Broken front axle?

Z71Silverado · December 23, 2014

Was driving home from work Christmas party today. My truck jerked to the left hard. I could hear and feel a clunking noise afterwards. The abs light came on. The tow truck driver said the cv boot was tore and looked like the axle was about to come out of the tire. Said the ball joint looked shot as well. What kind of price am I looking at here to fix this hunk of junk? Is this a common thing? Opinions welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

kstruckcountry · December 24, 2014

CV shaft and balljoint is a 2 hr job at most. Pretty cheap.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · December 24, 2014

Best bet is to take it to a good mechanic shop instead of a dealer so they can look at it and find whatever it wrong.. Would be even better if they also do alignments so everything can be done at one place at one time.

By the way, it's probably a hunk of junk because from the looks of it you go mudding in it which will tear up the truck. I learned the hard way with my 98 Silverado. I drove it hard on and off-road. By the time I got rid of it, it was on it's 3rd rear axle, trans had been replaced and the 2nd engine that I had put in it (counting the 1st that was in it when I got the truck in '04) had seized up completely which is what lead me to my new truck. Surprisingly never had trouble with the IFS It's all about how you take care of it. It makes sense to just buy an older truck without a computer and already has a straight front axle to play around in so you don't tear up your daily driver. Hell an old truck with a good lift would be cheaper than a 6" IFS lift, not counting the new tires and rims.

CapitalTruck · December 24, 2014

To OP: I haven't heard of such a catastrophic failure. To Community: Is the reason it hadn't been making a clunking noise prior to complete failure due to the fact that normally the front axle shafts are normally unloaded and thus won't reveal shot cv joints?

Z71Silverado · December 24, 2014

That was from when it was new. I haven't did any real mudding in 7 years. Almost 80000 miles ago. I also replaced the bearings at 80000 miles. Truck has 110000 miles now.

govener71 · December 24, 2014

It may have just lost enough grease in the boot for some splines to bind and cause a jerking motion. But if the wheel but was still on and the bearing was good there was no real danger of loosing the wheel. Unless it was a catastrophic ball joint failure.

CapitalTruck · December 24, 2014

It may have just lost enough grease in the boot for some splines to bind and cause a jerking motion. But if the wheel but was still on and the bearing was good there was no real danger of loosing the wheel. Unless it was a catastrophic ball joint failure.

Good call on that. Maybe "catastrophic" was overkill on word choice. That is just the word that comes to mind anytime a tow truck is involved. It's just hard to think that there wasn't a period of noise first.

Z71Silverado · December 24, 2014

No noise first. I notice every little vibration and noise that happens.

kstruckcountry · December 24, 2014

The off brand halfshaft assemblies are all under $100, the Delco is $300. That's with the boots, inside end, everything.

Delco ball joint is $50.

Jack up the pickup, off with the rim. Undo the CV bolt, and unbolt from the main axle. Pound it out. Then undo and press out ball joint. Easy peasy, unless you find more stuff that needs replaced.

Everything is modular and easy to do, IFS for the win.

00Silverado4x4 · December 24, 2014

Since the truck jerked to one direction when it all happened I would take close look at your tie rods as well. You may find you have one or more that are sloppy and need to be replaced.

Z71Silverado · January 6, 2015

Forgot to give an update. It was a bad wheel bearing. Mechanic said I was lucky the wheel didn't fall off. Caliper was the only thing holding it on. Apparently only the right wheel bearing was done when I thought both were done. At least now, they both have lifetime warranties.

Cuban. · January 6, 2015

So the tow truck driver called it as a bad cv.....but it was a bad wheel bearing? Good thing he's not a mechanic. Busted cvs and wheels bearings make a totally different noise. Wheel bearing make an unnerving grinding sound while a cv is a loud ass grinding knock as if you're banging two pieces of rebar together. But it's good ypu found the problem. I'd hate for your wheel to come off and your truck become a tripod going down the road.

I've had a couple buddies already have that happen to them:

Beer Belly · January 6, 2015

Mine made a banging sound like someone hitting the side of a garbage can.....did it a couple times while turning, didn't know what it was, could not duplicate....drove home doing usual 75-85 mph....next morning, it's was back, and not going away, drove to the dealer with everything binding.....R/F Bearing, Axle Seal, Front Rotors and Pads (they say the brake work was due to the only thing holding the wheel on)....total was over $1,000....traded in. Scary to think how it is driven daily (speeds), never off road.....if this thing blew apart on the way home.....

Btuggle88 · January 7, 2015

If the cv was going bad you should hear a popping when you turn just like a front wheel drive which essentially it is but the bearing will make a grinding sound and will dissipate somewhat when you swerve left and right while driving.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · January 7, 2015

I surprisingly never had anything with the front axle go out, just part of the suspension or or steering like the pitman arm. But, I remember the 2nd time I had the rear diff go out by the time I got pulled over into Pizza Hut the driver side axle shaft was starting to come out and the tire stuck out about 6" beyond the fender. I still remember looking at it and thinking "damn that looks good sticking out like that" lol. I'm glad it didn't completely slide out.