I have a 8 inch rear end in my '68 with an open diff......Is there anything holding the axles in the housing other than the third member? Like a retainer next to the drum?

Let's say I break an axle shaft, will the wheel and a portion of the axle shaft come out of the housing?


Thank you in advance.....I tried a search on here and on Google and I failed to find what I was looking for....

 

their held in with C clips. yes, if you break an axle it will do into your body. you can get a c clip eliminator kit from moser i think. i know someone makes em

 

8" don't have c-clips. They have a bolt on retainer at the end of the axle housing tube. If you break an axle, it'll vibrate and rattle all over the place, but should stay in. C-clip eliminators are designed to mimic the way 8" and 9" axles are held in place. Most 8.8's are c-clip though.

 

Yeah, vibrate, rattle....and not go anywhere A broken axle with an open diff means your car isn't moving under its own power.

 

do they realy? oops, my bad

 

The retainer holds the bearing that is pressed on the axle.

A broken bearing is another story. You can lose the axle then.

 

Broken axles are bad either way. At least with a retainer it stays in(mostly) and you can keep control of it. It can still tear up the rear brakes on the side if fails though. Still, a lot better than having the axle go flying off into Never Never Land with your wheel, sending you into the wall.

 

Yup I know from experience 9" is the same as the 8". It's held in by the bolts by the bearing. But I ripped the splines off of my axles and blew up my spider gears and they stayed in just fine. Thank god it was my truck too because I just put it in 4wd and finished driving home.

 

Thanks a ton for the information! I won't be so paranoid when I drive my car now with the new motor......

 

aye. usually you have made mush out of any u-joint before the axle breaks i'd say