Thread: Breaking yukon outers + detroit

Is there a way to test the detroit before replacing the shaft? It seems like everything in the manual requires spinning the wheels which means you'd need to replace the shaft first.

I had the same problem on my front 44 and both times the shaft snapped I lost my detriot from the shock load. I would beware of buying this without getting to inspect it to make sure the locker works.

I have a friend who is thinking about buying a built 44 that has a broken yukon outer(think it is a yukon shaft, not sure though) and a detroit. I told him to make sure the detroit is still O.K after the broken shaft. The seller said the yukon outers are designed to break around the ears of the shaft, and therefore the detroit would be fine. I can understand having the ears breaking first, but wouldn't there be shock loading present on...

You are correct that any time a shaft brakes there will be shock loading of the diff. No, Yukon's (or any other shaft for that matter) are not designed to brake at the yoke or any other place. If the seller won't let you inspect the internals, then walk away, there are other axles out there.

there is a test procedure to check detroit operation, available in the manual if it passes then its probably good mine survived a lot of shaft breaking