front axle rebuild gone to hell

[skittles]

ok i am rebuilding a solid front axle to get rid of my worthless ifs. and when i pulled the axles apart i ended up breaking one of the little clips so now i have to do the martac thing and so i did it and the passenger side went together fine everything is good but the drivers side (which they both after the martac mod slid in til you could see about 1-2 milimeters of the inner axle seal surface) when i tighten down the 8 nuts that hold the axle sleeve onto the nuckle then i can't even turn the nuckle side to side i can't seem to figure out what is wrong but i know it won't turn the passenger side turns fine but the drivers side is completely stuck. if anyone has any idea's if you could let me know i'd really appreciate it. thanks

-trent

[Longfield]

I think you have the martack to far towards the locker. When you tighten the spindel down your jamming the martack into the side gears and it will bind. You need a little bit of play for clearnce. You will have a hard time getting the inner axles out good luck.

[skittles]

ya thanks i'll need it i'm sure but the thing is i can turn the axle fine but i can't turn the knuckles side to side does that make sense? thanks guys.

-trent

[Cody]

did you replace the trunion bearings and is there a chance you need shims? Just for kicks, loosen 4 bottom nuts and/or the 4 top ones, see if the knuckle loosens up.

[skittles]

ya i did replace them and i torqued them properly with the shims and it took 7 pounds to turn the nuckle and everything is good until i tighten those 8 nuts down it is really pissin me off i need to get this taken care of.

-trent

[fourwd1]

I think you have the martack to far towards the locker. When you tighten the spindel down your jamming the martack into the side gears and it will bind.

Correct on the Martack.
But I think his the problem results from the birf/inner not going in far enough, so when you tighten the spindle bolts on the knuckle, it binds the knuckle up.

If you loosen the spindle bolts a little does the problem go away ?

I had a similar problem when I was installing my 30 splines. But the root cause in my case was my axle housing, not the 30 splines (and I didn't use/need a Martack).
As in this case, I could rotate the axle, but couldn't turn the knuckle (steer).

[skittles]

so.....take the nuckle off and turn it and push the splines in, in different spots? then put it back together?

-trent

[ZUK]

skittles-did you grind the weld down some to allow clearance when it passes in the side gear?

[skittles]

ya i did i am very irritated with the axle at this point

-trent