[Greeno]

Went out on weekend went backwards down a rough hill, hit bog hole, stopped instantly.
Tried again, had bad rubbing on guard on left side rear. Bump stop was missing the axle because it was an inch or so forward because of


Drove home sideways. Decided to remove arm and bend it back and do spool at same time.

SO! Pulling the driver side axle was a couple of whacks with a hammer and out it popped. The passenger side however was LOTS of banging with a hammer!
Straightened arm, put back in. Housing seemed in the right position. Driver side goes in nicely with a few bangs. Passenger side I had to hit (not so hard bit still) with a sledge hammer to get back in. All bolted up and the wheel is still slightly facing inwards. Drivers side looks alright now I think by untrained eye.

Is it more possible that the housing is bent not the axle itself? Or the other way round? Or both?
I would think because the axle had the bearings on it at that spot nice and snug that the force it took would have bent the housing not the axle....

Just trying to figure out which part I need to renew... Maybe should just do both?
Help?

[christover1]

I think a new arm is wisest.
Straightening a bent bit causes it to become weak,
it could break soon.

Axles can be hard yo get in, even when nothing is wrong.

Only proper measuring equipment can tell if housing is bent,
unless its clear to the eye.

Replace arm/s first, you may have warped the other side, too/

[Greeno]

Yep have prices for them, was just making it drivable. But in doing that it still crabs a little. Just ordered new bushes. Going to get pick up arms when I get a chance. 200 each I thought wasn't bad. Was expecting more anyways. Quoted 350 for axle housing.

Ill start at the arm then get it checked I guess. Diff shop for that?
I've never done axles before so no idea how hard it's supposed to be to get in or out. Just going on the drivers side which was in and out nicely.

[Gwagensteve]

I'd say there is no correlation between difficulty in removing an axle and a bent housing. That's not to say the housing isn't bent, you've obviously hit so,etching very hard.

I would imagine the quickest and cheapest way to check the housing is to get a 4 wheel alignment done. If the alignment picks up any toe or camber on the rear end, you have a bend.

I don't want to be a hater, but those rims will be placing greatly increased leverage on the housing and radius arms. Just sayin'

Steve.

[chris77]

A backyard way to see whats bend , jack the wheel up and place a heavy object close to it and spin the tyre . If the tyre wobbles relative to the block the axle is bent . If the wheel tracks true then the diff housing is possibly bent .

Chris

[sideways]

chris77 wrote:

A backyard way to see whats bend , jack the wheel up and place a heavy object close to it and spin the tyre . If the tyre wobbles relative to the block the axle is bent . If the wheel tracks true then the diff housing is possibly bent .

Chris

That will only happen if the wheel is bent. Sierra front ends are fully floating so even if you have a bent axle, CV or stub axle, it wont wobble.

Get a length of string and hold it taught across the length of the housing, you'l be able to see if it's bent that way.

Go over the brackets on the diff and make sure they aren't damaged. That's probably the most likely thing to be damaged.

[chris77]

sideways wrote:

chris77 wrote:

A backyard way to see whats bend , jack the wheel up and place a heavy object close to it and spin the tyre . If the tyre wobbles relative to the block the axle is bent . If the wheel tracks true then the diff housing is possibly bent .

Chris

That will only happen if the wheel is bent. Sierra front ends are fully floating so even if you have a bent axle, CV or stub axle, it wont wobble.

Get a length of string and hold it taught across the length of the housing, you'l be able to see if it's bent that way.

Go over the brackets on the diff and make sure they aren't damaged. That's probably the most likely thing to be damaged.

It must be really late here , cause that looks like a back axle to me . Its a bent rear arm anyway . There is the risk the rim is bent , to rule this out you could swap a good rim on and give it a spin .

[sideways]

Fuck I'm an idiot, for some reason I thought it was the front.

[alien]

if there's any bend in the control arm then its going to be shorter than the other side by a tiny amount... maybe not enough to make it crab, but coupled with bent mounts it might be...

