bent axle shaft flange

J

jkjeepit

New member
So here's the story.. I wheel my jeep fairly hard but not extreme.. and I go out often to an area close by called the Rio Puerco, which gives you mild to wild,,,,
been to moab twice nothing really hard.. and a lot of trips to Colorado and a few trips to Arizona.. which are all on the easy to moderate ratings... more of the scenic trails then difficult....
But then there's rock crawling.... which I would say is a totally different animal. other then some rock stuff here and there on the normal trials I have done three trails that are constant rock crawling, two times on a trail north of Albuquerque (just outside of Santa Fe) called Tank trap, (now closed) which I did twice early and middle of last year, and once to a trail south of Albuquerque called Gordy's Hill.
these trail had a lot of rocks and where rated as difficult with a minimum (or ideal min) requirements of I would say 33's and 2" lift with skid plates. Good driving and spotting would be required with anything less.... IMO
So after Gordy's Hill driving back on I-25 I hear a squeaking sound which goes away after maybe 10-15 miles.... at least so I thought.. it returns only when breaking and turning towards the left..... I can not say I know when this happened... other then it appeared after Gordy's Hill, (and we didn't even do the so called hard stuff,, 34-35's needed)

It's being repaired under warranty, I got lucky
although I believe I will be upgrading to Chromoly as soon as I can and keep the OEM ones for spares.

here's is the video of my problem.....

 
Yup, if you play hard, bending a semi-float flange is easy to do and pretty common. Having said that, a chromoly shaft won't prevent it from happening again. The only thing that will do that is a full-float rear axle.
 
bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

I just replaced my shafts. I had a bent flange that looked like your video. It's not usually the shaft itself that bends. The axle flange that your wheel attaches to is the weak spot.
 
wayoflife said:
Yup, if you play hard, bending a semi-float flange is easy to do and pretty common. Having said that, a chromoly shaft won't prevent it from happening again. The only thing that will do that is a full-float rear axle.
Click to expand...

although a Chromoly one has to be a lot stronger, at least that's what research is showing.. but hey my experience is limited...

:beer:
 
bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

jkjeepit said:
although a Chromoly one has to be a lot stronger, at least that's what research is showing.. but hey my experience is limited...

:beer:
Click to expand...

The shaft is stronger but not the flange.
 
Re: bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

My driver side flange bent as well. Its seems to be very common. I upgraded to some foote chromos.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

It had my stock shafts in for 75,000 miles while running 35" / 37" tires with heavy bead locks.
 
biggy said:
My driver side flange bent as well. Its seems to be very common. I upgraded to some foote chromos.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

Upgrading to chromoly is a good idea if only because they are cheaper than an OE replacement. Yes, they are stronger in the shaft but, if you play hard enough, you can and will still bend a flange. It's just the nature of the beast when dealing with a semi-float shaft as it not only has to turn your wheels - it has to support the weight of your Jeep as well.
 
wayoflife said:
Upgrading to chromoly is a good idea if only because they are cheaper than an OE replacement. Yes, they are stronger in the shaft but, if you play hard enough, you can and will still bend a flange. It's just the nature of the beast when dealing with a semi-float shaft as it not only has to turn your wheels - it has to support the weight of your Jeep as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys for educating me (us)..
that all makes sense..
I hope to find out which part of the shaft failed... it really appears it will have been the flange.

I appreciate the input... :thumb:

:beer:
 
jkjeepit said:
Thanks guys for educating me (us)..
that all makes sense..
I hope to find out which part of the shaft failed... it really appears it will have been the flange.

I appreciate the input... :thumb:

:beer:
Click to expand...

There's no question that it's your flange.
 
Re: bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

wayoflife said:
Upgrading to chromoly is a good idea if only because they are cheaper than an OE replacement. Yes, they are stronger in the shaft but, if you play hard enough, you can and will still bend a flange. It's just the nature of the beast when dealing with a semi-float shaft as it not only has to turn your wheels - it has to support the weight of your Jeep as well.
Click to expand...

The are cheaper to buy for sure. I bought both foote shafts for the price of one side from the dealer and that was with everything pressed on ready to go.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Re: bent axle shaft- I bet it's fairly common

I know most shafts have a warranty against breakage. I wonder if that includes bent flanges.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
wayoflife said:
Upgrading to chromoly is a good idea if only because they are cheaper than an OE replacement. Yes, they are stronger in the shaft but, if you play hard enough, you can and will still bend a flange. It's just the nature of the beast when dealing with a semi-float shaft as it not only has to turn your wheels - it has to support the weight of your Jeep as well.
Click to expand...

What would a better alternative be and is this more prone to the D30 and or D44? :thinking:
 
biggy said:
I know most shafts have a warranty against breakage. I wonder if that includes bent flanges.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

It should but, if you have to go through the vendor who sold it to you to make it happen, it can be a real pain. Honey Badger can tell you all about it.
 
gtony12 said:
What would a better alternative be and is this more prone to the D30 and or D44? :thinking:
Click to expand...

You only have semi-float shafts in your rear axle. Having said that, it takes a lot of wheeling and hard wheeling at that to bend a flange. Most people go thousands of miles on their Jeeps and never bend a flange and some will bend on in a single trip. The bigger and heavier your Jeep is, the more likely you will be to bend one. The only way to really prevent this from happening is to run a full-float axle like a ProRock 60 but for most, that is way out of their price range.
 
wayoflife said:
You only have semi-float shafts in your rear axle. Having said that, it takes a lot of wheeling and hard wheeling at that to bend a flange. Most people go thousands of miles on their Jeeps and never bend a flange and some will bend on in a single trip. The bigger and heavier your Jeep is, the more likely you will be to bend one. The only way to really prevent this from happening is to run a full-float axle like a ProRock 60 but for most, that is way out of their price range.
Click to expand...

Thank you

Eddie, Have you ever thought of working for JEEP and being there #1 adviser. Jeep quality would go thru the roof.....:thumb::yup:
 
gtony12 said:
Thank you

Eddie, Have you ever thought of working for JEEP and being there #1 adviser. Jeep quality would go thru the roof.....:thumb::yup:
Click to expand...

But then there wouldn't be time for wheelin, no wheelin... No no movies and then what do we have to watch while we are at work...
 
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