Should i be concerned??

I found a great deal on some sweet axles. This guy rolled his XJ and is selling it as is... however it has a rear 44 w/chromoly shafts, arb, 4.56, disc brakes. front is HP 30 arb,4.56. jeep also has RE 5.5 lift, teraflex 4:1, sye, etc etc...

my question is how concerned would you be with the axles after a roll (or a few) on the road? i know he lost the front passenger side tire, and the lower passenger side control arm mount is bent... however, the thing started up afterwards, and they dollied it back into town from the accident. he said nothing was bent, no leaks, and is mechanically fine.

how concerned with the rolling would you be when looking at these axles?? could it screw up the alignment? steering stuff? axle shafts? gears? lockers?

thanks in advanced!!

After a slight roll offroad, I'd definitely buy the stuff, but if he flipped it a few times on the pavement, plus a wheel broke off?? I'd shy away unless you can get them checked out and make sure they are perfectly straight.

sunburned said:

After a slight roll offroad, I'd definitely buy the stuff, but if he flipped it a few times on the pavement, plus a wheel broke off?? I'd shy away unless you can get them checked out and make sure they are perfectly straight.

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ya, I dont know. and the wheel didnt break off, the tire came off, i bet the bead just broke and came off the wheel. but when i see the aftermath pictures, the rolling doesnt seem to harsh, because the bushwackers are still all on, and there isnt TOO much body damage, for landing upside down (the windshield didnt even bust all the way off)

Well what are you planning on doing with it? Stripping down and using the parts or are you trying to repair the damage? Plus how much is he asking? If you are getting it for parts for your rig and the price isn't too high I would say go for it.

xxmidianxx said:

Well what are you planning on doing with it? Stripping down and using the parts or are you trying to repair the damage? Plus how much is he asking? If you are getting it for parts for your rig and the price isn't too high I would say go for it.

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price wise, it pretty much needs to work with little to no more money put into it. and he said if his wife would let him he would have just transfered everything over to another cherokee...

sunburned said:

I'd shy away unless you can get them checked out and make sure they are perfectly straight.

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im lucky enough to have a family member be able to look at them before i commit to the purchase.

so when looking at the axle (im mostly concerned with the condition of the front, im pretty sure the back is okay) can most potential problems be seen just from looking at the condition, wether its bent or not. should i also be concerned with the condition of the control arm mounts?

pyrotyro said:

I found a great deal on some sweet axles. This guy rolled his XJ and is selling it as is... however it has a rear 44 w/chromoly shafts, arb, 4.56, disc brakes. front is HP 30 arb,4.56. jeep also has RE 5.5 lift, teraflex 4:1, sye, etc etc...

my question is how concerned would you be with the axles after a roll (or a few) on the road? i know he lost the front passenger side tire, and the lower passenger side control arm mount is bent... however, the thing started up afterwards, and they dollied it back into town from the accident. he said nothing was bent, no leaks, and is mechanically fine.

how concerned with the rolling would you be when looking at these axles?? could it screw up the alignment? steering stuff? axle shafts? gears? lockers?

thanks in advanced!!

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Dude! Where in Colorado are you? And where is this rig at? If you pass on it, please share the details with the rest of us! If you keep it we want to see pics of the carnage and then of your install...

Im in durango, but im afraid if i told you where it was, id have to kill you...:shhh:

anyways, i think im gunna go for it, if for nothing else then the 6 grand worth of parts... and i will definately post some pix

To do a quick check on the front axleto see if it is bent, you can use the old string trick. Pull a string tight from beside the pumpkin on the axle tube and then hold it tight against the axle tube against the knuckle. It should run straight with the axle tube. There could be damage to the knuckles or the ball joints as well. Check the control arm mounts on the axle as well, both upper and lower. And just use common sense when checking it over, like looking for broken paint on any item caused from stress or cracks on any visable weld. If available, jack one side up at a time and shake the wheel for any excess play etc. The steering will need checked over as well to be safe. Use the string trick on the tie rod to see if it is bent more then the naked eye could see. These are just a few methods of checking items over. I buy about a half dozen wrecked XJ's a year to build or part out and these are some of the steps that I use when doing a quick site inspection on the vehicles.

XJ&TJ4ME said:

To do a quick check on the front axleto see if it is bent, you can use the old string trick. Pull a string tight from beside the pumpkin on the axle tube and then hold it tight against the axle tube against the knuckle. It should run straight with the axle tube. There could be damage to the knuckles or the ball joints as well. Check the control arm mounts on the axle as well, both upper and lower. And just use common sense when checking it over, like looking for broken paint on any item caused from stress or cracks on any visable weld. If available, jack one side up at a time and shake the wheel for any excess play etc. The steering will need checked over as well to be safe. Use the string trick on the tie rod to see if it is bent more then the naked eye could see. These are just a few methods of checking items over. I buy about a half dozen wrecked XJ's a year to build or part out and these are some of the steps that I use when doing a quick site inspection on the vehicles.

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thats a great idea!! thank you,

do you ever run into any problems w/ wrecked xjs with any of this stuff?

Depending on price I'd buy it and part whyat you don't use. I can use a Tera 4-1 for an Auto

The main problem I have ran into is the control arm mounts being bent. The control arms are so flimsy from the factory they are the weak link and give out first, and sometimes I have them with bent mounts if it was hit hard, like a ditched vehicle. Bent axles are not an overly common problem on the units I look at. If the axles are bent, that is not a deciding factor for me usually b/c I have a few around most the time to replace with. With not seeing the vehicle pics of it being rolled, I am not sure where to lead you on this other then to just look it over and dont be too anxious to buy something "hoping" nothing is really wrong and then be screwed in the long run. Thats my $.02

Bent axles can be straightened.