Hi Guys,

Well, I got my motor mount cross bar/tube replaced and installed after it failed (it was very mild - engine only dropped about an inch onto the headers)

But, while we were welding those up, I noticed yet another thing to possibly worry about!

Is this bad?



I seem to remember a long time ago someone telling me they used to heat and bend the axels to help align the front end. My alignment seems to be ok - no real bad wear on the tires, but I've only got 2.5K on them - no unauthorized lane changes. Truck steers straight/brakes straight.

It's just jittery (maybe its me). I got the wheel bearings and new brake drum to put on tonight (from my "loosing the tire" episode). It feels funny ever since that happened - nothing definate, just different - looser.

If this axel is bad, is it dangerous or just adding to the rough ride? Can I heat it up and straighten it out, or do I even want to!



Thanks guys
Julie

 

Doesn't look great but if it rides ok and no tire wear issues?

Otherwise its the perfect time for that new 3" dropped axle.

 

Jules,

If it drives straight and the tires aren't wearing funky then its OK.

That does seem like quite a bit of bending, and more than would be expected from a past wheel alignment. Does the truck sit level? The spring packs and the spacing between the springs and the frame looks fairly even.

Its never ending with these old trucks...........
Bobby

 

Julie,
on 56 Panel's web site: Dropped front axles about 1/2 way down the page is a picture of an F1 axle that shows what one should look like. About the only way to tell how far off the mark yours is (if the bends made it crooked or straight) would be to take it off the truck and measure it. I don't hold a lot of hope that it is properly aligned tho looks to me like it was bent to compensate for something else that was misaligned.

 

Here's some pics out of the manual - it could just be an over-zealous alignment. Or, correction for something else, as was said, perhaps some frame twist? It's kind of hard without actually being there, to tell exactly the amount from a photo. Mine's pretty "wavy", from being aligned, I'm sure. But, my tie-rod had a pretty decent bend to it, that's why I replaced it, when I did the front end.




R

 

I`ll bet someone tried to align bend it and over bent it, then bent it back to get it in the correct alignment. Won`t hurt a thing as long as it drives without any issues and no tire wear.

Gary

 

Thanks guys...After loosing the wheel, then popping the motor mount cross bar brace, I'm really not ready for something else to break up there.

The truck does lean. It's exactly one inch lower on the passenger side when I measure from the frame to the ground at the front leaf spring shackle. 1/4 inch of that is spring compression on th epass. side.

After having had to repair the POs work (EVERYTHING was a real mess. My restoration repairs are 10% age caused and 90% PO caused) I wouldn't be supprised if this wasn't the first time the motor mount bar popped it was way to frail. Maybe the engine fell on the axel. Or maybe the imbicil tried to jack the truck up under the axel on the other side.

I'll keep an eye on the tire wear

Thanks again

J!

 

You could just take it to an alignment shop that is familiar with aligning beam axles (a lot of large trucks still use beams) and have the alignment checked. Have them check the spindle boss height and the wheelbase measurements on both sides as well as the camber and caster. If you cannot find anyone who can align it, shoot me a PM and I can explain what you'll need and how to do it yourself, it's not that difficult to do if you have a reasonably level place to do it.

 

Hello Julie

I have seen in the past axles with more or less the same wavy shape from being aligned and as long as it steers straight and nothing is wearing oddly then you should be fine.

However I do notice that there is nothing to keep that axle from running right up against the oil pan/crossmember. From the angle of the picture it looks like the axle is right under the engine cross member but that must be a perspective thing. But there does appear to be less travel space between the oil pan and the frame rails. On my 1959 there are rubber bumpers mounted to the frame right over the axle to stop the axle crashing into the frame.

Are you sure you have enough travel room?

From that picture it looks to me that if you hit a nice deep dip at speed the axle would hit the oil pan.

_____________________
My Grandpa told me once that you have to learn by the mistakes of others because you will NOT live long enough to make them all yourself.

 

I learned a valuable lesson earlier this year about not having the axle bump stops. I don't have them on my 49 either (they got removed during engien mount fabrication and some moron never put them back on). Anyway, I was horsing the truck pretty hard one night and hit a major pothole and bottomed out the suspension. I ended up breaking several leaves in the left front spring pack.


You can see the hole in the bottom of the frame rail where the bump stop is supposed to bolt through

I'm glad this subject came up because that same moron has still not installed any bump stops in his front end................sometimes its not easy being me

Bobby

 

Well whatever you do, certainly DO NOT consider a smooth riding, nice handing, modern disc brake, rack and pinion steering, independent front suspension.

“being wrong keeps me humble”

 

Yeah, you could just go buy a new Ford truck with A/C and PS too!

Seriously Julie, why wouldn't you look around for a clean, straight used axle? For all you know, some moron heated the axle to bend it that much, or it was wrapped around a parking lot bumper strip and straightened. I'd guess a good used axle costs maybe $25, plus whatever it costs to get it to you. Lots of folks are shucking them for IFS and other fancy stuff.

 

I agree with you just buying a new truck. Those old trucks can be so much work you should probably just give it away. Should I give you my address so you know where to send it?

 

Have you tried to check the chassis for square ? You stated it seems to drive smooth that would be suspension .Does it track straight ? Keep an eye on tire wear .The lean could be from worn spring shackle bolts and bushings .This was the case when the 1ST-RIDE suspension was rebuilt . You might want to check the chassis /frame /suspension for square .It is a little time consuming but will tell you where you stand .If you would like to know the procedure send a PM ,Denny

 

All very interesting comments!

I hadn't even thought about the axel being that close up under the oil pan, but it is. I't about 6 to 7 inches below the pan and the motor mount tube is about 4 inches behind it out of the way - so I'll get some bumpers up under the frame.

Actually I have another axel. One of the reasons I wrote this was to see if I needed to go to the trouble to swap them out. If the bent one isn't hurting anything I was just going to leave it alone..."If it isn't broke......" And, the frame could be out of square! Nothing, and I mean NOTHING the PO did would surprise me. I got the new hub/bearings and brake drum on it and it seems to have smoothed out a little. I'm slowly getting rid of rattles and shakes (Speaking of the PO the bed wasn't bolted to the frame either - just held on with the running boards!) and maybe that's why it's feeling a little strange too - it's getting solid and quieter.

As far as a new truck is concerned just let me say - no way. I have a 2002 Ranger that I HATE. It is cheaply built, thin, I can't do the maintenance on it (except brakes and filters) and it costs $85 just to drive in and hook up to the computer when it starts running rough.

I am putting on the full court press to get the 51 to a point where anything the PO did that's going to break, has, and I can start driving it regularly. From a reliability, maintenance and operational standpoint, it is far superior to what is being built today. I'll NEVER buy another new truck again - NEVER!

I don't mind the rough ride and having to be on Olympic Shot Putter to parallel park the thing (it actually steers pretty well). I'm just getting a little tired of parts of it coming loose and falling off of it. The wheel was a problem tightening the adaptor - my fault. The motor mount was the PO - now that's all fixed. So, I was just wondering if this axel is about to break? But, it doesn't sound like it.

Maybe over the winter I can swap out the axels, replace the king pins and tie rod ends, etc. Then, there will be lots of stuff that can fall apart - tee hee. Sometimes I think the layers of "Fordomite" bonded to the underside of the thing is all that's holding it together - don't want to touch that.

Thanks for all the inputs guys!

Julie