Swing Axle problem

[croakintowd]

Might I please pick your brains a bit??? I was replacing the right rear axle bearing and seals on the buggy...(Swing Axle). Pretty straight forward, and everything went sorta well.... I was tightening up the nut, when there was a loud metallic "SNAP', and the wrench lost resistance. So I started taking things apart and the nut wasn't cracked, the threads aren't stripped, the bearing is in one piece.. and the outer spacer isn't cracked. I haven't pulled the bearing yet, but from the outside it looks good. The only thing left is the inner spacer...
Now, the axle is hard to turn by hand....

I wonder if something inside the trans let loose? The fulcrums should not have been affected, but anything is possible, I guess...

The trans has a couple of bad synchros, so I was going to change it out, but was waiting until I found a deal on one .. (Looking for another transaxle, if you have one... I have an IRS tranny to trade, or whatever deal we can make. I'm in San Diego County).

So, what's your best guess?

[jsturtlebuggy]

The inner swing axle spacer goes on one way. The bevel edge goes towards the axle and flat part towards bearing.
If installed backwards it will bend outwards and lock up in axle tube. That could be one reason for the problem you are experiencing.
The other is that something happen in the side gear area. It is real easy to drop a fulcrum plate behind a axle when changing out a wheel bearing. Axle does not have to be pulled out to far for it to happen.

[croakintowd]

Thanks Joseph... I was pretty careful about not letting the axle come out of the tube, but anything could have happened. I thought I double checked the orientation of the inner spacer, but heck, sometimes I lose things I just set down in front of me, so who knows?... It has a couple of bad synchros, and is a little leaky, so I was thinking about replacing it with another good, used unit.. Maybe I ought to see how that idea pans out...

Thank you for your input. I'll know more when I extract the bearing...

I hope you are doing well, and enjoying your buggies... I'm making progress on mine.... slowly....LOL

[croakintowd]

I got the bearing out today, and found that the inner spacer had broken. I had it installed right, it just broke.. Got a replacement from B&R Buggies. So tomorrow reassembly starts.....Again...LOL..

Thanks again, Joseph!