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Suspension Accident


kaze_v8

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So as some of you know I have my truck dropped 4/5, and after about three months of having her that way and abusing her, the stock axle gave out on one side.

It completely seemed to snap out of the casing it comes in. It gave me very minimal problems, but decided id do all the work all at once.

 

Some background info, I had the truck aligned right after dropping it, and was unable to perfectly align it by .01 degrees because the wheel bearings seemed to be going bad as well as a tie rod and such.

I was left with this task and was finally going to take care of it after the axles gave out.

 

So come sunday I decide to go to the auto parts store, ordered several parts but had to wait for them to come in. I start working on the truck as it took about 30 minutes to remove the axles, and shortly after I was gonna head back to the auto parts store to pick up the parts that were coming in. This then became the worst decision ever made.

I drove the truck with out front axles, trying to get a feel of what its like to do that, since I see a lot of guys run them without the front ones, as im about half a mile out of my neighborhood I sense a loud screeching. I pull over at the gas station and see the wheels are starting to "camber" inwards, so I do a u turn and head back home. Not even 30 feet driving like 10 miles an hour, the brakes give out, and the truck screeches about 30 more feet and it completely stops. I get off inspect it, and my brakes are completely gone, literally, and I notice the rotor was riding on the caliper.

This is where im confused, how on earth did I lose my inside break pads, also one of the wheel bearings completely crumbled, which is what I think caused the wheel to dent or camber inward.

 

What do you guys think went wrong? After this happen I was able to get the truck home but with all the raining I was unable to get back under her.

My hypothesis is, the bearings must have been gone, and the axles were probably the only thing holding it together, and after removing them, that's when everything came down.

Im just stuck, and at schock at this point.

 

Only pics I have for reference at the moment. I'll get more pictures tonight if the weather permits.

 

 

axle_zpslib6ryyi.jpg

 

sus_zpswkus8vu6.jpeg

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Man, why would you drive it without the axels?! Hopefully the front diff added enough resistance on the driveshaft to trick the transfer case into thinking the CVs were still installed, but I have my doubts. Seems like going low is such a PITA, anything lower than 2/2 seems like a little over kill to me. Anyway, you'll need CV axel spacers to help with the CV axels breaking. Sounds like that front end was a little tired, rebuild time.

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I figured what ppl did when they lowered these trucks was just remove the front axles. Honeslty the truck was driven maybe no more than 2 miles when it happened.

Im expecting the worse, if anything ill just raise it up a couple inches or so. But we'll see.

When you say rebuild you mean suspension wise?

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Man, why would you drive it without the axels?! Hopefully the front diff added enough resistance on the driveshaft to trick the transfer case into thinking the CVs were still installed, but I have my doubts. Seems like going low is such a PITA, anything lower than 2/2 seems like a little over kill to me. Anyway, you'll need CV axel spacers to help with the CV axels breaking. Sounds like that front end was a little tired, rebuild time.

 

X2 I can't imagine what would make removing the axles sound like a good idea. CaVRSS is talking about the transfer case being toasted and I suspect that he is right and it is toast.

 

Good luck man.

Edited by Downeast Johnny (see edit history)
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The hubs on these trucks are not made to hold the bearings in without the axles in place and with enough pressure will push them out that's why ur wheels are cambered in. You would have to put 2wd hubs in it in order to drive without the axles. As to why ur brakes fell out I'm sure it was just a chain effect of the hub moving the rotor out of whack and pushing the pad out of the notches. Just my 2 cents. Btw the axles they sell at autozone and advanced if I remember correctly don't flex and will pull the axle out of the retaining clips and dump ur fluid so before u buy them make sure they move in and out around an inch or so. Good luck brother

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I was talking about the front end rebuild time. If the T case is toast it's toast. I'd run it and see, you might've gotten lucky with the 2 mile run time, but like I said... I have my doubts. What people don't realize is the NVG149 was not ment to put %100 power to one driveshaft for more than a very short amount of time until traction is achieved. How often do you light up the wheels and send the T case hunting? More importantly how far do you drive it lighting them up? If you have no power going to the front wheels the t case feels low resistance on the front and thinks you're lighting them up or you're stuck in mud. So it sends power to the rear where it can feel that there is traction. If this is prolonged (no front driveshaft) it'll burn up. So really you drove 2 full miles with the transfer case thinking the front end had no traction and %100 to the rear and for a T case, that's a long way. But, like I said, I'd run it and see. Here's some more info

 

http://www.denalitrucks.com/documents/Detailed%20Transfer%20Case%20Info.doc

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Thank you all for the input gentlemen, seems like I really did screw this one up big time!

I guess you live and you learn, more reason to now do a 4l80e swap. Ill keep you guys posted, finally looking like a good day today, so I should be putting everything together this evening.

 

i see this happen with keys and spinldes. this is why i dont sell this set up at all.

 

Im actually on A-arms and drop keys.

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Yes even morE bind. Use oem keys or spines with arms and oem keys If you want to go this low.

 

So youre saying to put the stock keys back on, and just turning those down a little bit or how?

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So a few questions for you fellas.

First off, some of you mentioned the transfer case might have gone out after this incident, how can I check to see if this is true?

I ultimately fixed the truck, bought all the steering components, all the tie rods, axles, and wheel bearings.

I only replaced the wheel bearings and the axles, and my God, the wheel bearings literally fell out in two pieces.

The job took me and overall two or so hours, nothing to bad. I decided to drive the truck afterwards, and I will say this, the truck drives like a charm now.

I have minimal feedback from the road, and the steering feels a whole lot smoother and lighter.

As for the transfer case deal, I didn't push the truck much, but everything seems to sound nice and smooth, and the steering is good, I haven't made any extreme sharp turns out of fear of breaking axles again, but nothing negative so far.

 

The hub and rotor fell out completely after I removed the caliper:

 

br3_zpsapliuvpi.jpgbr_zpsjs9yeloi.jpg

 

 

And because I get this question a lot, about the angle of the axles with the amount of drop I have.

I finally snapped some pics with the new axles.

Please excuse the mess under there, all that will be cleaned up this weekend after I finish installing the rest of the parts I got for the front suspension.

 

ax_zpsj8cekh0p.jpg

 

 

ax3_zpsw0ueqioo.jpg

 

zx2_zpstz4kwcde.jpg

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