BIG problem!! bolt broke off in carrier pin....EEK!!!!

so i have a dana 35c and i need to replace my right axle shaft.....

i have the n ew shaft and the diff cover off...and as i went to take out the bolt form the carrier pin...it broke....

i cant tell if there is any thread left or not....by looking at the new one i would say if there is its only one rotation or so......put in some penetrating oil....did some shaking a jiggling.....
tried to drill it out (bolt extractor) and even tried to just hit pin hard enought to brake rest of bolt off......


no such luck...so now i have my jeep in the air ...all the replacement parts....and yet again am stuck on a loose bolt:wow:

I have a good Dana 35 w/ 3.07 gears out of my 92 you can have, give me a call. 303-249-9028, Richard

try left hand drill bit.

trailrunner said:

try left hand drill bit.

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dunno if your joking or if your reffering to a bolt extractor where the threads spin opposing direction......if the later of the two...ive already tried.....bolt is tine and tempered steel...not much going

DutchVDub said:

I have a good Dana 35 w/ 3.07 gears out of my 92 you can have, give me a call. 303-249-9028, Richard

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is it possible to get out carrier without removign that pin?...or you have whole axle?....

hmm now i wonder what gears i have?!...damn buying new to me jeeps

I've measured the new bolt, measured how much of the old one was left in. Marked my spot and drilled through the side (90 degrees to the bolt). Drilled most of the way through the bolt threads (from the side) and drove the leftovers out with a punch (the hole for the cross pin bolt goes all the way through the carrier on all that I've seen). You need a fairly long punch to do this.
Found a hardened pin, redrilled so the pin is tight, put the pin in there and tack welded the end of the pin. Don't tack weld too deep, you have to grind the head off to get the pin back out. I thought about a rolled pin and decided for a solid pin.
I guess drilling and tapping to the next bigger thread is also an option.
The cross pin bolt is really hard, but also brittle. My solution worked out well for me, I had a selection of hardened pins on hand. Finding a hardened pin will probably require a trip to a machine shop or two.
Next time tap the end of the bolt with a hammer and even the area around the bolt, this helps break the bond. I'm thinking next time to get some Loc Tite Freeze spray and give it a try.
Actually after I figured out what I wanted to do (found the right punch and got set up), I had it out in less than half an hour. When drilling hardened steel, drill speed is your enemy, speed makes heat which kills your drill bit temper. Slow speeds, lots of oil and sharp bits will get the job done easier and faster. I have a technique of drill pause, drill pause drill pause etc. that seems to keep my bits sharp forever.

you drilled thro the pin?...

We have to get our terms right here, the cross pin, the cross pin bolt (or pin) and the cross pin yoke (or the piece that the cross pin fits into, part of the carrier). My terms may not be right, but we have to use the same ones.
Drilled in from the side, through the pin yoke (carrier) into the pin bolt threads. And most of the way through bolt (likely more than half) kind of hard to tell for sure how deep I was into the bolt. The object wasn't to drill all the way through the bolt, but just to removed enough of the threads so I could break the rest off with a BFH and a punch. Slow drill speed, patience over speed, a few extra drill bits so you can keep a sharp one going. Good quality HSS drill bits.
I have a talent for using a hand drill, I seem to have a better aim than most.
I actually think I could have probably driven the rest of the bolt through with a punch or two as soon as I broke through the side of the pin yoke into the bolt threads. I might have bent a punch or two more trying to pound it through, but the threads on the bolt are brittle and will snap off and/or the threads in the cast pin yoke with snap off, I believe.
In effect what I did was drill into the side removing about half of the threads and then pounded the bolt the rest of the way through with a punch, snapping off the rest of the threads.
Worked out for me and actually turned out easier than I thought.

I looked for some images so I could do an "X" marks the spot to drill but failed to find any good ones.

I almost forgot, after putting in the hardened steel pin, I also spot welded the ends of the cross pin, a just in case kind of thing (not too much weld, so it can be ground off later). Having the cross pin fall out as your driving down the interstate is the stuff of nightmares.

hm ok.....maybe i was going too fast or a bad bit cuz i barely got anywhere...and bolt extractor wouldnt even grab

in4aride said:

hm ok.....maybe i was going too fast or a bad bit cuz i barely got anywhere...and bolt extractor wouldnt even grab

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The bolt that holds the spider gear shaft in is really hard. The part that it screws into is less hard. I drilled 90 degrees to the bolt through the carrier (the part that holds the spider gear shaft), effectively drilling sideways through the threads.

A little help here??? Can anybody explain this a bit better or post up a good image.

in4aride said:

hm ok.....maybe i was going too fast or a bad bit cuz i barely got anywhere...and bolt extractor wouldnt even grab

Click to expand...

The bolt that holds the pin (shaft) in is really hard. The part that it screws into is less hard. I drilled 90 degress to the bolt through the carrier (the part that holds the spider gear shaft), effectively drilling sideways through the threads.

Not sure if this is a 35 or not, but the best I could find to illustrate what I'm getting at. The terms in the image are different than I'd use, which is likely part of our confusion

normally when the bolt breaks there are almost no threads left inside the carrier. This happened on my 8.8 and i got it out with a needle, spinning it and wiggling the cross pin while doing it. It eventually came out but took a good amount of time. Try wiggling on the cross pin to see if the bolt moves.

8Mud said:

The bolt that holds the pin (shaft) in is really hard. The part that it screws into is less hard. I drilled 90 degress to the bolt through the carrier (the part that holds the spider gear shaft), effectively drilling sideways through the threads.

Not sure if this is a 35 or not, but the best I could find to illustrate what I'm getting at. The terms in the image are different than I'd use, which is likely part of our confusion

Click to expand...

Another way to try would be to drill on the opposite side of the cross shaft. Measure your new cross shaft pin, find where the end of it will be, drill into that area, and blow the broken piece out with compressed air.

...has anyone else mentioned d35's suck? =)

I have the enitire rear axle, 50$ and its yours.

As for the gear ratio if yours is a manual w/ 4.0 its almost certain a 3.07 gear ratio and mine would be perfect for you. If not I also have my 8.25 w/ 3.55 gears that I can sell you too. It'll bolt right up and its welded w/ 27-spline shafts. I also have 29-spline shafts and the spider gears to go with as well. Those are un-welded so if you want to keep an open diff that would be the way to go. I also have a spare 8.25 carrier. The 8.25 would also come with YJ e-brake cables, they are longer and will not bind up your lift. It'll take me a week or two to get the 8.25 ready though as its currently under my Jeep. Oh, I would want 100$ for the 8.25 and spare shafts/carrier.

LMK

I work at a wrecking yard and thoes bolts break a lot. its just normal that 9 out of 10 are broken with about 1 thread left. Its a C clip rear end thing. we usually use a blue flame wrench and cut the end of the spider gear pin out (just a slot where the retaining bolt it) punch it out and then use needle nose plyers and turn the bolt out. ya you have to replace the pin.

ya mine broke in the pin..not the carrier.....so i was kinda sol.....

but im gettin new axle from dutch!(thanks eh)
even gettin the 8.25!...i like it