Bent Front Housing Diagnosis

[Douglas S]

I'm a little concerned I have a bent housing.

- Significant groove on the original long side axle shaft (I can take a pic tonight). To me this could indicate the shaft sitting off-centre in the seal. Truck has 96k miles so I did not expect wear this significant.
- I got maybe 20k miles since my last front axle service before the long side started leaking again
- birfields came out of the axle easily, but I always take off the knuckle housing before removing the shafts

I am planning to button it up this weekend with new chromo shafts and new spindles, but if this problem is going to repeat I would rather just source a new housing now and get it over with. Short of putting it all together and having an alignment check done, is there any way to verify if the front axle is or isn't straight?

 

[greentruck]

I'm a little concerned I have a bent housing.

- Significant groove on the original long side axle shaft (I can take a pic tonight). To me this could indicate the shaft sitting off-centre in the seal. Truck has 96k miles so I did not expect wear this significant.
- I got maybe 20k miles since my last front axle service before the long side started leaking again
- birfields came out of the axle easily, but I always take off the knuckle housing before removing the shafts

SNIP

I had mine apart at ~150,000 and there was what I'd call a significant groove apparent. Was it there 50k earlier? Don't know, but probably. If no other observable issues, if bent, can't be much. But I suspect you're seeing normal wear. A pic would be helpful here.

There are so many things that can go wrong with sealing on an axle service, hard to say that 20k is indicate of anything more than the luck of the draw there absent other indications of an unsquare axle.

What's your tire wear look like? That's a good leading indicator of serious axle twisties.

 

[richardlillard1]

If it's bent, why not straighten it?

 

[inkpot]

Check the spindle bushing on that side. If it is worn, it could allow significant wear on the shaft due to the runout. If the housing is seriously bent you should see obvious tire wear. I bent mine 3.6 degrees inward at the top. Doesn't sound like much but it was visually obvious. Started showing tire wear within a couple hundred miles. Took some crazy forces, but we got it bent back within spec. Drives great.

 

[Douglas S]

Reality is a lot less dramatic than the image I created in my head sitting at my desk this morning. I'll check the spindle bushing this evening.
I should also mention that, at least once, my front axle has been airborne. I managed to twist my sector shaft splines on that one which is part of what has me somewhat wary.

The long side definitely has significantly more wear than the short side.

 

[inkpot]

You can imagine what went thru MY head when I launched my rig. Took a turn way too fast, in the dark. It sent me off the shoulder, across an unseen canal. Front wheels hit the far wall and pitched the nose up pretty high. Rear wheels hit about the same place and that bounced the rear even higher. Porpoised the front back onto the ground, followed by the rear. My first thought was the fan should be tangled up in the radiator core and my steering should be trashed. Only obvious problem was all my sodas and ice had vaulted from the cooler on rear seat onto the front floor. So, drive on! Realized a couple days later that I bent the housing.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

That seams pretty normal looking to me, not really a sign of a bent housing I'd think. Then again mine looked similar and who knows if the housing was bent before me. However, the long side would warrant more wear I'd think, I mean think about how hard it is to get the long side in compared to the short simply due to leverage, the long side will also distort more during acceleration. Seems fine to me man, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[White Stripe]

If you jump your truck then you should consider a diamond or ruff stuff housing. Or truss it from knuckle ball to knuckle ball.

 

[inkpot]

If you jump your truck then you should consider a diamond or ruff stuff housing. Or truss it from knuckle ball to knuckle ball.

80s ain't jumpers! At least not intentionally. Only guy I know that did it on purpose bent his axle worse than what I did. He was in the dunes and was planning on a soft landing. Did not work out well for him. If I wanted a jumper I would build a mini truck up for it. I certainly did not plan my event, it was the result of over driving my sightline in the dark and driving in a huge dustcloud created my traffic ahead of me. There was absolutely no air moving, so the dirt just lingered in the air. I THOUGHT I remembered the route better than I actually did. The turn caught me by surprise. I am just happy that the trench was not a CLIFF!!

 

[Tools R Us]

If it's bent, why not straighten it?

Don't be silly, who would do that?!

The easy way to tell if it's bent, is to check the camber. Park the rig on a flat surface, get the steering as straight as possible. Use a big square (like a carpenters square) to measure the angle of the tires/rims to the ground, should be very close from one side to the other. Or if you have a good angle gauge, measure a flat surface on each rim.

 

[richardlillard1]

Don't be silly, who would do that?!

Some loser I know.

 

[Tools R Us]

Some loser I know.

Doesn't narrow it much, you know a lot of them!

 

[thatcabledude]

Is it possible the knuckle isn't centered? Perhaps missing a shim?

 

[Douglas S]

Is it possible the knuckle isn't centered? Perhaps missing a shim?

I don't think so. Knuckle is shimmed at the top for preload only, no adjustment to center the knuckle.

 

[Douglas S]

As an update/conclusion, I assembled the truck today. It's fine, within .5 degrees of 90 on both sides measuring in a way that is not the most accurate (flat face of wheel on presumably flat driveway).

 

[Douglas S]

Actually, for anyone that comes across this in the future, the best way to test for a bent housing is to use a level like the one above. Put it on the rotor/wheel face of one side and zero it. Then compare that measurement to the opposing side.

 

[ppc]

Also I would take the measurements then turn the truck in the opposte direction and repeat the measurements. Any differences would show that the ground was not perfectly level. Compensate for that difference and you should be able to determine what side of the axle is bent top to bottom. Determining front to back differences would be accomplished measuring diagonally from the front to rear axle to make sure everything is square.

 

[danakittilsen]

Timely finding this thread.
Last year I bought a set of factory elocker axles (fully hub to hub) from a shop in Edmonton that some of us know all to well. I should have known better, but the thought of factory elocker easy rebuild and swap out was really appealing. Some people have more money than sense, and by some people I mean me.
I finally got them to my mechanic @gnarlynick2072 OEM saint that he is, he started pulling them apart before I was free for us to work on it together. Long story short, the front axle housing is for sure bent.
I know there was some joking about just straightening the housing, I know it's not ideal, but is it possible?
Does anyone know of any shops in the Calgary area that they might recommend for this kind of work?
I remember a thread where someone was cutting and welding an 80 series axle housing, but i'm having trouble finding the thread again, anyone know of any other threads that might be pertinent?

 

[greentruck]

SNIP
I remember a thread where someone was cutting and welding an 80 series axle housing, but i'm having trouble finding the thread again, anyone know of any other threads that might be pertinent?

Ouch, the pain of a "good deal."

I think the thread you're remembering had to do with an extreme lift; cut, rotate, weld was to preserve steering geometry or something to that effect. If you have to take measures like that to get it straight, best find a better donor axle IMO.

 

[gnarlynick2072]

Pics worth a thousand words. Here's @danakittilsen front axle. Left side is obviously bent downward. Axle did not come out without a serious fight. Birf nowhere near centre in the knuckle when installed into 3rd