How hard is it to Cut and Turn a Front Axle

[JONNYFJ]

Hey guys my friends mini has the worst drive line angle I have ever seen. We just put an new front 8" on it (cause he thought he was at monster jam and ramped a cobalt) it trashed the front end of the mini, so back to the ? how hard is it to cut and turn the axle to correct the pinion angle I have a torch a mig welder and could build a jig what more do I need

[boots4]

There are two popular ways to cut into the housing: a large pipe cutter or an angle grinder. I think it would be hard to regulate depth with a torch so you don't want to use that. When Cn'T you are only cutting through the axle housing and not the knuckle that is inserted into the housing. I used a grinder and cut down a little more than 1/4" and used a long BFL to spin the knuckle in the housing.

Now that adjusts the caster but not the pinion angle. For the pinion angle you need to either rotate the spring perches by cutting them off and re-welding or use angled shims to rotate that pinion up or down, which ever way you need to go. This should be done first with the weight of the rig on the axle and then the Cn'T should be adjusted to the desired caster angle.

It really is pretty easy, just need to make a few good measurements and you are golden. There are several threads on Cn'T showing this in more detail.

[HawkDriver]

In the tech links up top Woody has an excellent article under the front SOA section with great pictures for reference. Boots summed it up though.

Here's the article

[CreeperSleeper]

I've watched it being done and I couldn't believe how simple it was. I wouldn't hesitate to do it on my own rig (or my wife's for that matter...).

[JONNYFJ]

Originally Posted by CreeperSleeper

I've watched it being done and I couldn't believe how simple it was. I wouldn't hesitate to do it on my own rig (or my wife's for that matter...).

Damn it must be easy if you would tap into the wife's rig. Question is would she be willing throw her rig on the chopping block

[CRZA1]

Not very difficult. Disassembly half a day. Cut, Turn Weld half a day. Reassembly half a day. Could be done in a weekend for sure. I spread mine out over two nights after work and a saturday. Cleaning the nuckle stuff was the most time consuming part. I did mine bolted to the truck. Much easier this way. Once the cut is deep enough and you bang the housing to release the slip fit a bit it turns fairly easy with a big lever.

[bustanutley]

Its as hard as the name implies, cut, then turn.

[CruisinGA]

Originally Posted by bustanutley

Its as hard as the name implies, cut, then turn.

Woah man, stop being so helpful.

[bustanutley]

Originally Posted by CruisinGA

Woah man, stop being so helpful.

What can I say, i'm a really a teacher at heart

[zuluzeugma]

The first time it is kind of nerve racking if you have never watched anyone else doing it. Once you have done it once, its very very easy... Go for it, read articles and threads here FIRST, then go for it.

[supermanrs]

A lot of people say you need heat to turn the knuckle. When I did mine, I just grabbed the smallest part of the knuckle with my really big channel locks, and tapped the handle with a dead blow. I was able to turn the knuckles very slowly, and make small adjustments to get them just where I wanted them. Unless you have a really big bench vise, bolted in the truck is probably easiest. I pulled my axle out of the truck, did all of the cutting, then bolted it back in the truck to turn the knuckle. Hope that helps.

[Vortec_Cruiser]

Be sure to use an angle finder (digital), so both sides are turned the same amount.

[Jakes40]

the hardest part is geting the two sides the same deg. IMO I used a pipe cuter it worked like a champ just finished mine!

[roscoFJ73]

Whats the approximate degrees you need to turn them? I know it varies from rig to rig,so what is a ballpark figure

[woody]

Originally Posted by Jakes40

the hardest part is geting the two sides the same deg. IMO I used a pipe cuter it worked like a champ just finished mine!

measure before you turn, and you'll find they aren't the same stock....

mine was a total of about 14 degrees....once the perches went back on, it ended up 12 at the pinion and 2 at the knuckle (final knuckle was +3 caster, versus +1 caster for stock)

....course that was a LONG time ago....'best' accurate method is to set under the rig, full weight on it (jackstands) and set the pinion to where you want it to be...lock into place then turn the knuckles....unless you are gonna continue to run 235 tires with a spring over (hahaha), you'll want more than the factory +1 caster (upper trunion bearing 1* back of the lower trunion bearing...put a stick thru the holes and the point on the ground is ahead of the axle) - odds are you'll want +3 or +4....