Straightening bent axles?
 

my back right tire sits crooked. its not the bearings so i think the axle tubing is bent. can it be straightened? its a dana 44. i would just replace it but i have lift blocks welded to the axle and i dont know if they can just be torched off. help?

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

you can always convert to 3/4 ton or even 1 ton????

depends on how their welded to the axle. you way be axle to get a grinder and grind the welds till you can persuade it to come off with a big hammer

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

Have you spun the rear wheel to make sure the axle shaft itself isn’t bent? It takes a good whack to bend an actual housing axle tube to the point where it changes the toe setting. If that indeed happened, you will be better off swapping in a different rear axle assembly.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

^^^^ x2 ^^^^

Blocks are cheap.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

I bent the housing on my blazer about 20 years ago.
I broke the axle and it came out while I was trying to get the blazer out of other peoples way. I replaced the axle and didn't think about the housing being bent. After replacing the axle seal twice--Duh! I had to put another rearend in.
A new rearend would be the easiest fix for you.
Otherwise, check this site out.
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ar_end_housing

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

they are 8'' lift blocks. is there a possibility that i could cut them off and use them on the new axle?

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

yeah,I would think you could cut/grind them off.Maybe cut the saddles from the housing then cut/grind/clean them off the block.You`re trashing the housing anyway.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

[QUOTE=blklblsk8tr13;3534952]they are 8'' lift blocks. [QUOTE]

8" lift blocks:exit: That sounds scary.
Do you get a lot of wheel hop?

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

I had the same thought and meant to warn there`d be a reaction over that.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

Personally I would throw the 8" blocks away with the bent housing.....they are both bad.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

Oh boy, 8" blocks? And on the front axle! Hurry and get 8" springs.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

Hmmm...I didn`t get that.I though we were talking about the rear end.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

Is this dana 44 in the REAR of a full size truck??????
I'd look for a 14 bolt with new springs and down size or eleminate your blocks all together.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

He said his right REAR tire sits crooked

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

chevy used the 44 rears in 4x4 from 60-66ish.

its a 44, its got 8" blocks, its wasted.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

A Dana44 rear is every bit as good as a 12-bolt.That`s not the problem.It takes alot to bend any housing...alot!

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

theres a problem with all this "replacement" talk. im 18 and spent my life savings on this truck. i am broke. hahaha my theory is ill wait till it breaks to replace things. how many psi should i run in my swampers?

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

what size are your swamps? I run 10 psi in mine. And i should be running lower, maybe 8. i have bead locks though. However on my old K30 with 44's and no bead lock 16.5" rim i ran 10 to 12 psi with those and had no problems. Swamps like to be low

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

8" blocks, welded to the housing, does not sound good!!!! But on the plus side, yes you can straighten housings to a point. If they are bent in one spot, it can be done, if it is a s bend then no. many years ago my uncle built a 70 nova drag car witha 9" rear, inorder to have the slicks under the car he narowed the axle housing. Unfortunatly he did not use a jig, and the axle housing was a little off when done. He pulled it apart and took it to a shop that narrows axles. They put it in a hydraulic bender,press kind if thing and straightend it right out.
In your case, you need to see if the labor of tearing down the axle, finding a shop with the said machine , paying them, and then a reasembley is worth the $$$ compaired to just replacing the whole thing. I would say replace and upgrade, you can find a used axle in the wrecking yard for a couple hundered. Once metle is bent, and then bent back, that will be a week spot that will bend easier than the first time.

some frame shops can do a half arss
sraighten if you can see where it is bent. They will put a stand under the axle where it is bent and chain the rest down, them push or pull on the end or the axle to bring it close to where it needs to be. If you fin a shop with an alighment rack as well they can do this with the alighment heads on the wheels so they can tell when the camber and toe are where they need to be. This also would mean that you would not have to take it all apart. The success of this methed would depend on the shop used , there experiance doing this, and how badly it is bent. If you take it to a frame shop and ask them, they should beable to take a free look and see if they can do anything.
I would try this first if you are on a tight budget.

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

I had a slightly bent axle in My Jeep. I used a chunk of chain and a Bottle jack and something to keep the chain from slipping off of the jack end. I used a piece of square tubing and slid over the end of the jack. Wrap the chain around the side that is bent out from the pumpkin and the other end close to the center unless both tubes are bent then wrap both ends away from the center(pumpkin) stick the jack between the center and the chain and jack till it straightens. You probaly should wear some gloves and some saftey glasses. It will slowly pull it back straight or close to it.
You may want to reinforce with a truss or something so it does not bend again. I used a Piece of round pipe over the top of the Pumpkin bent down to each tube.
Hope this makes sense
Ron

Re: Straightening bent axles?
 

you can probably find another axle for very cheap... then i'd spend money on new springs if you want that much lift... or this might be a perfect time to downsize because it sounds like it's built to big for 1/2 ton axles anyway...

someone will trade you tires, rims and springs I bet.. Then you would have a better driving, safer truck as well.

heck, I sold a 12 bolt for $50 and my next option was 5 cents per pound at the scrap yard.