Rear RH driveshaft popped out under hard cornering

[Clavurion]

Not so common on E53 but quite common on E39. Usually happens after some suspension job or similar where the knuckle is turned to extreme positions. The stump slightly looses C-clip locking but just barely keeps in place for a while. Usually it's OK just to push it back in and refill the gear oil. Personally I would remove the stump to make sure the C-clip was not broken and a piece of it is inside the diff where it could cause extreme damage (and of course use a new C-clip anyways).

[Homerlovesbeer]

Hi fellas,

I was going maybe 45km/h around a very tight bend. No potholes. I haven't had a chance to dig deep but I'll have time tomorrow.

Appreciate the advice.

[Factory6speed]

The axle bolts are stupid expensive. I had a few drinks one evening and spent $200 and some dollars on a new set. I still have the old ones, most are half decent, someone had a problem with one of them. If anyone needs a spare axle bolt or two due to a rounded one let me know. I had a set of cheap etorx sockets in the past and they were better at rounding bolts off than breaking them loose. The snap-on etorx set was worth it

This is concerning to me having just had all this stuff apart. I did replace those clips, it wasn't too easy to get them out.

Usually when I've heard of this happening it's caused by hitting something like a curb or a pothole hours before. not saying you hit anything though. It will probably just keep happening again, not good

[cn90]

I'd check all rear suspension parts, incl the rear ball joint, for play.

[andrewwynn]

Remove spring pressure: easier if air spring. It's very hard to find ball slop when there's 1600# + of force on joint


–awr–

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[Homerlovesbeer]

Brand new ball joints only a couple thousand KM's ago (Ball Joint LEMFÖRDER 13307 01)

So I've managed to gently tap the stump back in with the output shaft remaining intact.

No dramas at all with the wheels turning the diff properly on both sides before I even started to tap it back.

I didn't hear any click due the noise from tapping but it's properly home and doesn't appear to want to come back out that easily even when prying with a bar.

I'll refill with gear oil today and check for leaks.

I can't hear any bad noises from the diff when I turn the wheels by hand so I don't think there is a C clip floating around to do damage.

Looking at how I'd even inspect, the whole diff would have to come out and that's more than I can do at the moment.

Hopefully it's all good!

[andrewwynn]

I've seen about 8-10 cases of half shaft popping out of the dif and only one was related to internal failure. I don't recall any case where it would repeatedly fall out. It is strange that it would but i think from some further reading, it's likely that an impact jarred it loose some time earlier and it wasnt clipped so it came out just from the strong turn. There's a chance if you checked for oil drips on that side of dif it would have given a warning but what are the odds


–awr–

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[Homerlovesbeer]

So far so good. Oil drained completely and replaced with Castrol Transmax Axle Long Life 75-90 Transmission oil (about 1.3 litres but of course it comes in 1L bottles).







I drove for about 25 mins around the city with no signs of lthe shaft seal leaking or the drive shaft stump starting to come loose again.

[andrewwynn]

Statistical odds are on your side. I can't recall a single example of a popped half shaft coming out again on xoutpost.


–awr–

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[Homerlovesbeer]

So far so good.......

I thought the seal was leaking after doing about 50 KMs so I degreased again and drove back home and found it looking pretty dry so I think it must have been some residual oil.

The second pic is where I thought it may have had oil again.