Front axle housing - How to determine if it is bent?

[rolnblok]

Background - Last spring I bought a set of locking axles from a wrecked cruiser. I did not pull the axles from the vehicle, but rather the pair were delivered to me. I believe it was hit on the passenger front as the control arm on that side was bent/bowed pretty good toward the driver side. The driver arm looked fairly straight. The rear is installed and works/locks just fine.

The front is still on jackstands waiting for me to get it installed. However, as I look at this axle housing setting there, it sometimes looks a bit bent. Yet I can not see any marks where the paint is flaking as it might from a bad bend. I am hesitant to clean the housing and RR the birfs, replace seals, etc. until I convince myself the housing is true. Herein lies my problem. Standing over and looking straight down, the pass side sometimes looks bent rearward, but other times it does not. I know this is not precise so I tried researching.

I have read many posts on bent axles, one even idicated they used a carpenter square to find a housing 3/8" out of true. I can not figure out how to do this. I can not find good points to run a straight edge on to take measurements, say to the knuckle ball. I know it sounds simple, but I can not get my self pointed in the right direction. Any suggestions on how best to proceed with determining if this is bent or not?

Much obliged.

 

[Walking Eagle]

I had one that was bent. Didn't look it, but the rear was definately bent. I think my brother wanted the locker out of it and I could fit just that in my folks trunk, but not the whole axle. When I started taking it apart I couldn't get the axles out. Just a little bend was enough to lock everything together so I couldn't pull them out. Cut the housing to release the pressure and they popped right out.

So.... I guess if you try to pull the axles and they won't come out, it's bent. Unfortunately I can't say the oposite is true, that if they come out it's straight.

 

[js93cruiser]

Is it pretty hard to turn the pinion? Or does it spin fairly easy?

 

[sleeoffroad]

I would look at the steering stops on the axle housing. If they are bent it from impact of the knuckles on them you can be pretty sure it is bent. We have yet to see one that had bent steering stops and was straight.

 

[rolnblok]

Thanks for the replies. This project has been on the back burner for quite a while and thus this thread has been out of sight out of mind so to speak. One of the steering stops looks a bit bent toward the caliper. The pinion turns pretty easily. So I guess I may just modify my non-locker housing to accept the locker and swap the parts over.