OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

Today as I was driving my 97 3500 CTD box truck down the highway I felt the rearend start shaking similar to a bad u-joint. I tried to nurse it home when it started acting like no power was getting to the rearend. When I looked in my rear view mirror my driver's side rear dual wheels were sticking out about 2 feet farther than normal. I managed to get it off the road safely and it did not come completely out. When the wrecker got there we were able to slide the wheels back where they belong once the weight was off of it. It was towed to the shop and they will look at it tomorrow. Anyone have any idea what I may be looking at here? The only issues I have had with the rearend is a clicking noise when in reverse or at low speeds while making a turn. I was advised it was probably the clutches for the limited slip differential going bad. Have never had any unusual groans or noises while at highway speed. Granted the truck has 523,000 miles on it but it runs so darn good I hate to part ways with it. It is starting to become a money pit though with front end issues (wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rods, track bar) and now this. No payment on truck itself but still paying on new auto transmission from last year. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated. Mechanics see me coming from a mile away.
Thanks

kawi600

sounds like the c-clip that holds the axle shaft in the differential popped out, or the axle sheared.
Id say its a given youll need an axle shaft for that side, a new clip and probably a new oil seal and the outer axle bearing.
Its something you could probably manage yourself if youre decent with this stuff. At least enough to replace the easy stuff and see if anything else is toast before you hit up a driveline specialist or somethin pricey.

If you got all that front end stuff sorted, youve got most of the common stuff fixed. Best bet the next time these parts need replacing is a thuren trackbar, a solidsteel.biz steering stabilizer to keep the shaft from wiggling in the steering gearbox and lukes links on the tierod ends. Those balljoints should last awhile, but the transmission will probably go every couple years until you get a performance trans like goerends or DTT.

Mcmopar

No "C" clip on these rearends!!! There are two big "nuts" with a "lock" depending on the year, if the "lock" fell out it could happen. Pull the axle shaft, and underneath it you will see the lock, and nut.

bmoeller

No C-clips on full floating axles. Only way for that to happen would be if the retaining nut/nuts would come off, the bearings failed, or the axle broke.

CrazyCooter

I wouldn't be surprised if the housing is damaged beyond repair.

Hopefully you will get lucky.

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

Does this mean an entire new rear end???

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

If you are driving down the road and the rear wheels from your own vehicle go rolling past you......you might just be a REDNECK

Chass

Probably not. I've seen Jeep axles ride like that with a missing C clip for a long time. You may have some damage to the shaft but it may actually be ok because there isn't a lot of leverage all the way inside the axle.

My bet is you need new retainer hardware but the axle and housing are fine. Thats best case. Worst case is you need a housing and the axle from that side. In neither case will you need a whole new rear end.

Good luck with that!

Chass
ct

v8440

There is no c clip in these rearends. That's dumb s*** reserved for small axles. If the axle breaks, what you described will not happen. The axles in these trucks are flange retained, meaning that the end of the axle bolts directly to the bearing housing. That means that the axleshaft inside of the housing can jump up and down, sing some Elvis songs, and break into 483,000 pieces, and the wheel/tire combo will stay bolted firmly to the truck.

Like others have said, there is a large nut that holds the bearing housing onto the end of the axle tube. The end of the tube is simply threaded. This nut is prevented from turning by a clip (it may be two clips per side, I can't remember). Most likely, your clip bent or was missing. The direction of rotation on the driver's side going forward will try to unscrew the nut, which is apparently what happened. Once that nut unscrews, the bearing housing is free to part company with the axle tube. Only THEN, the bearing housing, axle, and wheel/tire combo can finally exit the area.

If I'm not mistaken, having the bearing start to seize could encourage this to happen. It would probably have to be pretty bad before it actually spun the nut and bent the clip(s) out of the way. I don't know what condition to expect your housing to be in-it might be ok, it might be damaged but repairable, or it might be toast. I suspect it will be one of the first two.

Those clips are available at the dealership, for not much money. I forget what I paid, but it was under $10 for a couple of them when I was digging around in the rear axle of my dually.

1-2-3

483,000 pieces? Where'd you get that number. I've seen as many as 546,000 peices and still be ok.

Seriously, what you saw was your entire assembly intact, so it can only mean as stated, the retaining nut gave way to fate and let the whole assembly get wide on you. The six or so bolts on the axle flange were still intact, which there's only two ways to take an axle out. One by removing those bolts, and two, by the retainer nut failing without taking the flange bolts out. You can't even get to the retainer nut without removing the axle shaft.

I bet it was one heck of a sight in the mirror to see. Just wondering. During those 500+K miles, how many times was the fluid changed?

bek

I have the 2500 dana 70 floating axle. The clip broke apart and the nut spun off on the driver side.Bent the axle and took out the outer bearing. If you look at the driver side the force of the wheel will spin the nut counter clockwise loosening it Opposite the passenger side. Cleaned out the housing and ran a magnet down the tube to pickup filings. New bearings $60.00 per hub( did both) and an axle from the dealer $275.00. Saw them on E-bay later for 117.00, but I don't know your application. Hold on the nuts from the dealer were 30 a piece! Hope you did'nt ruin the threads on the outer tube, I had to recut the threads with the old nut then the new. You can get it back together if you're careful Look at this they have a refit kit for those nuts http://quad4x4.com/index.html. Good luck

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

In response to your fluid question......I don't know. Granted I was due for a change and it became one of those things that "Man, I really need to do that one of these days". I have been forking so much money into the front end suspension that I had put the rear on the back burner. I bought the truck at 306,000 from a Chrysler dealer who used it to deliver wholesale Mopar parts to area garages/body shops. I believe they did a good job on keeping up on the maintenance. When I bought it in March of 2003 I sent it to my mechanic for a thorough inspection before I put it in-service. I know they changed the fluid (with synthetic) then and put new rear brakes on and a wheel seal or two. I always kept an eye on the fluid level and the color still looked good but I thought it would be a good idea to do after 200,000+ miles.
Don't know if that would have prevented that or not.

OFFDUTYEXPEDITOR

Thanks for all the replies guys. Mechanic has still not had a chance to delve into it yet but I feel a bit better with this information.
Hopefully the tow bill will be the most expensive part of the bill.

LanceD

you can also buy an entire axle hub to hub for real cheap too used.

waldersha

Hey now, I may just resemble that remark. I had a rear tire pass me on a truck one time. That ride puts any roller coaster to shame, although I don't really recommend it.