J20 3 Piece Axle

[JeffP]

Once upon a time I had a new 1976 CJ5 with the flanged axles in the rear. Note this was before the one piece type were readily available.
Each weekend, for several consecutive weekends, I’d sheer off the key and splines. Each Monday morning, I’d be on the phone ordering a new axle & hub.
Severe hill climb, pretty much floor it and hang on! At the top, there was a 2-3 foot hump at the top which then leveled out into a grassy plateau. A few miles beyond that, deep in the forest was my destination.
So... each time I went up I’d end up in the air as I crested the top. The Jeep would still be nearly vertical so each time it landed, it would be only on the rear wheels. Since it was impossible to see anything but sky, there was no letting off the gas. So parts broke almost every time. I’d drive home on the front axle.
After several hubs and axles I decided to put it together as designed, then weld the flange to the axle. Absolutely no way was that stripping again.
First try... BOOM... then clunk clunk all the way home. The axle was now in three pieces! Actually twisted the axle shaft itself! One would expect the gears to explode first but that never happened.
As if it were any consolation... my weld held up just fine lol.
Moral of the story... the now common one piece axles work much better than the three piece one I made.

 

[jp360cj]

What were you doing when the shaft broke? Same thing that was stripping the hubs?

And I'm assuming this was a standard AMC20 CJ axle, not a J20, correct? (not to be nit picky, but title was a bit confusing)

 

[JeffP]

What were you doing when the shaft broke? Same thing that was stripping the hubs?

And I'm assuming this was a standard AMC20 CJ axle, not a J20, correct? (not to be nit picky, but title was a bit confusing)

Yep, same thing. I finally figured out that it really wasn’t worth driving there anymore. We would drive up to that point, then hike the rest.
The axle snapped just inside the weld and again at the end of the splined tip. I also lost both rear u-joints and a leaf spring shortly after getting it back together. Always on the same side.
Yes, AMC20... not a truck axle. Sorry for the brain fart.

 

[jp360cj]

The axle snapped just inside the weld and again at the end of the splined tip.

Wow that's a bit impressive to break the shaft in 2 places. I guess this is a perfect example of fixing the weak point just moves the weak point somewhere else

 

[JeffP]

Wow that's a bit impressive to break the shaft in 2 places. I guess this is a perfect example of fixing the weak point just moves the weak point somewhere else

Silly me, I didn’t even think that was possible, let alone do it myself! I’ll blame it on being a JC Whitney axle, not my stupidity.
The final axle came from the dealership. No more problems after that but keeping it on the ground may have been a huge factor.
The broken spring was “impressive” as well. The main leaf broke right across the hole for the alignment pin / bolt.
The U-bolts held it together enough to carefully limp home.
It was listing some to one side but not nearly what I would expect from a broken spring!