Installed some BJ spacers, Moog Upper and Lower ball joints and some new CV axles while i was in there...this weekend was the first 4wheeling trip since the new parts and well i destroyed the passenger side CV...pictures are below and im looking to see if i should replace the steering knuckle/ spindle...its pretty beat up on the inside, i tried to take a picture of it which came out alright, some of the damage is seen.
this is when i first pulled it apart out in the desert to investigate:

really wasn't this happy, although it was kinda funny, the three times ive been to this place (Chimney Rock) i have encountered problems with either my truck or friends...i now hail thee "Cursed Rock"












you can see how chewed up the inside is...im wondering if i can smooth it out and be good or if i should go find another spindle...what do you guys think?

 

Wow, usually they break at the splines going into the diff or the actual joint, I assume that was a parts store axle?

 

it was a reman axle from autozone...lifetime warranty...im just glad i didnt need 4wd to get back to town

 

wow!! you just made my decision real easy for me. I got a busted cv boot on passenger side. I was going to just replace whole cv axle with one from autozone. don't think I'll be buying from them now.

 

You can get new bushings from the dealer. Might be cheaper than finding a user spindle... or maybe not. I used to have spare spindles ha

 

Cripes. How did it happen? Lift the front tire and then have it plop down spinning before you could stop?

I have pretty much a whole front end left from a '90 I ended up not building. Let me know if circumstances lead you that way. Depending on what you need, I might be able to help you out.

 

But aren't the reman axles stock toyota cores to begin with?

 

Not all of them. They might also be reman napa or whoever you could have gotten the first axle from. It'd be a crapshoot as far as where the previous axle came from...

 

unfortunitly, no. the autozone CV's are junk for mid-to-heavy wheeling. suck it up and stop by the dealership if you plan to wheel it more then just moderate dirt trails, and if you want to hit rocks it is a must.

 

the bushing is just the brass piece correct? isnt the rest all one piece? (the spindle/steering knuckle w.e its called) im thinking i will try to smooth out the inside and see if i cant get it smooth enough...all im worried about are the raised edges, if i can knock all those down i should be fine right? all the gouges just make good spots for extra grease! haha

as far as how it happened, yea my buddy says i bounced twice pretty hard and that i only had one tire still touching rock...sure felt like it was a few more than just two bounces lol

 

see thats what i figured about the axles being remans...and since i live in So. AZ theres no way to avoid rocks however im on a college student budget soooo as long as these things have a lifetime warranty i'll live. i may find a junkyard shaft for a spare tho.

 

when i wheeled alot in socal i would hit jhonsen valley, truck haven, ocotillo wells etc. and never broke a CV. but in my '86 i broke one in blow sand.... go figure. point being, i agree with your choice to bring a spare...

 

Are you open up front? Were your winding your motor out? I've done that before, but luckily mine broke cleanly in two.

In my opinion if you're wheeling on 33's or larger with IFS, you can't wheel it hard without a spare!

 

What kind of hub are you using, I havent seen that before.

 

n/m you got auto hubs.... explains why it didnt look familiar, never paid attention to what they looked like inside.

 

Did you do a diff drop when you put in the bj spacers? Helps with the angles up front

 

Yep im open up front.

i havent put in the diff drop yet because i still have the stock length shocks under there so the CV angles shouldnt be any worse than stock. i mostly used the BJ spacers so i could ease off the torsion bars, and wow does it ride nice now!

 

Agreed. BJ spacers and diff drop had nothing to do with this breakage. You don't need a diff drop.

 

Interesting... I've never had problems with my "o'reily" CV joints? Been installed for awhile now and they're still working just as good as the day i put them in...

another interesting factor. It broke at the splines that go through the hub? What'd you torque that 54mm locking nut to?

 

i think that i just had bad luck and got an axle that was flawed somehow

I didnt torque it haha i just made sure the bearing was snug in there (i know im gonna get roasted for that)