Klze Mx3 breaking axles

ProjekMX3 · Post by **ProjekMX3** » February 6th, 2006, 6:58 pm

Alright heres the deal. My car is either evil or I need to get heavier duty axles because for the second time it has claimed the life of a young axle. Last time I was taking a turn gettin off the highway doin like 5 mph and the knuckle shattered inside the boot. This time I was taking a turn and there was a loud grinding noise and the car would barely move. Today I jacked it up and had a friend got the wheels rollin while I looked to see what the deal was. The driver side was barely moving and the passenger side was flyin. So I thought this meant something was wrong with the driver side. I grabbed the axle and tried to move it back and forth nothin... This seemed wierd to me cuz last time it was broke I could move it. Anyway, I set the car down and tried to move it a little. The car suddenly sank down. Got out and took a look and my driverside wheel was at a nasty angle and the boot was ripped at the transmission. The axle was hanging down knuckle and all. Also upon further inspection the ball joint had seperated itself from the hub assembly. Not sure how that one happened. The axles have a lifetime warranty but I"m getting tired of replacing them. I have never had a problem like this before this car so I'm wondering whats up. (Axles are from napa). Why is my car eating axles like bon bons?

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » February 6th, 2006, 7:38 pm

I'm just starting to get to that stage now - axle selection. Try a search from Gro Harlem and Kiwi_ _ _. Try using axle or spline as a search parameter.
What tranny are you using with the ZE - ZE, MX3, PGT, MX6, LSD?
ATX or MTX?

Juans_93_MX3 · Post by **Juans_93_MX3** » February 6th, 2006, 9:32 pm

Arent there any high HP Axels aviable?

fieromx3 · Post by **fieromx3** » February 6th, 2006, 9:41 pm

yes from driveshaftshop the have som rated for 300 hp iirc those should be strong enough for any ze application

Slammed6 · Post by **Slammed6** » February 6th, 2006, 9:52 pm

I would say its the luck of the draw, with those lifetime axles. I bought a set and snapped it in a couple shifts. The last set i got i have made several 12 sec passes, 5500 RPM dumps on slicks on a 75 shot of nitrous. And i have yet to break one.

I actually just broke my 3rd gear the other day jamming out on the bottle and then shifting to 3rd. So now i need another tranny, but the axles are just fine.

XxantwawnxX · Post by **XxantwawnxX** » February 6th, 2006, 10:39 pm

Never had a prob with my stock axels and my ze.

Bochek · Post by **Bochek** » February 6th, 2006, 10:40 pm

XxantwawnxX wrote:Never had a prob with my stock axels and my ze.

then u dont drive hard enough

stereoking15 · Post by **stereoking15** » February 6th, 2006, 11:35 pm

how low of a drop do you have? have you had any damage the the front suspension lately? i have the napa axles in my mx just in the past months and have been doing wonderfully!! granted it is still a k8ze but i push mine through autocrosses on a weekly basis and didnt have problems until the second to last race when both boots ripped (stock axles) and i push my car most everyday and still fine, are they actually napa branded or are they and ari axle that they sell?

rebel2k4 · Post by **rebel2k4** » February 7th, 2006, 2:26 pm

What you just described is your ball joint falling apart. What does this have to do with an axle?

Replace it, no big deal.

I have 400 whp and all I broke in 20k miles was 3rd gear. Stripped the teeth clean, axles were fine.

Id rather have an axle break. Easier to replace than a tranny. And you can rest assured that the trans is going to break.

ProjekMX3 · Post by **ProjekMX3** » February 7th, 2006, 11:47 pm

I knew I had to replace the ball joint. However, the boot was also ripped and the knuckle was pulled out of the transmission. This doesn't seem like a typical problem so I figured i'd make a post. Is there a possibility this happened because when the ball joint came disconnected it yanked the axle out from the weight of the car? Are you runnin stock axles with 400hp if so where you get them from because these don't seem to be cutting it. Also my car is not lowered.

XxantwawnxX · Post by **XxantwawnxX** » February 7th, 2006, 11:53 pm

Bochek wrote:
XxantwawnxX wrote:Never had a prob with my stock axels and my ze.
then u dont drive hard enough

I drive pretty hard. Maybe my tires are not sticky enough.

relisys_3200 · Post by **relisys_3200** » February 8th, 2006, 12:02 am

I havnt had a problem with my lifetime warrenty partsource axles with my ze, and I beat the shiit out of my car everytime i drive it

rebel2k4 · Post by **rebel2k4** » February 8th, 2006, 9:53 am

ProjekMX3 wrote:I knew I had to replace the ball joint. However, the boot was also ripped and the knuckle was pulled out of the transmission. This doesn't seem like a typical problem so I figured i'd make a post. Is there a possibility this happened because when the ball joint came disconnected it yanked the axle out from the weight of the car? Are you runnin stock axles with 400hp if so where you get them from because these don't seem to be cutting it. Also my car is not lowered.

Yeah its a possibility. Theres no way for it to pull out when your suspension is together, the tripot won't clear the cup to fall out. That would in turn rip the boot after it fell out though.

The axles I have are stock ones. I ripped the boot on the drivers side when I installed it, negated fixing it, and ruined the inner joint. I bought a CCT lifetime axle (autozone/advanced auto) for the drivers now. Be sure to reuse your clip on the side that goes into the tranny, those remans have clips that like to get stuck.

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » February 9th, 2006, 10:26 am

Sounds like you got a wron axle. There are several different axles fo rthe Mx-3 depending on year and motor (SOHC + DOHC 4 bangers and DOHC V-6) If you got a four banger DOHC axle and fit it into a V6 application it could be that the axle was too short and caused the CV joint to seperate. I measured the axles legnth trying to figure out which axles were for which car when I bought several crates full of Mx-3 parts. The difference was small between all of the axles for both DOHC motors, so small that I couldn't be sure I was correct and so I didn't sell any of them. I dount seriously that a correct axle would fall apart enough to pull out and tear through the boot.
On a sie note, not all Napa axles are remanned at the same place. They will have a mutitude of different shops that remann axles that they buy from. Maybe your local rebuilder is an idiot and put the axle together wrong or labeled it wrong.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 9th, 2006, 12:22 pm

Hmm, I've been using Canadian Tire remans since my ZE swap over 2 years ago and I haven't shapped one or needed to replace one for whatever reason