My front axle shaft rubs on the housing very slightly. It seems that it is still able to turn but the metal on the axle shaft is very polished at the point where it is making contact. Is this normal?

 

I would say no.

Check your suspension components for wear or dryrotted pivot bushings. It may be your suspension has some give in it causing the housing to flex in the bushings.

 

No, it's not normal at all.

I actually had this once on a POS Bronco that I bought. I fixed it by replacing the passenger side axle housing as it was bent. No idea how it got bent. I think it was the PO that did it - somehow.

Let's hope that's not the case though.

 

Damn. This sounds bad. Andy to the rescue!! I'll be at your house in the next few days

 

Scratch my post. I inspected my axle more closely and found that it clears the housing by a couple of millimeters. I was able to EASILY spin the axle shaft with my hand. There is still a 1/4 inch wear mark around the axle shaft that is VERY shallow (didn't dig into the shaft very deep). My axle housing also has an indentation carved into that part with the red arrow pointing to it right where the axle shaft passes it, is that supposed to be there? The diagram above does not show any cutout... I'll go out and take a picture of it.

Here ya go:



Whatcha think? Bad??

 

The only things I can think of that could affect this are the radius arm bushings and the pivot bushings. After that I don't know.

 

When I lifted mine it did this. I just took it off used a press to press an indention in it and it is fine.

 

I kind of wondered if this was my problem. Well, I have to replace my spindle soon anyway so I guess I can remove my shaft and do the same. Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm trying to figure out how a properly installed lift would cause this. It doesn't change any of the geometry of the front suspension, so how would it cause this?

 

I wondered the same thing... Can someone else confirm that their axle housing has that indentation where the axle shaft passes through like mine?

 

I've noticed that on more than one truck both mine and others......doesn't seem to harm it in any way but if I were to go through the trouble I'd probably cut out that section with a torch or plasma cutter then weld a gusset just inside the housing to give it support to be on the safe side....But I've seen those rubbings before...doesn't seem uncommon.....

 

Are you missing a bolt at the pivot bushing in your picture?

 

Looks like he is

 

If you're referring to the open hole in my photograph, it is supposed to be empty. That is part of the Pro Comp adjustable drop bracket. My suspension lift can be adjusted by about 1-2" by moving it to that hole. Long story short, that hole is supposed to be empty.

 

Ah, you never said that.