DANG..... Now my Rear Axle is leaking...

Had my truck parked inside my shop from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Noticed a puddle under the truck Saturday afternoon. Blew it off at first that it was water from where I washed it Friday before parking it to the side. I knew in the back of my mind water would had been dry by then, so I got under and looked. Rear Axle is leaking diff fluid...












Yeah... this is my luck... Big chunk os stuff came off a big rig Thursday evening on the interstate. I was able to dodge the bigger pieces but heard one still hit under the truck. Once I got off the exit I looked under truck, didn't see any fluids draining and tires were not loosing air... Thought I was good, turns out I wasn't... Thats a chunk of the metal that came flying at me thats Punctured into my Axle tube. Its still in there. Waiting to see what my insurance is going to cover.


My Temporary fix.

 

Holy balls!

 

Wait for the comments from the trolls.

 

what the hell? You hit a piece of metal off a big rig and it punctured the axle housing?. Holy ball sack that's some bad luck. How is that even possible?

 

Damn, I thought things like that only happened to me. Sorry about your bad luck. Time for a Currie

 

Insurance should, the them you saw it fall off the truck ahead of you, it would be a comprehensive loss, if you tell them it was in the road and you hit it, it will be a collision. Some people have a lower deductible for comp than they do on collision.

Or just have it wielded.

 

That's actually pretty amazing. I don't think I've ever seen such a thing (penetrated axle tube) from road debris.

While that's bad enough, at least nothing else, or nothing more serious was hurt. Brake lines, oil pans and transmission pan (if auto) come to mind.

So you've posted this in 3rd gen. But your profile refers to a 'woods beater'. What year is the actual 'victim' here?

 

It should be covered under comp then. It was actively coming apart and flying back at me.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have some crazy things happen to me, just glad it didn't come thru windshield or thru the floor into me.

 

Depending on your insurance, I'd just have it welded up

 

I thought about the idea of having it welded. Just don't know what kinda hassle there would be in getting it prepped to weld.

 

I have been doing some searching online for info on Epoxies that might work well for something like this. But I haven't had much luck. Not looking to use JB Weld, looking for something better. I know year and years ago when I worked at a Boat House, they had some stuff... MarineTex, that was like a crazy good epoxy repair. Just not sure if will hold up to the Gear lube without letting it seep out around it.

 

OH Man I am sorry to read that. I doubt that would be covered under warranty. Please keep us informed. I would like to know how Toyota handles this and the costs if any.....

If it were me...I would either run it through insurance or just have it fixed. The truck is too new to jury rig something that important

 

It's not internally pressurized. So as long as whatever is used bonds to the housing all around and bridges the hole, it would work.

If it were mine, it would either be welded or replaced. Just to preclude having to monitor it.

 

Why would it be under warranty? It's not toyotas fault

 

Drain axle, de-grease, weld it up, refill and check for leaks.

 

You mean like I had the exact same thing happen to me but it was in a car not a truck, and it was a big as rock not metal, and said object was stationary ad not moving?

True story...ran over a rock last year doing $1200 of damage. Debated over calling insurance, but after I had the dealership fix it I decided to call my agent and he said 50/50 on rates going up if they caught it...it was during my renewal period. I got lucky....they paid me minus the $500 deductible and no rate creep.

 

It's a very small pinhole perforation, welding it would be very simple. Prep for welding would be straightforward. Drain differential, lightly grind area to smooth jagged metal, solvent clean to remove oil/grease contaminates. A couple of quick pulls on a MIG gun trigger and it would be welded, grind repair weld smooth, paint. OR... clean it up with solvent and patch with Devcon® Plastic Steel® two part metallic epoxy compound (no welding)


http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?familyid=101

 

I'd weld it. Should be a piece-o-cake.

 

How thick are the axle walls? I had always believed these things to be bullet-proof(not literally).

 

I once ran into stranded motorist at an oasis who was waiting for a tow because he ran over a blanket at 75mph and the damn thing wrapped itself around the drive shaft and ripped it off!