IMO - get some new, heavy duty arms made out of some CRMO tubing, and have whoever is fabbing those also brace your mounts and gusset the diff housing... your zuk is about 1m wider than stock, you're gonna single handedly redefine coily drivers being bent.

[Fatzook]

alien wrote:

if there's any bend in the control arm then its going to be shorter than the other side by a tiny amount... maybe not enough to make it crab, but coupled with bent mounts it might be...

IMO - get some new, heavy duty arms made out of some CRMO tubing, and have whoever is fabbing those also brace your mounts and gusset the diff housing... your zuk is about 1m wider than stock, you're gonna single handedly redefine coily drivers being bent.

You don't need CRMO. Infact I'd recommend against it unless there will be post weld heat treatment involved.

Just a 44.5x 5mm wall 350mpa tube will be heaps strong enough, and shouldn't need post weld stress relieving.

[alien]

^^ listen to him greeno.

Fatzook - did you ever brace the mounts and housings on Rusho's coily??? perhaps you can point greeno to pics?

[Fatzook]

alien wrote:

^^ listen to him greeno.

Fatzook - did you ever brace the mounts and housings on Rusho's coily??? perhaps you can point greeno to pics?

Nope. Rusho was undecided about whether to swap out the diff for a WT unit, or patch up the coily one.

If I come accross a complete WT rear diff, I may just chuck that in, as its probably less work 4 linking it than cutting off all the bent and twisted coily brackets and remanufacturing them.

But you are spot on. If the mounts aren't torn and fucked already, NOW is the time to laminate them.

[Greeno]

By looking at it the mounts are not bent. The bushes were twisted to crap but they seem straight still. Only a very slight crack in the weld now in one spot.
I have a new arm to put in from suzistore.

I thought the same thing about putting a block there and spinning the wheel. Ill try it later.
I'm pretty sure the housing is bent though it was an honest straight stop from sliding back down a hill!! I am happy as hell the arm bent to be honest as i got to drive it home.

But really i dont know shit, so im gonna put the straight arm on and take it to.... A diff shop? to get checked.

In my head im just thinking get another housing and get it all braced up like you say.

PS, Redefining bent coilys. I can live with that. Although honestly nothing has been wrong with it until it just would not start for the life of me. Thats when everything went....DOWNHILL!!!!! AHAHAHAHA......ok sorry

[alien]

can you bodgy weld the crack and limp around on it, while you source a new housing and have that braced to swap in ASAP? That'd be the best scenario i reckon... at least then you know the new housing is straight and strong.

[Greeno]

alien wrote:

can you bodgy weld the crack and limp around on it, while you source a new housing and have that braced to swap in ASAP? That'd be the best scenario i reckon... at least then you know the new housing is straight and strong.

Yeah thats exactly what I'm thinking. I emailed around today got 2 prices.
220 + freight from east
350 from suzistore
Thats what i have at the moment. Damn living in Perth and its high prices!

[alien]

see if suzukishop in cannington have a housing?

Coilys aren't that common in WA so prices are likely to be on the high side. You could try what fatzook was talking about and convert a WT leafy housing?

[Greeno]

I cant do any of it i have to ask someone to do it, i guess it would just be cutting old mounts and making new ones on wt housing for coily gear would it not...?
I can buy stuff and fit it but when it comes to THIS sort of stuff...you know important stuff, I'm all out of that league!!
I honestly wouldn't even know who to ask or where to take it at this point. I'll find a housing first!! Baby steps!!

[Greeno]

I cant do any of it i have to ask someone to do it, i guess it would just be cutting old mounts and making new ones on wt housing for coily gear would it not...? Can the coily rear third member just bolt onto WT housing?
I can buy stuff and fit it but when it comes to THIS sort of stuff...you know important stuff, I'm all out of that league!!
I honestly wouldn't even know who to ask or where to take it at this point. I'll find a housing first!! Baby steps!!

[alien]

Start with mates or mates of mates - see if any of them are a boilermaker...

I know suzistore can do it, but it will cost $$$ as you're paying shop time rather than just a friends cashie rate.

[Greeno]

Here's the crack I was talking about. It's on the panhard mount