I was screwing around in the snow this winter and got the heep stuck, in the process of getting it out, I snapped my passenger side axle shaft in my dana 35 front axle. Ive been trying for weeks now to get the shaft out, but the inner shaft seems to be stuck, it slides in and out about a 1/2 inch but just dead stops when i go from all the way in to as far out as it will let me go. Im not sure why its not coming out. I need to get my daily driver back on the road. Im 16 and working at a dairy queen making minimum wage, so i dont have much money. Any one have any helpful ideas?

 

Assuming that you have already removed the wheel bearing/hub assembly and the axle still won't pull out, then you should remove the differential cover and inspect the situation.

 

You mean D30.

You don't give the year of your XJ but if it's got the vacuum disconnect on it there could be a c/e clip at the end of the shaft holding it in since it's on the passenger side.

 

Ive already looked in there and i cant see anything wrong

 

Yeah i did mean d30 my bad. i thought the dana 30 front axles dont have c clips holding the shafts in. All ive read and seen, the shafts, from what i know, they should practically fall out when you pull the hub. My axle shaft snapped at the u joint. its a 99.

 

is it possible that the previous owner replaced the shafts with c clip shafts??

 

Not really. Supposedly the early D30's with the vacuum axle disconnect used one on the right side during factory assembly.

Have you removed the diff cover to take a look?

 

Ive looked and I don't recall seeing any clips.

 

No c-clips in your later model D30. Sounds like something putting in in a bind. You may have to drive the axle out from the drivers side. I've done it on CJ's. Here's the easiest explanation I could find:
Remove the opposite side inner & outer shafts (in your case, the drivers side)

Duct tape together a few 3/8" or 1/4" socket extensions (a really long screwdriver could work too)

Insert the taped extensions into the axle tube opposite the stuck side, guideing the extension past the carrier crosspin

Be carefull not to damage the seals

Tap on the extensions with a mallet/hammer to dislodge the stuck shaft

 

You could try putting it in neutral or FWD and turning the front drive-shaft back and forth to see if you can free it up.

If the shaft doesn't come right out, you could have bigger issues than just a busted u-joint. You won't know really until you can get the shaft out and then take a very thorough look at the shaft and diff components.

 

Hope it's not a bent axle housing.

 

I'm trying to imagine how a bent axle housing could cause the shaft to be stuck.. the shaft is centered in the housing with a lot of room around it and even then what would the axle get hung up on.
The axle is this big old shaft with relatively tiny little notches that mate in the diff - and there's really nothing to hang up on.
I was thinking maybe the diff gears snapped, but what really could put enough force on the axle to keep it from coming out. I'm not super familiar with the diff gears and all that, but I've had those axle shafts out several times on 2 different D30's and the basic design seemed to be the same.
The clipped axle possibility really is the only thing that makes logical sense, but then it would have had to be someone swapping a late 80's early 90's axle into a 99. Would there be a good reason for this (beyond someone had an old axle and was willing to fit it)??

O.P. - we definitely need pictures when you finally figure out what's going on with this!

 

Yea. Forget the bent axle post. I thought his original post said he had jumped his XJ.