Cars are fine pieces of machinery, and while they will run smoothly for years if you maintain them properly and use basic common sense when driving, life happens and sometimes parts of your car are unavoidably broken.
There are some parts of your car that can be broken without affecting the integrity of your vehicle. You can live with a bad AC (unless it is unbearably hot where you live), a ruined windshield wiper, or even some faulty electronics, but your axle is not something to mess with.
A broken axle can and will cause you to lose control of your vehicle and can cause, at the very least, even more damage to your vehicle, and at the worst, injury to yourself or someone else.
But how do you know if your axle is broken?
Here are a couple of sure fire ways to find out.
1. The Sound
The first thing you should do if you suspect a broken axle is to turn your car on and put it into gear and if you hear a loud clunk or sputtering, odds are your axle is broken.
2. Drive Carefully
Another easy way to determine if your axle is broken is to slowly drive down the street and if you notice weird rumbling or vibration whenever you accelerate your axle may be broken.
What to Do?
Simple, take the car to a mechanic immediately. Only a certified and trusted mechanic will be able to tell you if your axle really is broken. Better safe than sorry.