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Front axle shoved backwards?

S

SeeJay

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lincoln, Ne
So I went out for alittle snow wheeling and came home with some damage....that I am not sure where to look first. I was coming down an incline and slid a bit to the bottom of the hill. At the bottom there was a kind of "trench" or something similar that both front tires hit at the same time. Here is a picture....

15545_680698088583_17219901_39279724_3837203_n.jpg


15545_680698582593_17219901_39279782_4301481_n.jpg


I hit this thing pretty hard and stopped the Jeep dead in its tracks. Didn't think much of it until we drove out of it and now the passenger side front tire rubs the fender where it never would rub before. It is rubbing so bad that it is actually cutting the outter lugs on the tire.

So now that I am pretty sure that the axle has physically been pushed backwards, what would have broke to cause it? Please help me out, I am cutting the fender more to keep it from rubbing tomorrow morning but something isn't right and I want to get it fixed as soon as I can.
 
Check your passenger side Control arm mounts, Lower control arm to be specific..

still trying to figure this out
 
check them both, axle and frame
check all the control arm mounts,
check all the linkage up front to be sure.
 
Bang it back or get a new one welded on.

It may not be a bent arm, it could be the bolts on the frame end which have some adjustment to them. It could have pushed them all the way back in the adjustment if they were not torqued or assembled correctly.
 
That is a possibility, I bought the Jeep with the arms already installed. Are those a cam style bolt where the LCA mounts on the frame end? If so I am sure there is some adjustment.
 
I'm gonna guess it's the mounting tabs on the axle for the LCA. They are very thin and easy to bend.

I was looking for a HP axle for my '01 and I guess karma got involved... I managed to run off into a ditch and badly bent the right side LCA mounts on the axle. When they folded over it forced the axle sideways enough to bend the trackbar too. Well, between them folding and the whole slamming into the ditch thing, it was enough to move the axle a couple of inches to the left and to push the right wheel back an inch or two. Aftermarket control arms and the body mounts were all OK. Had I wanted to keep that axle it would have been an easy fix, but it turned out good for me because I was able to pick up a freshly geared to 4.56 HP Dana 30 the next day!
 
Bending the LCA mount on the axle could really force the axle back though? I am open to all ideas but I don't think the axle was ever bottomed out on the ground where it could have been bent, maybe bent by the force of the arm moving...not sure.
 
SeeJay said:
Bending the LCA mount on the axle could really force the axle back though? I am open to all ideas but I don't think the axle was ever bottomed out on the ground where it could have been bent, maybe bent by the force of the arm moving...not sure.
Click to expand...
if your axle was shoved back.. then the 4 control arms are the only thing attaching it to the body.... you tell me..
 
nw-xj-scott said:
if your axle was shoved back.. then the 4 control arms are the only thing attaching it to the body.... you tell me..
Click to expand...

Which is why I was wondering if that could cause the mounts themselves to bend? The bent LCA mount threads that I have looked up in the searches on this forum seem to be caused by slamming down onto a rock, stump, etc.

I will take a look tomorrow after thawing it out in the garage for awhile. Will post some pictures to see what you guys have to say.

Thanks for the tips on what to check.
 
All the control arm mounts are capable of bending without actually being slammed down onto anything. I've seen it happen on a few vehicles.

I did this without slamming it down onto anything, in actually a rather similar situation to you. I would check your axle for this.

100_0093.jpg


This DID move my axle back. What nw-xj-scott was saying in his post was if the control arm mount bent, and the control arms are the only thing holding the axle to the body, then obviously bending the control arm mounts will move the axle. The control arm lengths are not changing, so a busted mount will move the axle in relationship to the body.
 
Last edited:
what to check? your front end!
have you physically LOOKED under the front end? should be pretty obvious what bent, anyone else is just speculating (probably pretty accurately)

if it's axle side, unless youve got money in your axle, just replace the axle w/ a junkyard one of matching gears and style.

if it's frame side, it could be time to go long arm!
 
xcm said:
what to check? your front end!
have you physically LOOKED under the front end? should be pretty obvious what bent, anyone else is just speculating (probably pretty accurately)

if it's axle side, unless youve got money in your axle, just replace the axle w/ a junkyard one of matching gears and style.

if it's frame side, it could be time to go long arm!
Click to expand...

Haven't gotten a chance to really check it out, its packed with snow and ice at the moment. Wind gust of 40-50mph last night and pretty nasty windchill didn't have me to interested in crawling around under the Jeep haha. I am taking it to my parents garage today to take a better look.
 
Yeah, sounds like bent LCA brackets. OEM ones are only like 1/8 plate, not that thick, if it's the axle end ones and you haven't regeared (I forget if you said that on page 1) you could probably replace the whole axle for a hundred bucks at a scrapyard. Either that or hammer the bracket straight again, then plate it and/or add gussets.
 
Found the culprit, passenger side LCA mount on the axle is completely destroyed. It is bent in towards the drivers side more than an inch, obviously helping my tire and fender meet eachother every turn I make.
 
Sounds like time for the BFH, vise grips, and some plating/gusseting! Assuming the axle tubes are still true that is, you might want to check that before you bother starting to fix it.
 
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