Bad day plowing

dr deuce · Post by **dr deuce** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:16 pm

I figured that this would happen sooner or later.

Today I was plowing with the 42 Chev 4x4 with the 9 ft front plow and 7 ft side wing. We had almost a foot of snow last night. I was almost all done with my driveway, the driveway across the street and the large area in front of the POD (Pembroke Ordnance Depot) when backing up, it seemed to have a hard time. I took it out of 4WD and let the clutch out: nothing. I got out, looked underneath and the rear driveshaft was turning

YUP, I broke a rear axle (or sumpin else) inside the rear end. I do try to be very careful with the axles plowing and all. I only plow in high range 1st gear. Nice and slow.

Unfortunately, the Chevys were known for breaking axles, both civy and mil. I have spares, but to do it right, you need to take the whole carrier assy out to inspect and clean it of "parts" that could cause serious damage to the gears, etc.

The last (and only other) axle I have ever broken was on my 1946 Civy chev dump truck with the 2 speed rear end. At least that one was in the summer....

dr deuce · Post by **dr deuce** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:57 pm

A Dah moment hit me this am.

When I broke the axle with the 2 speed rear end, I had to remove the carrier because the gear stub would not pass by the bearing mounts. I had to pull it forward so that I could pull it out of the center section of the housing. I tried to pull it out thru the spindle, but as it broke, it flared a bit and was too big to fit thru the spindle either.

If I remove the rear cover, and can get the stub (if present) and any parts out with a magnet, I should be OK. That is a lot easier than taking the carrier out! Unless I have to....

dr deuce · Post by **dr deuce** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:57 pm

B E W A R E

If someone tells you that you can push a broken axle stub out of a banjo axle with a broom handle, it may cost you $7.49 (cost of a broom handle)

If it sounds too good (or simple) to be true, it probably is...

I took my dumptruck rear cover off this PM. The ring is really bad. It has to be replaced.

The broken axle would not come out w/o prying with a bar. Attempting to push the stub out from the other side resulted in a damaged broom handle AND the stub still in there!

I was going to buy a piece of 3/4" solid steel rod to push it out, but decided that was a waste of $$ as I was going to replace the whole gear carrier housing with another one.

The regular corporate axle internals are so different from the 2 speed, that what I had dome before would not be possible with this one.