Unbelievable corrosion on 2008 Jeep Liberty Front Axles

[Davidc1]

I took the wheels off my wife's Liberty last night to replace the brakes and noticed something I've never seen before. Both front axles (I only inspected the visible portions) and axle nuts were severely corroded into a yellow powder. I was able to easily remove chunks by hand. There is no hint of the hex feature left on the axle nuts and no remaining thread on the ends of the axles. We are the second owners and the Jeep has always been a daily driver, not a trail Jeep. These are the factory original axles.

At first I thought the problem might be more widespread but a quick check showed only the two front axles suffering from this extreme corrosion. I called Jeep sent these pictures to our dealership so we'll see if they help us out here.

I am an Engineer and deal with different steels a lot as well as some corrosion testing and have never seen corrosion like this before. Something weird is going on here but our dealership claims they never saw anything like this before.

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[johnny248]

I took the wheels off my wife's Liberty last night to replace the brakes and noticed something I've never seen before. Both front axles (I only inspected the visible portions) and axle nuts were severely corroded into a yellow powder. I was able to easily remove chunks by hand. There is no hint of the hex feature left on the axle nuts and no remaining thread on the ends of the axles. We are the second owners and the Jeep has always been a daily driver, not a trail Jeep. These are the factory original axles.

At first I thought the problem might be more widespread but a quick check showed only the two front axles suffering from this extreme corrosion. I called Jeep sent these pictures to our dealership so we'll see if they help us out here.

I am an Engineer and deal with different steels a lot as well as some corrosion testing and have never seen corrosion like this before. Something weird is going on here but our dealership claims they never saw anything like this before.

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See this all the time on Grand Cherokees, Commanders, Liberty's, pretty much all Jeeps from this generation.

 

[crustfate]

I was successful getting the old nuts off with a week long soak of pb blaster, a 34mm and a 35mm socket and a 30" long 1/2" breaker bar! I was worried I would have to cut them off! Here's a pic of old and new nuts.

 

[2008Liberty175k]

Hi all, first posting here, thanks for the forum

Wife's 2008 Jeep Liberty needed lower ball joints replaced. When shop removed the wheels, they discovered the rust on the drivers' side cv axle to be severely rusted and eroded. The passenger side wasn't as bad, but was replaced in 2017.

I have never seen this before either, so was shocked how much ours looked like the pictures with the original post.

Mechanic replaced both right and left CV axles and lower ball joints...need to keep this vehicle running as long as possible.

Thanks for all the postings and information.

 

[KJowner]

Wonder if it's been used on a beach or for boats? What is the bodywork like?

 

[2008Liberty175k]

The body looks ok. Never been used on the beach or for boats. Winters in MD aren't terrible, so don't know why the cv axle shaft and nut deteriorate like they do. Perhaps it does have to do with dissimilar metals? Certainly looks like the corrosion discussed in this article.

 

[KJowner]

Strange, I've got an 03 and a late 04 both in the UK where they sprinkle salt on the road like its going out of fashion. Both have had sills (rockers?) Welded but all the hub nuts are like new.

 

[Aeroscott]

As an engineer, I would argue a part exposed to the environment should be able to maintain it's integrity in that environment. This part has not. I suspect Galvanic Corrosion is at work here...

As a former Jeep dealership mechanic, we hate engineers, especially the ones that brag about it, recalls are usually the engineers fault tho they would never admit it...