I have a 03 DII with about 120k when I was on my way home I got off the interstate and got a pretty strong vibration when I took off from the stop light and it went away almost immediately. About a mile down the road and about 500 yards from my house I stopped at a light hit the gas and snap, whap and all the other fun that goes along. There i am dead in the water in the middle of the road. I get it over to the side of the road and see the drive axel hanging from the car. Got it towed home and took a look underneath there does not appear to be any collateral damage after a pretty thorough inspection. I was wondering if there is anything else I should be on the lookout for. Also what is my best bet for a replacement axel. I live in Denver and am relatively mechanical and from what I have found it seems like a pretty straight forward repair. Any advice or comments on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Check if your tranny has cracked, that's the usual damage that happens. You were lucky if it happened when you were going slow, or pulling away.

 

There are no holes or cracks that I can tell in the tranny. I have been keeping an eye and have seen no leaking fluids either.

 

You need to buy a lottery ticket, heck buy a 100 because this was your luckiest day. If the shaft snapped at highway speed it would have taken out your tranny no doubt about that.

 

Wish I could say that but my other car (subaru wrx) decided it would die as well.

 

well the good news is if you didnt destroy your TC or tranny you are ahead of the game. the bad news is you can't lock the CDL in your TC so you wont be driving until you get a new shaft installed. if you are planning on off roading i would get yourself a tom woods otherwise see if there is a pick and pull nearby that you can get one from cheap and get it rebuilt or rebuild it yourself. there are multiple threads on the parts needed and the rebuild procedure.

 

wait, did you break a drive shaft or a u-joint? why do you need a replacement axle?

 

Sorry it is the drive shaft and it sheared off right at the joint. We got a nice snow storm so it will be a day or two before I get back under it but I believe the shaft is pretty banged up from the road.

 

maybe it didn't destroy the shaft and you can get it back on the road with just new U-joints...too bad you have an '03 or you could just engage the CDL and keep driving. good luck.

 

Give LinDen Engineering a call, they will most likely have one for you (off a donor). They are in Golden.

http://lindenengineering.com/