Guest Carlissimo Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Anyone had a rear wheel axle spline failure on a 240-Z ? Is it hard to replace the axle ? I just got a noticable thumping and vibration on the left rear that is real bad when coasting, and goes away under power or braking. I was sure it was a U joint, but all three drive shafts seem tight (no radial play). I found about 1/2 inch of slop (measured at the tire) when the driveshaft is locked. The only thing it could be is loose splines on the axle. It must be real bad to have this much slop. Any suggestions ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rags Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 I've ruined 2 stub axles with the V8 car. You need a slidehammer to get the stub axle out. That's the right way to do it but since your replacing it anyway, you can drive it out with a sledgehammer. Just watch you don't mushroom the shaft so much that it doesn't fit through the bearings. You can use a used stub axle from another 240 but get a NEW locking nut. Good luck. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Is that rotational slop? or in and out slop on the stub axle?. Before you weild the big gavel.... check the fit to make sure there is enough tightening tourque on the stub axle nut. I am a believer with much faith in the integrity of the Z oem parts even under adverse conditions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carlissimo Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 Rotational slop. I've been studying the manuals. The rotational slop I am seeing has to be really bad splines. I am not sure that this is the only problem though. The knocking noise sure sounded like a bad u-joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 agreed, I would drop out about everything but the diff to replace the stub axles last and repair everything else if that is feasible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 i had a problem like that it ended up being the ujoint. i pulled it apart and the cap wasnt broken bbut all the needle bearings inside were turned into a greyish paste one or two more good pulls and it would have broken I would think the stub shaft would break before splines would be bad but im not sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deMideon Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 I have a 73' 240 that the same thing happened on, although my slop was about 1/4". My thought was if it happened once it can happen again. So I replaced mine (both sides)with the shafts from a 280z. The diameter of the shaft is larger, so it should be stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carlissimo Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 Replacing the shaft with larger one sounds like a good idea, but how can a larger diameter shaft fit iside of the bearings ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 The shafts are actually the same size where they ride on the bearings, but the 280Z has more splines so it is larger diameter in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted November 25, 2002 Share Posted November 25, 2002 As stated above, the last thing you should check for the problem you describe are the stub axle and companion flange. But! If you don't know the condition of your wheel bearings, now is an excellent time to pull the stub axle and replace (not repack) the bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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