause something to go wrong on the passenger side of the diff?

Any ideas would sure be appreciated. I want to get an idea of what exactly to look for before I actually pull the diff apart, and if I need to buy a new locker ahead of time so that I don't have to keep assembling and disassembling this axle more times than is necessary.

Thanks in advance!

-- Geoff Beasley

#2 03-17-2003, 08:28 PM

Could it have cracked the side gear where the axle splines in?
JC

#3 03-17-2003, 09:25 PM

Did you completely disassemble clean and closely examine the carrier and locker? If not, do. Also examine
the axle housing very carefully. It could be bent. If it is it will cause this [img]images/graemlins/spank.gif[/img]

rollerskate · #4 03-17-2003, 11:09 PM

If you're running a Locrite or EZ locker there a chance the pins inside are broken.You'll have to disassemble the
3rd member to see.

#5 03-17-2003, 11:30 PM

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

I had a rear locker slip in the past due to a bent rear housing, and that's why I now have a trussed rear housing. I haven't double-checked it yet to see if by chance it actually has bent in spite of the trussing, but I'll do that in the daylight.

Supposedly the lockers that come with the coupler gears (to replace the sidegears) are more prone to succumbing to a bent housing than the lockers that use the factory sidegears, which is why when I replaced my bent housing with this new trussed one, I also installed a new locker that uses the factory sidegears.

Another thing to consider regarding the axle bending is that before I snapped the axle shaft and disassembled the rear end, the locker wasn't slipping. And I certainly didn't do anything to cause the housing to bed after that point. So I'm leaning more towards the possibility that a piece of metal slipped past my cleaning and flushing with carb cleaner and has somehow caused the locker to not fully engage. But given my knowledge of how the locker works, I can't picture how any piece of metal could cause the locker to not fully engage unless it's caught between the locker and the sidegear. But this would certainly get flushed out of there by the gear oil during a 70 mile freeway drive, wouldn't it?

I doubt that I could've broken the pins or springs in the locker, because when that happens, it turns the locker into a spool: it won't UNlock. This has happened to me in the past, so I'm familiar with how the locker behaves when the pins break.

Do any of you have any other thoughts, given this additional information? I appreciate your brainstorms, and I'll certainly let you know what the problem turns out to be when I do finally find out for sure what the problem is. I'm just trying to see if our collective minds might be able to pinpoint the source of the problem before I tear down the diff.

Thanks again! Additional info will be appreciated!

-- Geoff "Axle Snapper" Beasley

rockrat · #6 03-17-2003, 11:46 PM

I still would look at that housing I ran the 1510 lockrite which utilizes the stock side gears. and it sounded like what you describe. when mine got bent.

DougO · #7 03-18-2003, 12:35 AM

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I doubt that I could've broken the pins or springs in the locker, because when that happens, it turns the locker into a spool: it won't UNlock. This has happened to me in the past, so I'm familiar with how the locker behaves when the pins break.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not in my case [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I'd recheck the pins(though it was my front)

Sarge · #8 03-18-2003, 12:46 AM

Geoff,
You said you had it apart for cleaning . Is there a chance you put the center block in upside down? If so , it can change the load from one side to another , since the center is off and will put more pressure on one side . Remeber , most folks that have problems with lockers is due to the centering block being loaded more to one side . Just a thought,
Sarge

Nowhere · #9 03-18-2003, 01:31 AM

I remember seeing the note in the install manual on the center block, don't remember what it said though. Are your tires in GOOD shape and very even as far as height were to go? I've got one side on my samurai low and the other high, my locker is freaking out. I need to get the bead on that tire resealed
Was there any other metal schrapnel in the rear axle housing when you removed the broken axle stub?

#10 03-18-2003, 10:58 AM

Thanks for the additional thoughts on this....

We didn't disassemble the differential, so we couldn't have screwed up anything with the center block. I'm still leaning towards the possibility that there's some metal still in there.

When I pull the pumpkin out, I'll disassemble it and check those pins and make sure everything looks good and operates properly. And before I do that, I will double-check that I haven't bent my rear housing. Also, I'm not the one who aired my tires back up so it's possible that one has more air than the other. I'll go double-check that too.

Thanks for the help guys! [img]images/graemlins/40BEER.gif[/img]

-- Geoff Beasley