Topic: SoCalXTerry Build

[Toro]

Decided to finish her off today.

SoCalXTerry Build

getting good at pulling chunks out of diffs.

[SoCalXTerry]

Well I guess two for two....    Is that supposed to be a good average??

[SoCalXTerry]

Well Dan as you said we should be getting good at this by now.

[SoCalXTerry]

Maybe I should 'spain the happenings of last Saturday.

Well Danny, his son Matt and I ran up to San Gabriel OHV Area just to "mildly" exercise my X in anticipation of other things to come.

Things went great on the way up there.   Tried out my new Ham radio  

Got there, paid our fee, aired down, and headed out.  Well first obstacle, Danny made it with some effort, so of course I had to try it too.   I started up this maybe 20' dirt/rock hill.  Almost to the top I got hung up between two rocks and tried to apply a little power to get over.   When all of sudden, the instantaneously recognizable horrifying PING from the Drivers front side.   Yes I had just broken the half shaft on the drivers side (Passenger side was taken care of by Superstition mountain).   Well that ended my day immediately.

So OFCOURSE Danny says I got a spare half shaft lets run over to my place and replace it.   Well I limped over to Danny's house hearing all kinds of strange sounds coming from my front end.  And in 15 minutes the left front was off the ground and what was left of the half shaft out.   At least we were equipped this time(Unlike the first time) I had packed a drill bit, the right sized die and a grade 8 bolt for extraction.   And thanks to Danny and his Slide Hammer we got the broken piece out of the diff (See photograph above).   After getting the thing out, if you looked closely at the stub you can see two major cracks in the axle and I think that I actually broke both half shafts at Superstion Mountain.  The drivers side just didn't break completely.   That answers both the questions of two cracks and why did it break so easily today.  

Well now the learning point.   If you break the halfshaft like this and drive the rig someplace, plan on destroying the axle seal in the diff.  Now the punchline, Nissan and Ebay are the only source of these seals (Left pn: 38342-EA000 and Right pn: 40227-EA00).  

So our options where:
  1.  Try to find the parts locally.   No way..
  2:  When I had broken the Passenger side axle, I had ordered both seals just for insurance (Why? don't know) but it was at my house 40 miles away.
  3:  Stick a rag in the diff hole, put the thing back together sans axle limp it home and repair it there.

Well again, thanks to Danny, he offered up his DD (I wouldn't let me drive his X either )  and I drove home picked up my extra seal and extra Half shaft.   And 20 minutes after I returned we had this thing back together good as new.

Moral of this story:
If you are going to do anything like this carry tools and spare parts or be with a buddy that does  
Anybody know where I can pick up some used OEM R180 half shafts?  Of all the people I appear to be the person most in need spares

Bottom line:  I would like to thank Toro/Danny for everything he did for me.

SoCalXTerry Build

[SD_Frontier]

I sent you a PM a few days ago about my R180 half shafts. Lemme know.

[dan826]

For a minute there I thought the half-shafts I sold you were bad or something. I'm definitely gonna by a pair of half shafts to take to Moab. At $40/piece from rockauto it seems like good insurance. I even have a set of extra seals that I never used when doing the t-swap.

So can you drive without your half-axles on? Does it put any strain on the wheel hubs or bearings?

[Toro]

So can you drive without your half-axles on? Does it put any strain on the wheel hubs or bearings?

You can drive with out the axels. You do need to somehow plug the hole left on your diff though. The wheel bearings are bolted to the hub but the inner race is pressed into the outer housing. Things should be fine but there is an off, and very unlikly, chance those can come apart and find yourself in deep soy sauce.
 

[SoCalXTerry]

For a minute there I thought the half-shafts I sold you were bad or something. I'm definitely gonna by a pair of half shafts to take to Moab. At $40/piece from rockauto it seems like good insurance. I even have a set of extra seals that I never used when doing the t-swap.

So can you drive without your half-axles on? Does it put any strain on the wheel hubs or bearings?

No Dan it was your half shafts that saved me the first time and let Danny keep his spare the second time.   Thanks again for that.  

I don't know I just have a real problem (quality-wise) with a $40 probably re-build half-shaft.

BTW, when are you planning on getting to Moab in May?

[dan826]

No Dan it was your half shafts that saved me the first time and let Danny keep his spare the second time.   Thanks again for that.  

I don't know I just have a real problem (quality-wise) with a $40 probably re-build half-shaft.

BTW, when are you planning on getting to Moab in May?

I'm going to stop in Vegas Saturday night and hopefully make in time for the meet and greet on Sunday.

A lot of people on the forums using the Cardone Select half-shafts on their titan swap. The Cardone Selects are new, not remanned. Haven't heard too many complaints yet, but don't know how hard people have been wheelin' them. With the real thing form Nissan costing anywhere from $400-$500  a piece I can afford to have a few spares and pray for the best.

[SoCalXTerry]

I agree completely.

[RockinX]

Maybe I should 'spain the happenings of last Saturday.

Thanks for explaining what was up with the picture Terry.  When I first saw it, I looked as closely as I could at it, but still ended up wondering what I was looking at.  I mean, I know I was looking at a diff that had been opened up.  And I tried to see if there was anything in there that didn't look like it belonged.  But I hadn't a clue what it was suppose to look like.  I decided you must have opened it up again just to look around to make sure there weren't any other stray pieces floating around.  Too bad it turned out not to be as simple as that.

Nice job Danny helping out yet again!  It should be a while before you have to buy your own beer again from all the help you have given/offered everyone.

[Ghost65]

Interesting that both half axles broke on the diff side. 

I'll be curious to see how durable the new set is, and hopefully this is just a case of weak inner half axle stubs...not a recurring issue of the AOE 6" drop bracket install.

Danny...nice job helping out. 

[SoCalXTerry]

Interesting that both half axles broke on the diff side. 

I'll be curious to see how durable the new set is, and hopefully this is just a case of weak inner half axle stubs...not a recurring issue of the AOE 6" drop bracket install.

Danny...nice job helping out. 

Well I am alleging that I "broke" both sides at Superstition Mountain  The driver's side axle while having a major crack didn't spin and break completely.

I also am praying that this NOT an issue with the suspension lift.  I don't think so because the axles are not at any funny angle relative to a non suspension lifted truck.   

But who knows maybe I need to get a trailer to carry along all my spare parts  and tools (Actually already set to be able to swap an axle in the field if I absolutely need to).

[SoCalXTerry]

Well todays update on the continuing saga of SoCalXTerry Build.   Well I spent a good part of the day at Deaver Suspension in Santa Ana.

They took these out:



You will notice only 4 leafs and the fourth is broken.   The other side was just as bent just not broken

And replaced with these:

Please note 10 leafs!!!!!   Now that is a spring  


This cured my spring wrap and vibration problems that I was experiencing.

So I am happy.  I think I am done replacing/fixing just about everything AOE did.

[SoCalXTerry]

Well I'm nearly off for GoneMOAB....    

Couple of teasers from last year...   Any takers?