Broken Axle Shaft

Realizing that all mechanical things eventually break, and in full awareness that my VX is pushing 140K miles, still I found myself surprised and irritated to learn that in the course of just driving down the street, apparently my VX decided to shear off an entire structure supporting bolt and, in the process, destroy an axle shaft.

The mechanic actually said to me "uhh, did you hit a pothole?". :upsetgray

I'm thinking to myself "This guy's kidding right?!". I live and work in metropolitan NYC. Drive in the Northeast and you are GOING to hit potholes. Every. Single. Day. <sigh>

So now we are in the process of putting Mr. VX back together again. And while this is happening, I thought maybe I should put this post up and ask how many of you guys have encountered similar issues. And while we're on the subject, for the more knowledgeable in the group, I also wonder if there are any other weak links that may fall off, explode, break or otherwise dissolve between now and say the next 10K or 20K miles.

Finally, and just to make things particularly fun, my VX is drinking oil like it's liquid crack cocaine. Yesterday, I was down about 1 quart and my temp gauge started rising ominously towards the H line. So I added a quart and it seemed to improve. Still though. I have to confess. While I LOVE the looks of my VX I am becoming fatigued by the constant babysitting and string of seriously expensive repairs that seem to go with the territory.

And just in the interest of complete honesty, I have found myself gazing longingly at low mile Hummer H3's. Sacrilege? Maybe. :yeso:

What is a "structure supporting bolt"?

Well, it appears from your photo gallery that your VX is both lifted and has bigger/wider tires. That ='s more stress on your axles, axle shafts, bearings, etc. In short, if you're driving a modified vehicle, expect stuff to break more often...just sayin'...