Front right impact - Bent Axle? (1 Viewer)

[musthave]

Cruiser hit on front right. Punctured tire, mangled bumper. Up on Jack stands now, having a look.

Front diff is leaking a black slightly green fluid on the bottom. Sway bar brackets a little mangled. Here are some pics.

Could the impact have bent the whole housing? Just the axle? Pinion?


Top of diff is dry, no leaks from up higher. From one of the pics it looks it's leaking at the seam.

 

[musthave]

 

[inkpot]

Fluid is certainly gear oil. Have never seen axle bend there, check torque on those bolts. Radius arm looks very bent also. May have caused damage to bracket on axle.

 

[ewillis]

Impacted with what exactly?

 

[musthave]

Impacted with what exactly?

Impacted with another vehicle. It was at a slow speed and no body damage other than bumper.

 

[Dragos80]

Impacted with another vehicle. It was at a slow speed and no body damage other than bumper.

Do you want to reconsider your statement?
Maybe substitute "another vehicle" with tank?

Then I believe it when you say at low speed.

 

[inkpot]

So the other vehicle went under yours and hit your tire?

 

[BILT4ME]

Based on the oil that appears to have been on the axle prior to the collision, it MAY have been leaking already and the extra tweaking didn't help it.

I would tighten the bolts and see if that cures it.

My PO took on a guardrail with the RF corner and sheared one lower steering bolt and loosened two more. It did NOT bend the axle, but it does show another 0.2 degree in caster than the left side.

You most likely have a bent sway bar, torn up sway bar mounts and bushings, probably a bent track bar, and definitely one (maybe two) bent radius arms and assume torn bushings.

How about a few wide-angle shots of photos?

 

[Darne]

When the S series Jaguar hit my truck it started at the front DS fender just behind the front tire and drug down the rig until the Jag bumper hit the DS rear wheel. Punctured the tire, but didn't break the wheel. Bent the axle housing back about 3 inches. It was easy to see the bend. I was going about 25 MPH and Jag was going less than 20. Time to get the long straight edges out and start measuring.

Good luck!

 

[bajaphile]

Ugh! Looks like your radius arms are bent for sure. Looks like the axle itself was shifted about the radius arm pivots. Hard to say if the axle housing itself is damaged. Since the radius arms bent like that, there is a chance the axle was stiff enough to avoid damage in that direction. I'd personally check for straightness in radius arms, tie rod, drag link, and panhard. Rebuild axle on that side and check for damage in knuckle components.

 

[jvazquez53]

The axle could be bent, however it has to be a serious hit. The control arms look bent and probably they are, they are not that strong. It happenend to me about two years ago A mercedes hit my truck on the passenger side by the front wheel. Axle, control arms, and frame bent, crank case busted etc.... Mysteriously, the short end of the axle housing tends to bend easier than the longer. The fluid is gear oil contaminated with water. I had the same leak as you can see...

 

[Tools R Us]

Cruiser hit on front right. Punctured tire, mangled bumper.
...

Also check the steering stuff, especially the sector shaft for twist.

 

[LINUS]

I bent a axle shell & it manifested the same way - I had it puke the diff fluid & I ATE the drive cuff in the 3rd member on the PS. Shattered it, also ate the splines off the inner side of inner driveshaft.

By rudimentary use of carpenter squares I figured I had only about a generous 1/4" out of true on that axle, and it still ate all those parts.

It also was a suspect for why my PS spindle was scored severely, but my DS was picture perfect for a ~100K 80 axle back when I did all that.

At least @cruiserdan had a kid in college - the way I kept ordering parts over that I would have bought a whole used axle if I knew how bad I'd bent mine.

I asked Christo at one point forever ago, he said bending a front shell isn't a feat of insanity, he'd seen it more than a few times.

 

[jvazquez53]

I bent a axle shell & it manifested the same way - I had it puke the diff fluid & I ATE the drive cuff in the 3rd member on the PS. Shattered it, also ate the splines off the inner side of inner driveshaft.

By rudimentary use of carpenter squares I figured I had only about a generous 1/4" out of true on that axle, and it still ate all those parts.

It also was a suspect for why my PS spindle was scored severely, but my DS was picture perfect for a ~100K 80 axle back when I did all that.

At least @cruiserdan had a kid in college - the way I kept ordering parts over that I would have bought a whole used axle if I knew how bad I'd bent mine.

I asked Christo at one point forever ago, he said bending a front shell isn't a feat of insanity, he'd seen it more than a few times.

On my case I found a full front axle, still I had to replace tie rods, hood, bumper, headlight, air intake hose, transmission and motor mounts, crankcase, steering column, control arms and some other parts that I don't remember right now. Lots of $$$ but the truck now is my daily driver

 

[Dragos80]

Why did you get rid of the damage multiplier?

 

[jvazquez53]

Why did you get rid of the damage multiplier?

Look at the "after picture" The one with the ARB. The "damage multiplier" had no adverse effect this time...

 

[musthave]

The sway bar mounts were ajar but I was able to get them off. The lower control arm is bent. It looks like the control arm took the brunt of the impact. The bracket that is welded to the frame is bent, not sure how I will get that straightened out.

 

[musthave]

Bent bracket for control arm.

 

[musthave]

The pan hard and torsion bar look OK.

 

[Dragos80]