Broken axle

[svtthis]

05 escalade awd with 131k on the clock. Turned a corner and axle snapped no waring. Not sure how it could've happened. Any ideas?

 

[Fillerdust]

It looks like the nut backed off the upper ball joint and then separated. That sucks.

 

[MadDogDelpho]

^^ ditto. That sucks man, looks like a real pain in the ass to take care of.

 

[svtthis]

Thanks for the replies. I thought the cv axle broke first but you guys think it's the nut that backed off? I just got an alignment done. Does the shop touch that nut at all during an alignment?

 

[MadDogDelpho]

I don't think they should, but the bolt on the upper bushing doesn't look like it had the nut stripped off, which leads me to believe that whoever installed the new bushing or control arm or whatever didn't install the cotter pin on that bolt, so the nut just backed off.

 

[Mechanic421]

Ball joints broke!

 

[Rocket Man]

That looks like a new upper control arm to me, did you just buy the truck or have that part replaced? Looks like the nut came off the ball joint like the others said. The ball joint must have been installed as an assembly with the control arm. And not torqued right and no cotter pin. Damn, lucky you weren't going fast.

 

[Rocket Man]

I also just noticed new end links so obviously there's been some work done on it recently.

 

[mattbta]

I also just noticed new end links so obviously there's been some work done on it recently.

Also looks like the end links are installed incorrectly. Shouldn't the washer be on the other side of the bushing, not against the lower control arm?

 

[svtthis]

Yeah it was me that installed everything. My torque wrench broke and thought I got it good enough but that wasn't the case. It's been two weeks since I did that suspension on the front so it took awhile for the nut to back out. Thanks guys for the help. First time I screwed something up