'97 EZGO TXT axle problem

LongbeardExpress

My brother in law has a '97 TXT. It is on 20" tires. It has sheared the axle off 3 times in the last 3-4 years. It was original at some apartments that we own. It shears it off flush with the outside of the axle bearing and the hub breaks into 2-3 parts. It has done this again and we want to fix it for good.
1) What would cause this problem every 12 -18 months?
2) We are planning to replace the axle, hub, bearing, and seal. I thought we should maybe replace the backing plate also? Is the bearing pressed on to the axle? What holds the axle into the differential? Is it a C-clip or some sort of bolted on retainer?

Let me know if I am headed in the right direction.

Thanks for your help.

Ryan

BGW

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arcitech

While you have the axle out, it would be a good time to check and make sure the axle tube(s) is(are) not bent, usually happens after a lot of hard bumps, the tube can get bent and put stress on the axle and bearing. I don't know of a good backyard measuring technique but someone here might know something. One quick sign might be a leaking/weeping joint where the tube goes into the diff.

But if it is shearing the axle and breaking hubs, I would guess that the torque on the axle nut isn't right. Get the specs and a "GOOD" torque wrench and do it right.

Is the cart being abused by anyone? Hard shifting from reverse to forward puts a lot of stress on axles and the bigger tires make it worse. If everything is tight and true, you should be able to beat it pretty good, but as things wear out, stuff breaks. Also, you might need differential bearings, just lots of variables that could be the problem.

LongbeardExpress

Roger that on the variables. I know there are alot of things that come together to make a functioning differential.

As far as the abuse goes, I'm sure my maint. guys at the apartments would never abuse our poor defenseless little golf cart. They always treat everything as if it were the grandmothers. Right? I can say my brother in law was just driving down the road not even at full throttle.

Thanks for the help. We will check the tube as best we can for any dings or stress marks.

Ryan

arcitech

If the axle tubes unbolt, you can check them square pretty easy! A long T-square and a flat surface and you rotate the tube while looking at the distance to the t-Square. If it is bent, you'll see it.

COURTESYCART

that nut should be torque to a minimum of 80 ft. lbs. I torque them to 100 to be sure. You may not be tightening them enough.

shadowman

what i find really odd about this is that its not stripping the hub before axle breaks..........is this always on the same side? by all common sense that axle should strip the hub before it breaks thats a very common problem with E-Z,s they strip hubs bigtime..........i used to keep 15 of them a month and go thur them in a month i can,t tell you whats goinjg on but be sure to post what you find, only good thing is axles arn,t that expensive and not hard at all to install........................................... ...

LongbeardExpress

My brother in law replaced the axle, hub, and bearing this afternoon. He said the bearing was rough as a cob so maybe the bearing was locking down and the inertia of the cart moving just sheared the axle? I cant explain why just the hub didnt strip. Guess well find out if that really fixed it some time in the next 12-18 months. Thanks for your help guys.

Ryan