10 bolt goes out with a "BANG"

[rpellicer]

While attempting to pull a junked S10 out of my property, I heard a considerable bang from the back of my '91. I quit what I was doing until I figured out what went wrong. Now my Blazer makes loud clanking noises around turns, but there is no noise when going straight. I'm thinking that the spider gears went (It'll be the weekend before I can verify.) Am I on the right track? If it was the spider gears, does anybody know of any good documentation on the web for replacing them?
Thanks

 

[K5er4Life]

::cough:: 14 bolt ::cough:: Too bad too, I just took my old rear 10 bolt down to the scrap metal place and got a whole 20 dollars for it. My dad kept bitchin and wanted it gone otherwise I could have given you anything you wanted out of it.

 

[dyeager535]

If anyone elses ten bolt experiences are anything to go by, there won't be much useable in that rear end.

Might have gotten lucky, and pieces didn't go all over, but in most cases metal seems to get all over the place, ring/pinion, side/pinion gears, bearings, etc. Have to pull the cover and look.

Almost sounds like a gov-lock broke, do you have one?

 

[PhoenixZorn]

I had my blazer for a day when I decided to pull 2 tons of granite on a 14 foot flatbed trailer... I made it all the way home, but noticed that the truck was slowing and stopping on it's own fairly well without any brake pressure... it was grinding and knocking when I used the brakes, but seemed ok while under power... When I got home and dumped the rocks, I pulled the rear diff cover to find that my Ring had about 6 tooth marks in it from scraping the giant hunks of metal in the bottom of the diff... I didn't know better at the time, so I had my 10 bolt rebuilt.... BAD idea.... I could have had a 14bolt with a locker and disk brakes for what I paid for that rebuild.

 

[MTMike]

I had my blazer for a day when I decided to pull 2 tons of granite on a 14 foot flatbed trailer... I made it all the way home, but noticed that the truck was slowing and stopping on it's own fairly well without any brake pressure... it was grinding and knocking when I used the brakes, but seemed ok while under power... When I got home and dumped the rocks, I pulled the rear diff cover to find that my Ring had about 6 tooth marks in it from scraping the giant hunks of metal in the bottom of the diff... I didn't know better at the time, so I had my 10 bolt rebuilt.... BAD idea.... I could have had a 14bolt with a locker and disk brakes for what I paid for that rebuild.

I had a similar experience in my old '79 with it's 12 bolt. I towed a heavilly loaded 6x12 U-haul trailer for 450 mountainous miles in the summer heat with it and about halfway through she started to whine & groan a bit... It was howlin like an 'ol dog when we got into town, and the front of the u-haul trailer was COVERED in droplets of 90 weight. We had just moved here and I didn't know anyone (or anything about axles for that matter), and had limited tools and a nothing more than a gravel parking lot to work in, so I just paid a boneyard/shop $600 (the cheapest I found in town) to put a new axle in - and it was a 10 bolt

Oh well - live and learn.

 

[rpellicer]

The ironic thing is that 8.5" 10 bolts are a hot item for hot rodders and racers right now. Wrecking yards want $400-500, if they haven't been snatched up already. Maybe someone should collect up all the unwanted 10 bolts from offroaders, narrow them, and sell them to the 'rodders. Hmmm...

 

[ftcjimmy]

when mine went, i stoped at a stop sign started gin, the a loud snap noise from my rear end. w/e broke shot a hole right thru my diff. cover!... o well its for the better, got a 14 bolt now

 

[4xcrazy]

I didn't actually break any gears, or anything internal, i just broke the housing where the axle tube slides into the housing. If it weren't for the springs being bolted to the axle tube, it could have gotten real ugly.

Funny thing is i drove all over the place,,,to San Diego, then up to Magic Mountain north of L.A. untill i figured out it was broke, just happened to see sprayed oil underneath,,,whaaa? thaaa? had it welded in place, drove back to Phoenix and it lasted another month before the bearings were starting to fail.


P.S. oh and BTW,,, now runnin the 14 BFF, figured i won't have that problem again.


With a current disk brake swap

 

[dyeager535]

The ironic thing is that 8.5" 10 bolts are a hot item for hot rodders and racers right now. Wrecking yards want $400-500, if they haven't been snatched up already. Maybe someone should collect up all the unwanted 10 bolts from offroaders, narrow them, and sell them to the 'rodders. Hmmm...

10 bolt 8.5's for the A/G-bodies are the hot ticket. Leaf sprung (truck) axles are not cost effectively utilized in a coil sprung application.

 

[mikey_d05]

10 bolt 8.5's for the A/G-bodies are the hot ticket. Leaf sprung (truck) axles are not cost effectively utilized in a coil sprung application.

Thank god, I almost had a heart attack for a second. I grenaded my 10 bolt on my DD yesterday and I need to find one tomorrow so I can get it up and running again.

 

[rpellicer]

Well I finally got around to opening up my diff, and sure enough, spider gears are missing teeth. The unit looks like an Auburn pro, it has a round hole with three visible springs. Are these units rebuildable, or is does the whole thing have to be replaced?

 

[rpellicer]

I guess the Auburns aren't rebuildable, but just found that Auburn has a replacement program called DREX, the unit can be exchanged with a fresh one for a bit over $100 (price depends on the unit.) Gonna give that a try...

 

[rpellicer]

Okay, we're in business. Auburn will replace my diff for $125 (shipping included) even if it is 4 1/2 years old, and I don't have a receipt. If anyone is interested here is the link:

Auburn DREX Program

I don't know how much it runs to rebuild other types of posi units, but I don't think that this is a bad price for a practically new unit (used ones go for that price on ebay.)