so what did i break?

[Jeff Aronson]

Remove the halfshafts from the wheel side. Just unbolt the flange, remove the cotter pin and felt washer, and pull out the shaft. You should have splines on both ends; if not, then one is broken

If you're lucky, it broke on the wheel end and it will be a simple replacement. Order the shaft [they're sided r and l] and replace the other one, too. They tend to go at the same time. If you're not lucky, the shaft broke at the diff end. That can be a bear to get out. Sometimes you need to open up the diff housing, remove the heavy differential, and knock out the remaining stub with a broomstick or long steel bar. If you've driven it very far with the piece broken in the diff, you'll want to remove it and clean out the diff for any metal shavings or pieces.

I've had mine break with a great bang and with a whimper, so noise is not the real determination.

When you take out the halfshafts, you should have some gear oil run out. If you don't then check the diff case. Remove the fill plug and see if you have gear oil in it. If not, you may have cooked the diff. That would cause binding and eventual breakage of metal pieces. But, as others have noted, you should have heard some real noise back there.

Good luck,

Jeff

[O'Brien]

dang jeff, you're knocking them out of the park, one thread after the other today!

I already completed the service on my axle shafts. the longer of the two shafts broke, and it wasn't at the wheel end. I replaced both shafts, and also pulled the rear dif. luckily enough, the broken piece fell right out once i drained and pulled the dif. put everything back together, and she's rolling along again like a charm. the inside of my rear dif looked brand new too, which is always nice to see, considering on the outside it looked like, well, the underside of a 42 year old land rover haha!