[cmotsvt]

2-3 inches holy cow
has it been driving like this?
axle shaft c-clip. pull the cover and see. i wouldnt think the rear brakes would let it move out that much, yikes.
that much movement cant bee good for the axle seals/bearings.

 

[RhoRhoRho]

I’ll do that and update. There is some kind of ‘stop’ preventing it from coming all the way out- Just guessing that’s the source of the metal clunk noise when it’s pulled out to the max. Yes, holy cow sums it up. 😑
*yes, I’ve been driving it like this. I was hearing a rotating grinding noise and tires wearing out fast; several mechanics couldn’t diagnose it. Found by accident, no pun intended.

 

[cmotsvt]

Your disk brake caliper is keeping it from ejecting, be glad you dont have drum brakes. Your brakes on that corner are probably toasted. Axle seals and bearing as well.

 

[80cj]

Yes C clip or broken spline section.

 

[RhoRhoRho]

 

[RhoRhoRho]

So, this is what I’ve got. I’m not sure there’s a c-clip in there…Any comments?

 

[ColdCase]

Broken Axle?

 

[RhoRhoRho]

After I posted that photo, I was able to slide the axle all the way out. No c-clip found and the end of the axle appeared to be completely ground off; a large amount of metal shavings found in the oil pan. I’ll post more photos shortly. This already seems like a tricky repair, because there are so many parts involved and only a handful of those appear to be damaged. 😵‍💫

 

[kiwi_outdoors]

Updates on the situation? I have deliberately removed my axles twice, both sides, on my KK, to replace parking brake hardware. I cannot imagine how the C-clip got loose, unless it fell out when someone was working inside the diff, and they did not notice this situation as the reasembled everything.