So two weeks ago, we went out to the Hungry Valley OHV Area to scope things out for our upcoming West Coast Mega Meet and before it was time to head back for home, we decided to play on the obstacle course a bit. With the sun going down, we posed for a few shots on the block ramp...


Rolled our way through the sluice box...


Made our way up the steps....


All easy stuff, right? Of course, that's when I made the mistake of giving the loose boulder hill a stab before leaving and.... this is where I blew out my AlloyUSA Chromoly driver side front axle shaft....


After some effort and some help from Trail Bud, we got ourselves off the obstacle and on to flat ground (handicap parking by the restrooms no less) to get things pulled apart....


How's this for a break?


As you can see, the axle blew just above the splines...


Unfortunately, pulling the shaft wasn't going to be enough as we were feeling some kind of binding going on and so we decided to pull the passenger side shaft as well...


Forunately, we were able to get home just fine after that but after getting my JK to Off Road Evolution and taking things apart, we found that our locker and carrier bearings were FUBAR...




To make things worse, the front axle tube where the seal goes on the driver side was totally mangled....


Even if we were to get a new locker and try to rebuild everything, installing a new seal and keeping it from leaking wasn't looking to promising. And, for the cost to do all this, I just don't know if it would be worth it. Needless to say, we are totally out of commission for now and we're seriously thinking about upgrading to a Dana 60.

JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket

 

ouch...that sucks...but i've seen your pics and videos....you have gotten you money's worth out of it.

 

Ouch thats some bad luck right there. Hopefully you won't be out of comission too long but hey, think of it this way: UPGRADE

 

WOW.... just...... WOW!

that is some crazy trail carnage

 

My condolences. This may be a blessing in disguise with the thought of a D60 in the future.

 

yeah, over the last 2 years, we've put on about 60,000 miles on our jk and been hammering on it at the tune of 2-3 runs a month. in truth, i always knew somthing like this was gonna happen sooner or later.

definitely an upgrade, i just wish i could get an upgrade in my wallet too

 

well, it sure wasn't what i was expecting to see anyway. when i heard the bang, i though that maybe i blew out the u-joint - that would have been a much nicer break.

yeah, i've been wanting to go 60 for a while now but of course with that, i'm gonna need new wheels too. of course, if i get new wheels then i'm gonna want to go 40's, and, and, and

 

Yea...time for a 60

 

As you start upgrading, and finding parts you plan on replacing...jut send me the stuff you take off.

 

you really dont need 40's. Just get rims to fit your 37's...


alright, you need 40's!!!