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Bent axle housing/knuckle?

B

brewed4you

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Alberta
I've been lurking here for a while, finally found an actual need to post.

I have a completely stock (for now) 01 /w LP30 in the front.

Long story short, my drivers side tire is off camber. Had ball joints checked, shop said they were fine. Also just replaced sway bar links and bushings and track bar FWIW.

From what I've researched it sounds like I'm down to a bent housing or knuckle.

Is there any way I can check this myself? It looks a bit off from up close but from that close I'm not getting a good view of the whole axle.

Any help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated.
 
How have you determined that the camber is off ? How far is it off ? Any evidence of damage to the axle from an impact ?
 
It's off enough that it's very noticeable just by looking at it.
Passenger side tire is perfectly straight, drivers side leans in at the top quite a bit.
I've had several people look at it and they all agree that it leans.

I haven't noticed anything wrong with the axle other than what I mentioned about it looking funny, but that could just be the angle I'm viewing from, only seems to look like that from really close up. My eyes do suck though.

I'll go give it another once over and look for any signs of impact that I may have missed.
 
What does the alignment technician say ? Bent is not impossible, just extremely improbable.
 
Here is how I found out mine was bent, and I wouldn't suggest you try it unless you have a spare axle laying around.

I pulled the axle shafts out. The pax side one bound a little getting out. When I tried to reinstall it wouldn't seat in the carrier. I pulled the carrier out and put the shafts back in and saw that the pax side one entered the differential at an upward slant.

Visually, I couldn't tell anything while it was under the Jeep. Once I pulled it and put it sawhorses I could see the bend.

Popped in a new axle (thanks Shrek) and worked just like it should!
 
Unfortunately I do not have a spare axle lying around so I won't be removing the shafts. My dad is going for a bike trip with the owner of the shop this weekend so they will talk about it and probably get it in again next week.

I was just hoping there was some way I could check into it from home without tearing the axle apart.

Tim - If a bend is highly improbable what are other possibilities for the tire being this way? I thought I had pretty much exhausted all my other options.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Talk with the alignment technician. Have him measure all the axle specifications.

"Looking" like it is bent, and being bent is two different things. You need data to make a diagnosis. Get the printout from the alignment machine.

A well equipped shop will have an alignment rod that goes from knuckle to knuckle through the diff. Bent axle tubes or knuckles will result in different measurements at the ends of the alignment rod.
 
Alright I will book it in for that.

Will a junkyard HP30 and matching driveshaft bolt right in if the axle does turn out to be shot?
Just trying to figure out my options, it's already starting to cool off around here and I'd like to get this all done while the weather is still decent.
 
brewed4you said:
Will a junkyard HP30 and matching driveshaft bolt right in if the axle does turn out to be shot?
Click to expand...


Shouldn't be any problem with that at all. I had a LPD30 in my 2001 and I replaced it with an HPD30 from a 1986 and used the 2001 shafts, knuckles, unit bearings.

I'd say...good to go!
 
brewed4you said:
Will a junkyard HP30 and matching drive shaft bolt right in if the axle does turn out to be shot?
Click to expand...

You may need some lift to keep the HP D30 drive shaft from contacting the exhaust down pipe.
 
Cottontail - was yours stock when you installed the HP or did it have lift? I'd prefer not to smash up my exhaust.

I was planning on buying an HP30 to build up anyway, originally planned to install at the same time as a lift but if I have to work my way around installing early then that's fine. Even if I have to use spacers or something temporarily.

Jeep is booked in for Tuesday, the guy at the shop said they don't have the facilities to check for a bent axle (I'm in a small town) but we're going to confirm that camber is off, make sure everything else is good, and go from there.
 
Just picked the Jeep up. Alignment was out by a lot despite following the alignment procedure on go-jeep. The overall toe-in was set to 1/16, but the driver side was 19/32 and passenger side was -17/32.
I'm confused why everyone does driveway alignments like this if they don't work? Or did I just screw it up somehow?

Caster was within spec.

Camber is -1.46 on the drivers side and +0.46 passenger side. Tech said something is probably bent a little although they don't have the alignment rod Tim spoke of to confirm.
Tech recommended I just rotate my tires regularly instead of screwing around with offset ball joints.

Alignment print out also says rear toe has been set to -1/16??? I wasn't aware this was even possible. Can someone explain please?
 
brewed4you said:
Cottontail - was yours stock when you installed the HP or did it have lift? I'd prefer not to smash up my exhaust.
Click to expand...


I have a 3.5" RE kit on mine with 31" tires. I just went and looked at mine. I suppose it might hit the exhaust with no lift, but it looks to me like it would have cleared.
 
I think I'll just leave it until I lift then Cottontail. The driver side tire isn't wearing much on the inside and it'll be fine through the winter with all the snow around here.

@Talyn - That's what I thought, just wanted to confirm. Thanks.

I still plan on looking for an HP30 to swap as well as an XJ 44 if I can find one, have a couple of questions.
Is there any thing I can do besides visually looking at it to check for straightness? Would a level or square be of any use here?
Can they be straightened if they are bent? Once I have a good axle I plan on trussing it to keep it straight.
 
That was the plan, sorry if I was confusing. I was going to pick up an HP30 and check that it's straight, then build it up over the winter and swap it in when the weather is decent again.

Although, it might be a better idea to swap in a 44 if I'm going to go through all the effort of building the 30 to that point. I don't weld but know people who can do it for me and this is my DD so I need it to be as solid as possible. Broken shafts aren't much of an issue but I don't want to blow up the diff...I need to get to work.

I'm still deciding on lift but I'm liking the look of the BDS 6" kit. Goal is to run 35s in the end, possibly starting with 33s depending on the axle I end up with. I know 6" is a little high but I'm in alberta so I deal with mud more than rocks.

Any opinions on this? Also wondering about the whole alignment thing still.
 
I replaced the LP D30 in my 2000 XJ with a HP D30 from a 1999 XJ with no problem. My 2000 is completly stock and there is no problem with the exhaust downpipe.
 
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