View Full Version : Need help on axle housing straightening.
I have a D44 rear axle that has some bow to it (guess I did it welding on a truss:rolleyes: :mad:) and need to straighten it a bit.
It bows down towards the middle (pumpkin) and appears to have about 1/4" rise at both ends.
I've seen the bottle jack methods, but was wondering if it might could be torch heated opposite sides of the truss to try and draw it back in the opposite direction.
Any ideas would be great.
Thanks.
out in the shop
10-20-2007, 05:54 PM
truss the top too, everything should equal out:D
The truss is on the top.
It is just there to tie the tubes together to keep the from spinning.
At this time looks like I'm going to try and bend it cold with the bottle jack method.
BMB
Silverback
05-06-2009, 03:19 PM
getting it red hot and letting it cool on the opposite side does work, but I don't have any cheap answers for knowing when they're straight, unless you have some ideas and I'd love to hear them. the only really good way I've seen to check straightness is bushings installed in the bearing locations to hold a straight rod from, but that's only as accurate as your rod is straight.
Nitesky
05-20-2009, 07:52 AM
It can be chucked into a rather large lathe and a dial indicator will tell the story. A machinist at work was a specialist in straightening bent shafts. He used to heat the high spot and then apply water to cool quickly. He had to chase the bad spot around for awhile until he got it.
To update this,
I pulled the axle, removed the brakes and shafts and put it on my welding table to check it.
It appeared that it must have been an optical illiusion, while in the vehicle. I checked it for straightness and couldn't find any bow.
I reassembled, put it back under the Jeep, and have been running it since with no issues.
BMB
old blue
05-24-2009, 01:01 PM
That's good that it's not bent. I would expect it to be near impossible to remove a significant draw caused by adding a truss because you'd be fighting the truss.