ATTENTION: Inspect Your Front Axle Housing!!
07-18-2010, 03:23 PM
#11
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I stare into the Crystal Ball of other peoples breaks and think to myself....good grief, that's not so good.
Sorry to hear about your break Blazer4949.
Sorry to hear about your break Blazer4949.
07-18-2010, 03:39 PM
#13
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If the Axle Housings (and other parts) are made out of Chinese steel then that could be a cause of failure. Its suspected that the Chinese dont hold up to our ASTM standards and there for might be weaker (I guess you get what you pay for) 
Nothing beats American Made
Nothing beats American Made
07-18-2010, 03:42 PM
#14
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if you wheel your Jeep hard, do yourself a favor and have a set of sleeves like the kind that Off Road Evolution makes installed as soon as you can afford it. Heck, if you can afford it, I would recommend that you just upgrade to a ProRock 44. If you have a Rubicon, all you need is the housing as everything else from your factory axle can be swapped into it.
Im not even bothering upgrading the D30, just going to save the pennies and go straight to a Prorock 44 and hopefully save myself the headache. I can be patient till then.
07-18-2010, 03:45 PM
#15
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You ain't kidding. If you think about it, the point where the break occurs is the same point where the upper and lower control arm mounts are welded on as well as the track bar and steering stabilzer mounts. If the stress from the control arms and track bar aren't enough to tear at that point, I have to wonder if maybe all the welding that is done in that area somehow changes the properties of the steel.
(rant) everything is recycled these days, and unless it is virgin steel you cant be sure it is the "true" alloy. I have see A36 that was tested, and had a small section of the larger plate that was very hard and had too much carbon it in!
I am thinking of welding on a brace and not putting in a sleeve. That way if your axle is bent you can weld it on and stop any further stress from the outside.
07-18-2010, 03:53 PM
#16
There is one way to tell for sure if it was was an instant catastrophic break or a break from a crack that traveled. If there is any corrosion, or dirt/oil contaminates along the cracked surface that suddenly stops, then the crack has been there "working" it's way across the metal.
It's hard to tell from the photos but, it looks pretty even across the whole crack like there wasn't any corrosion or crack previously. But it's hard to tell without seeing it in person with good lighting.
It's hard to tell from the photos but, it looks pretty even across the whole crack like there wasn't any corrosion or crack previously. But it's hard to tell without seeing it in person with good lighting.
Last edited by owtcast; 07-18-2010 at 03:58 PM.
07-18-2010, 04:01 PM
#17
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Okay, I've talked to my friend that broke his axle housing running stock tires and he said that he noticed that the tube was tearing while on the trail but was able to get off before it completely tore apart. I haven't had a chance to talk to blazer4949 yet but, I suspect that's what happend to him as well as the last message I got from him was that he was able to get the housing welded and was able to get home okay.
07-18-2010, 04:18 PM
#19
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glad the Evo's are sitting in the closet ready for the next round of install.
Mel - you better start upping your sleeve production. You're about to sell a bunch.
Mel - you better start upping your sleeve production. You're about to sell a bunch.
07-18-2010, 04:30 PM
#20
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I did the EVO Sleeves and gussetts before I went to 35" tires and I just regared to 4.88 and lockers, I am very pleased with the results. The price for the parts was $239 for the sleeves and gussetts and $80 bucks for the RK lower control arm mounts which are competely enclosed made out of 1/4" steel. The labor was $420 to install everything, sleeves, gussetts and lower control arm mounts.