[Solved] Front Axle Replacement Parts After Hitting a Pothole

I recently hit a pothole in a dirt road at about 30 mph with the passenger side wheel. It was one helluva hit. I looked at both axles and noticed a small amount of run-out on them but the run-out on the passenger side was more than that on the driver side. I may need to replace the axle. The PN is 43430-04020 and the cost is around $400. What other parts should I replace when I do the job (wheel bearing, differential seals, hub seal)??

 

By "run-out" I'm assuming you're seeing grease from the CV Boots? are they torn at all? Have you had any symptoms of a bad axle, clicking during slow turns, vibrations etc?

 

I'm pretty sure he does NOT mean grease leaking from the CV boots and is probably talking about seeing wobble or imperfection in the rotation of the wheel, similar to warped rotors.

 

Could you describe what you mean by "run-out"?

 

Sure. When I rotate the driver side tire and look at the axle shaft, the end going into the wheel simply turns and there is no wobble. But when I rotate the passenger side tire I can see about 1/10 to 1/8 inch (hard to measure and my eyeball is not calibrated) of wobble.

On the way back from the pothole I didn't notice anything at all. The truck rode perfectly. But now it seems that there is a tiny bit of out-of-balance when driving at 35-40 mph around town. I don't want to spend $450 for a new axle assembly unless I'm sure that the 1/8 inch wobble is too much.

 

*If* your axle (CV axle) is bent, you've got a LOT of other things to replace too.

The axle is not what takes the load on impacts, that's your suspension's job - shocks, control arms, spindle, ball joints. If you bent your axle from an inpact, you'd know by the way it drives.

The only way to tell of your axles are bent is to take them off. IMO closing one eye and looking at it while you spin the tire on the truck is a terrible way to check. There are a lot of other things in that system that can move and make it LOOK like it's out of round.

I'm betting that's not the problem, though. I'd first check that your wheels are still balanced and go from there. You may have just lost a weight or two.

Then, get it aligned. If you can't get it aligned within spec, you've got bent stuff, but your axle probably isn't what's causing the wobble you're experiencing.

I could easily be wrong, but a bent axle is not the first thing I'd jump to with your symptoms.

 

This is good, sound advice^^^^^

My money is on a missing wheel weight.

 

Bent rim?

 

I'd get an alignment before I do anything.

Pretty easy to knock these trucks out of alignment, and that could very well cause some sort of vibration.

 

I am lifting the passenger wheel off of the ground when I check for axle wobble.

I don't think a bent rim would cause the axle shaft to wobble since I see the wobble with the wheel removed. What's happening is the center of the axle is moving around as I turn the hub. On the driver's side I cannot see any movement of the axle's center point when I turn the driver side hub.

No weights are missing from the passenger wheel.

>>There are a lot of other things in that system that can move and make it LOOK like it's out of round.<<

I'm not sure what else I should look for. I do remember when I checked the axle ends in the past that they were rock-solid and the center points did not move when I turned the axles by hand.