Did I ruin my axle?

alexap

alexap

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Joined
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Chicago
Hello folks!


I'm so mad on myself right now and I would really appreciate your help.

So u-joints on my front axle were completely frozen and rusted.
I pulled right side out, cleaned it up a little bit and after a lot of smashing I was able to pull old u-joints out.
However, looks like all that hammering completely deformed openings where u-joints caps should go in.
I can't fit caps in any openings... is there anything I could do or this thing is toast?

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alexap said:
Hello folks!


I'm so mad on myself right now and I would really appreciate your help.

So u-joints on my front axle were completely frozen and rusted.
I pulled right side out, cleaned it up a little bit and after a lot of smashing I was able to pull old u-joints out.
However, looks like all that hammering completely deformed openings where u-joints caps should go in.
I can't fit caps in any openings... is there anything I could do or this thing is toast?

View attachment 146397

View attachment 146398

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Click to expand...
Toast comes in varied shades from straw to black. Depending on your particular tastes, you may consider golden brown good, or just shy of black to be perfectly suitable. I like mine a nice toasty golden brown so if your shafts belonged to me, they would be about the darkest shade of black possible and therefore inedible. But I'm kinda picky that way and given that I have several sets of good stock replacements sitting in the corner, I can afford to be.
 
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ive gotten away with cleaning up a fudge or two with a rat tail file carefully. the trick is to clean up the burrs and deformations without removing the good area around it. take your time, looks like a minor issue. a mere learning lesson.

if you really want to get really technical you could assume they arent perfectly round anymore and may put a minuscule tad bit more load on the needle bearings in the new u joint caps depending where the deformation is which could mean you'd lose a tad bit of life out of it... but i wouldnt make a big deal of it myself. id clean it up, press the new caps in and be done with it.

or you could buy a replacement.
 
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You definitely did a number on those. Take a file and file down all the burs. Take dine sandpaper and clean up these rust inside where the caps go. Once you get it back together make sure the joints move freely. I have a feeling the ears might be a little tweaked
 
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Ct_tj said:
You definitely did a number on those. Take a file and file down all the burs. Take dine sandpaper and clean up these rust inside where the caps go. Once you get it back together make sure the joints move freely. I have a feeling the ears might be a little tweaked
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right, ears are definitely tweaked.

Actually, whole things looks completely deformed.
Ugh!
Thanks fellas!
 
I would try to clean up the burs the best you can to at least get the joint back in, and go from there. A few smacks with hammer might get those ears back to an appropriate angle. No way to know until you try to put it together. U joints are cheap enough, and it if doesnt work then new axles come with the joints anyways
 
Aren’t the ears already the wink point with out being beat on?

Wouldn’t that just make it worst?
 
Not worth the effort of fixing them IMHO.

The only clean way to make sure you have perfect cylindrical openings would be to mount in onto a CNC mill, locate center and program it to carefully reshape, but... the condition of them is so bad it is not worth it at all.
 
If this is just a farm vehicle then lightly remove the burs with a dremel. Then see how out of round they are. If the new caps can't be installed then perhaps a love tap or two may help.

On the other hand, if you are planning on driving that thing on the paved roads then replace them. No file or dremel will make them "safe" to be spinning a tire on any highway I want to be on.
 
Based on what I see, you should pay someone to install the new u joints in the new front axels you are about to purchase. Your little tirade on your axel yokes cost you a bit more then budgeted it looks like. You might get lucky and find some used axels but inspect them very carefully for twisted ends, bowed shafts, and spline damage.
 
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