Argghhh!!! Another bent axle housing discovered too late! Can it be saved?
 

I am trying to get this SAS done, but for the second time now I think I have wasted time with a bent axle.

The first housing I started with got all the way painted and was installing the pass side birfield when I noticed that the housing was bent back on the short side...

Into the junk pile it went, along with nice solid steering stops and a trailgear front diff guard.

SO.....

I bought this housing for $40 of CL, and now I believe it is bent upwards on the driver's side now.

I can lift the axle up to center in housing, but its normal resting place is down about 2mm at the axle seal location.

I still have a nice Ballistic upper truss, which is SOOOO much nicer in fit and design then the TG truss, but I don't want to waste it. My hope is I can find a way to flex it straight and then weld on the upper truss.

Thoughts?

https://i1206.photobucket.com/albums...1/DSC06045.jpg

https://i1206.photobucket.com/albums...1/DSC06048.jpg

This is why I buy new axle housings now. 25 year old ones have a tendency to get bent. :hillbill:

:wabbit2:

Bobby Long can fix these for you. He's located in Graham

Link to his posting on NW wheelers: http://www.nw-wheelers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53053

Link says he charges $100.00 to fix.

Longfieldsuperaxles.com
ORDER LINE 360-893-0235
TECH LINE 253-847-8254 OPEN 24 HOURS

where can you buy new housings from? sounds like something i might need to look into. sorry for the thread jack.

I'm going to check out Longfield and see if he can straighten it... I am tempted to weld up the upper truss first and then bring it to him so I know it is PERFECTLY straight.

I can't afford to spend $750 for an axle housing at the moment, regardless of how good it might be. One other reason I don't want to go with a new TG housing is that they are 3" wider then the stock housing, and i am planning on using IFS hubs so I can have slip-off rotors. If I use a Rock Assault housing it will be 6" wider!

Ah... Yes, that's a good kit that's also on my list of too many to do's:wrench:

Well, scratch the Longfield plan. He is no longer offering that service...

Does anyone know of anyone in the Snohomish county area that can straighten this? It seems like a pretty simple operation to me, but I don't have one of those great big steel welding tables where you could chain down the axle and start tweeking it....

Do machine shops do this?

I'd say your fine. Run a set of Marlin HD seals and call it a day.

http://www.diamondaxle.com/index.htma
and rock assault axles from trail gear. Both look pretty beef, more or less the same thing.

I believe Dave from Davez Off Road will straighten it. Give him a call. Shipping may nix the whole deal though.

http://www.davezoffroadperformance.com/

It's hard to tell from the picture how bent the housing really is (the axle is just resting/drooped), as good as our EcoSeals they are not the answer to a bent axle housing -- rather they are the answer to improperly shimmed knuckles.

BigMike

I understand that fact and agree completely. It may in fact not be bent that much. I think it may just be the axle resting. Without the proper tool it'd be hard for someone to say for a fact the axle housing was bent.

Basically I was saying put it together and see if it works before spending a lot on trying to fix an axle that may not be bent all that much.

If you turned the housing upside down, the axle would be in the same position it's in right now - pressed against the edge of the oil seal recess. If I pull on the axle shaft, I can pull it to almost reach the exact center of the housing, but it will return to it's "rest" position up against the oil seal...

It's bent, no question about that...

Pretty sure you can cut a relief notch on the top of the axle, then weld a small truss on the bottom of the axle to shrink the metal on the bottom, thus un-bending your knuckle.
then simpky re-weld up the top..

tried to find a writeup, but our search function is pretty terrible.

What year is that axle housing? I cannot tell from the pictures.

James

Thank you for the tip. If the shop I found can't straighten it, I will Try this method. Sounds like a good last-chance idea.

This is the type of information I was hoping for rather then the usual second-guessing.

It's an 85

Which tool are you referring too? Seems to me, installing the 3rd and sliding a straight axle shaft in should give you an excellent indication. My concern is that the axle is pushed up against the edge so firmly, how am I to install an axle seal with any hope of it lasting or sealing?

:( :(

see page 2 of this thread on how Dave's Off road straightened an axle