Best way to check if D30 housing is bent?

Well my XJ was parked on the street outside of my friend's house tonight and and a @#$@#$@# hit it. She crossed the road and hit my driver's side front corner head on....

Headlight bezel cracked, bumper slightly bent, fender bent...and worst of all she hit my tire, which pushed my XJ over up onto the grass over the curb about two feet! Bent my stock draglink and tore my driver's side lower control arm mount on the axle!!

I have Rusty's adjustable control arms (all 4) and they do not appear to be bent, nor does my Rusty's adjustable tracbar and hd tracbar mount.

However I do have AlloyUSA tube seals and the driver's side shaft doesn't appear to be fully centered in it...that is why I am wondering if the axle housing is bent. Which is the best way to determine if the axle housing is bent? I'd assume use a straight edge or something but with the differential housing in the way it might be harder to do that way...

It isn't drivable so it will sit there until insurance can come take a look at it or I can get it towed to a few body shops for estimates.

What a damn idiot I have to say, she was probably texting or something.....claimed an animal ran out into the road so she sweved into my parked XJ.

She must have been speeding as hell, because there appeared to be an explosion of plastic pieces from her Concorde scattered all over the road about 30 feet or so from the impact!

Unfortunately the officer on scene didn't make any measurements. I thought they were supposed to investigate the scene! Oh well, I have to wait for insurance now. But it doesn't look like I can get a rental either as I am below 25. So I guess I'm screwed. What a biotch! Didn't even get a sorry from her either.

Just put a D44 in it and be done with it. She's paying, right? :rtm:

If she has insurance all you have to do is insist that the repairs return your Cherokee to its same condition prior to the crash. If that means replacing the axle, make sure the insurance company includes the proper funds to do that. You can go to any repair shop of your choice. The insurance company will pay the normal standard rate for parts and repairs. You just have to be sure both you and the insurance company see the same amount and severity of damages. If you want, you can just get a check payable to you and do it yourself.

If there is any question that it might be bent, replace it. It doesn't take much to bend a d30 & housings are both cheap & available. Once they've been bent if you don't truss & gusset them they are prone to bend again.

I would point that out to the adjuster or the shop it goes to.

Bummer.

It's pretty likely that the housing/tubes are bent, or the outers are bent. I would push for a replacement axle and having it taken to a good frame shop to determine if the frame is compromised as well. Maybe they'll give you the cash value of a new axle and let you put it towards a D44?

Here's some pics. Not sure if the housing is bent but it appears the top of the driver's side knuckle may have bent, which is why the shaft isn't centered in the tube.









The rest can be seen here in my photobucket album

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b210/bbugaski/Accident 9-19-08/

Drivers knuckle is Fuk'd!! Tie rod is Fuk'd! Now go f**k the bitoch over!!

...

Yeah watch, the fawksticks will total it and give me crap $ for it because its a 95 with 205,000 miles on the clock. Would be my damned luck. I'll fawk her over if I do get a shitty deal on this though, I guarantee it.

a friend of mine got t-boned, driver side front tire, it snapped a balljoint, and bent the control arm mounts, similar to yours. and a leetle body damage, the tire was ok!

they totaled it, he got $2k and put it into long arms and a new 2wd housing.
the worst part is probably over, if she has insurance.

Hopefully my insurance agent will be able to get me in tomorrow, I just want to have a little meeting with him. I know they are swamped from all of the flooding that went on in my area...wish me luck with this entire situation.

Is the knuckle bent, can you really tell? For me it is hard to tell if it is bent or not, I haven't measured them to compare side by side either though.....

Bump?

Blaine B. said:

Is the knuckle bent, can you really tell? For me it is hard to tell if it is bent or not, I haven't measured them to compare side by side either though.....

Click to expand...

It definitely looks like something is bent if the drivers side shaft isn't sitting centered in the tube. Does it really matter if its the tube or the knuckle. Point that out to the adjuster and make them buy you a new axle.

Hey Blaine, did you get a chance to look for any cracks in the frame around your steering box bolts? That's one of those things the insurance guy probably won't (or don't want to) see when they do an estimate. I had a similar hit on my '88 and shortly thereafter I started getting the snapping noise while turning the wheel. Don't know if it was related, but wish I had known to look for it sooner...

If Insurance try's to low ball you, insist on like, kind and quality.(industry terms) :lecture:
good luck!

I didn't get a chance to look for cracks around the steering box as the Jeep is in the Cars Collision center lot...if I have to go out there again and talk to the adjuster on the spot (I have over $3,000 in receipts alone for stuff I've put into the XJ) I'll take a look then as well.