Rant about a rear axle change

[fleming442]

I happened to be at a Chrysler dealer for unrelated reasons (wife's Charger), so I asked the parts counter person about my situation. He was quite informative.

He said that the block is not actually welded to the axle, but is held on by the vent tube bolt. The back edge is just machined to match the axle tube's curve. He also told me that the brake line with that block on it costs about $260 to replace. Also that the bolt/vent tube is unavailable anywhere and no dealer on the country has one (so don't break it).

Good times

My butt just puckered for you in case yours went numb with that news

 

[Wageslave]

My butt just puckered for you in case yours went numb with that news

Fluke thing. Her charger started being noisy after going over an off-camber intersection by the house. It was about 5 degrees out when it happened, so I was under the assumption that maybe a manifold cracked or something equally dumb. I took her to work and let it cool all the way down before starting it again, and the noise was still there so we scheduled an appointment to get it checked out while it was being serviced. We drove up today with the noise still present and gave it to them to look at. After a good long wait, they came out and said they could not find the leak. I explained the conditions that would make it the loudest, and they went back and tried to reproduce it. A little while later they came back and said that there was no leak that they could find, and if we could drive them around it to reproduce the noise. Neither of us were feeling that good, so we just decided not to worry about it anymore and that we would bring it back another day if it came back.

Sure enough, it did not make a peep on the way home. It was odd but I am guessing that when they were initially shaking the exhaust system around, whatever was wrong fixed itself.

Oh well, the trip was worth it just for the printout of the rear axle of my jeep and the explanation of how that damn block comes off. People knock FCA for quality issues, but I have got the best service across all the different dealerships in the area through them. Especially for out of warranty stuff.

 

[Wageslave]

I got it installed this evening and that was a project that I would never want to do again. Everything went pretty smoothly back together, except one of the brake lines tried to cross-thread and neither of the brake bleeders would come loose. I did get them bled at the banjo bolts but I am not a huge fan of that method.

It ran out well with no more gear growl and obscenely leaking pinion seal.

From what I have read Jeep used a thread lock on those bolts and they have to be heated up to 350° for the thread lock to loose it's grip.

Thanks for the tip. This made taking the old axle out much less miserable than stripping the pieces off the junkyard one. The only crappy part was my propane torch was so cold that I could hardly get any flame out of it unless I held it on its side.

 

[fleming442]

In regards to noises on newer cars: a guy at work bought a brand new or slightly used Impala last year. Over the summer, it got a really loud exhaust leak (oddly, he didn't notice until I pointed it out). The dealer fixed it (something near the cat), and several months later, he gets rear ended. The exhaust leak is back sounding exactly the same. The first time, the dealer knew nothing about the cause of the noise. The second time, a TSB miraculously appears. It's kind of like when I had to replace the exhaust manifold bolts on my truck because the heads rusted off. The dealer knew nothing about the problem, yet all the parts were in stock and newer versions, including the dipstick tube that rusts in half. /rant

 

[Wageslave]

The dealer knew nothing about the problem, yet all the parts were in stock and newer versions, including the dipstick tube that rusts in half. /rant

How stupidly could they have made something that the dipstick tube rusts in half? I mean damn.

 

[fleming442]

How stupidly could they have made something that the dipstick tube rusts in half? I mean damn.

Easy, you make the mounting tab so long that it doesn't fit between the runners of the exhaust manifold. Then, when the manifold cracks, you have to remove said dipstick tube, and it breaks in half from being rusted. It's fun; you should try it sometime!

 

[Wageslave]

The dealer knew nothing about the problem, yet all the parts were in stock and newer versions, including the dipstick tube that rusts in half. /rant

How stupidly could they have made something that the dipstick tube rusts in half? I mean damn.

Easy, you make the mounting tab so long that it doesn't fit between the runners of the exhaust manifold. Then, when the manifold cracks, you have to remove said dipstick tube, and it breaks in half from being rusted. It's fun; you should try it sometime!

I think I will pass on that.

 

[Opie Knievel]

I picked up a junkyard replacement and the junkyard torched it out of the vehicle that it was in. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but where the brake lines to the calipers meet is on a block that is welded to the axle. This block has two threaded ports for the brake lines to the calipers, and a welded on hard line goes to a flex line between the body and axle. They torched off this hard line so I have no way to connect the brakes back up to the new axle. I would just cut the block off of the old axle, but the vent line for the differential also goes through this block.

So, a lot of your problems could have been avoided by the guy who pulled the axle assembly. This is why when I worked at the junkyard I took care to avoid causing problems like that. It usually didn't take but another couple minutes to pull something and not cut pieces that I knew would be aggravating to replace or impossible to find. A lot of people don't think these things through or don't care. I've seen customers turn down parts because of stuff like that.

 

[Wageslave]

So, a lot of your problems could have been avoided by the guy who pulled the axle assembly. This is why when I worked at the junkyard I took care to avoid causing problems like that. It usually didn't take but another couple minutes to pull something and not cut pieces that I knew would be aggravating to replace or impossible to find. A lot of people don't think these things through or don't care. I've seen customers turn down parts because of stuff like that.

I don't fault the junkyard for torching the stuff off in this case, as it was quite scabby from sitting in the dirt, and the chances of the other end of that brake hose coming loose were small at best. It was inconvenient, but it was about $125 less than what others were asking.

It sucked, but I chose price over convenience and I got what I asked for.

 

[Opie Knievel]

I don't fault the junkyard for torching the stuff off in this case, as it was quite scabby from sitting in the dirt, and the chances of the other end of that brake hose coming loose were small at best. It was inconvenient, but it was about $125 less than what others were asking.

It sucked, but I chose price over convenience and I got what I asked for.

'Tis the way it works out sometimes.