tc

Describe how you want me to take the measurement! (Pic would be a great help)

slosurfer

I just measured from where the axle connects to the diff. to where the axle enters the backside of the wheel. I'll see if I can get some pics right now. I am not so much looking for a number as much as I am looking to see if it measures different from side to side. I'll see if I can get my wife to crawl under there and snap some pics while I hold the tape, lol. Thanks,
Chris

slosurfer

Here are some pics, they are not the greatest, I kind of needed three hands to do this. These pics are from the driver side. Measuring this way, I got 14 1/8 in. for the driver side and 14 1/4 in. for the pass. side.

Driver side outer:


Driver side inner:


tc, thanks for offering to measure, I really appreciate it. Thanks,
Chris

Jake94

Sounds like you have a worn out spindle bushing. Real common problem on trucks w/ ADD, common enough on trucks w/ lock out hubs, that Toyota had a SSC on it and offers a upgrade to a bearing rather than a bushing.

What happens is, the inner bronze bushing gets worn and wallows out. When it does the stub shaft is no longer held centered in the spindle bore. With the short length and steep angles of the half shaft, add to that the added droop form the BJ spaces, the CVs tend to bind up. Usually occurs w/ the tulip joint but it can also effect the outer joint.. Most common symptom is; on cold mournings when you back up, you hear 3 'clicks' per wheel revolutions. You might get NO symptoms if your truck came with lock outs.

Think of it like this, If you install spring in the back of your truck that are way too tall, the drive shaft operates at a steeper angle and the U joints are now closer to their limit. The pinion angle may also have changed and the spring wrap up may further effect a change in pinion angle (in your case the stub shaft angle). Add to that the extra droop from the springs and eventually the U joints bind up and grenade.

slosurfer

Is there a way to check if the spindle bushing is bad? I just read a write up that said to put the front end on jack stands and see if you can move the cv axle back and forth. I'll try that tomorrow. I was just wondering if there were other ways to check. Also, this might be a stupid question, but which one is the "tulip" joint? Thanks,
Chris

Jake94

No need to put it up on stands, Just grab a hold of the shaft and yank it fore and aft. look for movement at the bell of the outer joint (right where the tip of your tape measure is)

Also pull the hub cover, remove the "gold bolt" the one w/ the washer that threads into the end of the stub shaft. Replace the gold bolt w/ a bolt w/ the same threads (IIRC one of the hub cover bolts work) Grab ahold of the head of the bolt w/ vicegrips and move it in and out. If it moves, grab hold and pull it out as far as you can. Using a feeler gauge measure between the 'C' clip on the end of the stub shaft and the outer bushing. 1mm or more means the thrust surface of the bushing are shot, and in my experience, the bushings are
walloed out as well.

*edit* Tulip=inner

sschaefer3

I put a set of those on and we went and wheeled the Hammers.

Nothing should bind and your stock bumpstops should be fine.

http://www.sonoransteel.com/san_dieg...olutions_.html

slosurfer

I think there is or was something wrong with the geometry on the driver side. The pass. side had no problems with the stock bumpstops, but I shimmed them a little because of the problems on the driver side. Something on the driver side was causing the inner boot to bind and tear at full droop. I just got an alignment and I am going to see if that helped. It definately made the driver side look more like the pass side so who knows. I just hope that I don't have a major front end problem on my hands. Thanks,
Chris

Jake94

Jumped in there with the spindle bushing 'cuz I've seen it happen more than once, that a worn bushing will cause half shaft bind. After sleeping on it, it might be something as simple as a bent upper bump stop bracket.

If' you are worried about the front end being out of wack get it to a good frame shop and have it checked out.

Strap22

You could be on to something. That is one reasoon Downey for years sold new Snubber brakets that you weld in place. Good call.....I hope that is all it is. He has been struggling with this far too long and I am out of suggestions. Keep us posted.

tc

Hmmmmm .... I get a strong 15-1/8" on the driver's side and a weak 15-3/16" on the passenger side, so essentially the exact same length side to side and a full inch longer than yours (boy that could start some interesting jokes...). But if the CV was really a full inch short, it would be impossible to get the circlip on to hold the shaft into the hub.

The pix were a great help!

slosurfer

tc, thanks man, I really appreciate that. I also have bj spacers on which will make mine shorter because they are angled more than yours. So, yours are essentially the same. When I measured mine before my alignment, the drivers side was 1/2 in. shorter than the pass. side. After alignment, I am within an 1/8 of the pass. side. I haven't had time to get out there and mess with the bumpstops yet to see if I am cured, hopefully tomorrow. By the way were you measuring to the center of where the axle bolts to the diff or all the way to the diff side. I don't know if that makes sense, but that could also be that extra in. you are getting. Either way it answered my question that they are the same side to side. Thanks Again,
Chris

slosurfer

I crawled under there tonight and yanked around and it seemed pretty solid. As far as the upper bump stop bracket, I will take a look at that right now. I am hoping to get this figured out this weekend. I appreciate all the suggestions, anything goes at this point. Thanks,
Chris

tc

I measured to the seam between the CV and the stub axle - that's where it looked like you measured in the pictures.

slosurfer

Well, I finally got out there today to see if my alignment had solved my issues. Before alignment, my driver side axle measured 1/2 in. shorter than the pass. side. (this is while the wheels were on the ground), after alignment the driver side was within an 1/8" of the pass. side. So, I put the original bumpstop back on with no shims. It did bind at full droop, but it looked much closer than before. I shimmed the bumpstop 3/8" and it does not bind at full droop anymore. This may be attributed to old bumpstops, because I was looking at them and they seem kind of weathered and soft. I am going to order some new ones to put on and see if that helps.

It seems that my caster and camber were so far off that it was affecting the actual length of my axle. (i.e. it forced the axle closer together, therefore when it drooped the same as the pass side it was actually a greater angle than the pass side) So far this is the only thing that makes sense so far, because an alignment was the only thing that has changed. Also, before I had it aligned, you could tell that the camber on the driver side was a lot farther out than the pass side. My advice to anyone that runs into this problem, would be to get an alignment right away and then check full droop again. If you are binding and you play around with it too much, you will tear the boot. Believe me I know, as it is the boot on there now has a very tiny pin hole from messing around with it when it was binding.

I would like to thank everyone for helping me out with this problem. It helped to know that other people were out there racking their brains for me. I want to especially thank Phil (strap22) for his help, he called me and tried to walk me through some things. I really like the ride with strap's setup (OME shocks, OME steering stabilizer, and bj spacers) also the customer service was great. Thanks again,
Chris

tc

So what is the measurement from the diff to the wheel now?

Glad you got it worked out!

slosurfer

I think it was 14 1/8" driver side, and 14 1/4" pass. side.