91W350
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- Salina, Kansas
Ok, so it was not a military truck, it was a cement mixer. He was driving south on our version of Main Street, Santa Fe, and heard what he thought was something explode in his rear axle. He turned left or east on Crawford, went one block and turned right on 5th street. At that point his left rear tandem dropped, the axle, wheels, brake drum and hub parted company. She came to rest on 5th street after chewing up a long string of asphalt.
There was a blown out bearing retainer in the street with rollers laying in a circle around it. The inside side looked welded to the spindle. I wanted to take photos, but was headed home on my lunch break and he looked like he was sweating bullets anyway. Having a black and white stop and start taking photos would not have helped his stress level any.
It takes a large wrecker for a cement mixer with a load on.. we have a few of those locally. When I headed back north to my beat, I stopped and asked him if he thought a hundred would cover the wrecker fee, he just laughed. There was a second wrecker there then, loading up the axle, tires and wheels.
The driver said he thought something blew back there in his rear differential. He said look, the axle just slid out...
I explained to him that it was a bearing failure that caused his woes. The axle just floats in the differential and is retained by the spindle nut on the outside. I pointed out the destroyed bearings and told him a little grease and repacking would probably saved the company a huge bill. I am betting it will take a new spindle.
I could have posted this in the deuce or even the CUCV forums, I almost did not post it, but I thought it might wake us up a little to at least look at those bearings when we recover one. I know I jumped in mine and headed home. All was good, but I could easily have suffered a like injury. I know from now on, I am going to at least jack up the wheels, rock the tires as hard as I can and give it a good spin. I will probably go further than that and check for lube. I am one of those guys that is always up for a drive home in a new to me vehicle, check the oil, look for leaks and check those boxes, then head home.
I am glad it happened at 10 mph on a city street and in little traffic and not at 60 mph on a busy freeway.
I will say that the truck had one very stout axle! Glen
There was a blown out bearing retainer in the street with rollers laying in a circle around it. The inside side looked welded to the spindle. I wanted to take photos, but was headed home on my lunch break and he looked like he was sweating bullets anyway. Having a black and white stop and start taking photos would not have helped his stress level any.
It takes a large wrecker for a cement mixer with a load on.. we have a few of those locally. When I headed back north to my beat, I stopped and asked him if he thought a hundred would cover the wrecker fee, he just laughed. There was a second wrecker there then, loading up the axle, tires and wheels.
The driver said he thought something blew back there in his rear differential. He said look, the axle just slid out...
I explained to him that it was a bearing failure that caused his woes. The axle just floats in the differential and is retained by the spindle nut on the outside. I pointed out the destroyed bearings and told him a little grease and repacking would probably saved the company a huge bill. I am betting it will take a new spindle.
I could have posted this in the deuce or even the CUCV forums, I almost did not post it, but I thought it might wake us up a little to at least look at those bearings when we recover one. I know I jumped in mine and headed home. All was good, but I could easily have suffered a like injury. I know from now on, I am going to at least jack up the wheels, rock the tires as hard as I can and give it a good spin. I will probably go further than that and check for lube. I am one of those guys that is always up for a drive home in a new to me vehicle, check the oil, look for leaks and check those boxes, then head home.
I am glad it happened at 10 mph on a city street and in little traffic and not at 60 mph on a busy freeway.
I will say that the truck had one very stout axle! Glen
