# When you break an axle.



## eagleeye76

I've seen a lot of you on here break a lot of axles. What do you do when this happens. Can you drive / limp home when you break an axle or do you need to be towed back. Either way, is there anything specific you need to watch out for? Or is there anything you need to do in preperation to head back? Does it matter if its the front or the back? This is more a curiosity question just incase. Thanks for any info guys.


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## Polaris425

If its a front & it breaks on the outside I've always just pulled it out & kept riding. Though depending on how your cv goes into the diff side that might not be a good idea.


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## 02KODIAK400

Polaris425 said:


> If its a front & it breaks on the outside I've always just pulled it out & kept riding. Though depending on how your cv goes into the diff side that might not be a good idea.


well said!!!


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## Waddaman

Uhm.. don't drive up hills if you break a rear axle cause it might end up bad.. lol. 

You can pop the CV boot/cut it off and get the pieces out so you save the axle bar itself. If the broken piece are kept inside they can jam up and either bust a diff or at the least ruin the splines on the axle shaft.. 

You can usually ride it home, just gotta be real easy on it and take it slow so it doesn't catch anything and jam up.


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## eagleeye76

By pulling the axle out your not gona lose the diff fluid?


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## mmelton005

eagleeye76 said:


> By pulling the axle out your not gona lose the diff fluid?


No It's sealed.


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## eagleeye76

Hmmm. That makes me feel better. So as long as nothing else broke it sounds like its ok to putt around and you only lose power to that wheel?


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## abthis01

I broke both front axles, front diff. Road for little while, then one of the back axles broke. All were gorillas but they had a rough life. The back one had a crack in it for awhile so it didnt take much to snap it. Was water wheeling and caught a root under the water. Was 2 miles back to trailer, front was ok to travel but the back axle was flopping around so I took a ratchet strap wrap around axle and rear arm so it wouldnt flop and tear up anything else. I didnt remove it because I wasn't to sure of how sealed the rear diff was. Just ruined front one, didnt want to buy a back diff also. I road slow in one wheel drive - just be careful every situation is different use your own judgement.


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## brutelaws29.5

if you pull the axle out of the diff that will leave a large hole for dirt and contaminants to enter the diff. if at all possible keep the axle from flopping around and damaging anything else and limp back in i wouldnt ride in any more holes if at all possible


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## filthyredneck

brutelaws29.5 said:


> if you pull the axle out of the diff that will leave a large hole for dirt and contaminants to enter the diff. if at all possible keep the axle from flopping around and damaging anything else and limp back in i wouldnt ride in any more holes if at all possible


You are misunderstanding what is being said here. IF you break an INNER cv, you can simply pull the axle out of the busted cv and then yank it out of the outter.... This leaves the inner cv cup still intact with the diff and no fluids leak out.

"Killing Time Using Tapatalk 2"


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## eagleeye76

Filthy that makes more sense. I was thinking like brutelaw. So Im assumeing that it not the akle shaft itself that brakes its the knuckles or CV joints on the ends yhat brake?


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## brutelaws29.5

Polaris425 said:


> If its a front & it breaks on the outside I've always just pulled it out & kept riding. Though depending on how your cv goes into the diff side that might not be a good idea.


I do believe this says outter but you are correct if the inner breaks it shouldn't be a problem cutting the boot and leaving the spline shaft in the diff but the outter still has to be removed as on most alloy rim bikes the wheel has to be removed an shaft unbolted to remove outter joint unless you physically break the outter too


I'd rather be in the mud then using tap talk right now


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## filthyredneck

Yes the cv is usually what gives most of the time. And it will work either way honestly, if an outter breaks you pretty much HAVE to pull the axle because if you dont the bar can come out of the cup when turning/flexing suspension and then you risk the bar going through the sidewall of your tire. This leaves the busted cup in tact to hold the wheel on, but is gonna leave the front diff opened up when you pull the cv....unless you ride a polaris, they are designed differently and the diffs are sealed. This be easily done on the trail. If it's an inner that breaks, you'll be better off leaving it in the cup and limping to the truck where you have some tools because its difficult to get the axle out of the good outter cv and you will need tools.....but once the bar is out, I put a large stick back into the boot of the good cv and zip tie it in place to seal mud and crud out of that joint.

"Killing Time Using Tapatalk 2"


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## bigblackbrute

Ive broke about 4 axles 3 fr and one rear and i rode rest of the day each time. Never had a binding problem or anything like that. Only thing i knw for sure is that when u break a rear axle it is hell to get these big bikes around. 

FATBOYZ CUSTOMZ CREW


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## jctgumby

I was with BigBlack on two of those breaks on his front. He definitely rode the rest of the day. He just was stuck with 2wd but still done pretty dang good.


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## bigblackbrute

I jus had to let the big dawg eat then. Thats when extra hp comes into play. Jus pin the throttle and hope for tha best. Lol. As jim knws i can get a lil throttle happy. Lol

FATBOYZ CUSTOMZ CREW


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## jctgumby

bigblackbrute said:


> I jus had to let the big dawg eat then. Thats when extra hp comes into play. Jus pin the throttle and hope for tha best. Lol. As jim knws i can get a lil throttle happy. Lol
> 
> FATBOYZ CUSTOMZ CREW


 
That he can, LoL


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## eagleeye76

So it sounds that it wont get you stuck on the side of the trail.


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## Bruteforcekayaker

My axle shaft broke down the road from my house doing wheelies and donuts on the pavement. i was limited on tools and help. I duc taped a stick to the shaft to keep it contained. It got me home with no trouble. It was the right rear. I am just more careful now and am going on 2 years with the same axles. FYI, I replaced it with one of those $120 "HD" axles on ebay and it has held up with no problems. they have better boots than the stock axles in my opinion too.


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## eagleeye76

Thanks for all the info guys!!


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## racin_rhino

I had an outer cv let go on the front of my bike about 30km from camp.
I removed the shaft from the bike, as the shaft flopping around would hit the rotor and cause the bike to veer hard right. So I removed the clamp on the inner cv boot, pulled the retaining ring and slid the rest of the cv guts out, wrapped it in a rag to keep the bits from being lost. Left the splined parts in the diff and in the hub. Then I rode it the rest of the weekend (about 100km) and 2wd bombed the mud holes.


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