Bent Rear Axle?
 

I have a ’99 F250 SD 4X2 and I got hit the other day by a hit and run; guy ran a stoplight and smacked my truck then took off. Luckily he hit he square on the rear passenger tire and there was no body damage and all it did was scratch my rim a little and blow the tire, or so I thought...

Later I noticed that when I get up to around 60mph the truck gets a little squeamish. When I turn at all like to change lanes or something it feels like my back end is following me like a trailer, like it is delayed and the back end sways a little bit. It doesn’t vibrate or anything like that and no noises… It isn’t super bad but it worries me

I jacked up the back end and spun the tires to see if there was a wobble and there isn’t one on either tire. So I took it to an alignment shop and they said that the rear thrust angle is 1.02* to the left and that there isn’t any adjustment for the back so they couldn’t do anything about it. I asked what would be the cause and they said either a bent axle or the frame is bent.

So two questions, how do I figure out which of the two it is? And second, does this sound right or could there be any other causes/fixes?

Insurance said they won’t do jack because I have liability only and I didn’t report it to insurance the same day as the accident so I guess I am on my own...

Sorry to hear about this.

The rear thrust angle means the axle is not perpindicular to the centerline of the truck.
While a bent frame is possible, they are so beefy it seems unlikely.

I'd think it is more likely that something else is bent or shifted. Spring hanger? Shackle? Axle shifted on it's mount?

What you need is to find someone experienced and caring enough to actually take the time and look at things and take measurements and figure out the root cause. A quality suspension/alignment shop.... Definitely won't be the discount or high school flunky hiring chain shops!

Paying a respectful amount to get careful and true root cause analysis is the best solution.

Spot on, couldn't have said it better myself! :-drink

Get it to a good shop who can figure out what's bent. If the wheels don't wobble and there's no shake on the highway, you didn't bend an axle. The housing is stout, no worries there. The frame is fairly stout; it's possible the frame is bent, but unlikely. Most likely a bent shackle or spring hanger as those are the weak links.

A couple of things. 1 degree isn't a whole lot, and I don't think it'll cause what you feel. The impact might have broken the leaf spring pin that aligns the leaf spring pack to the axle.

What are the tire pressures like? Did you check them after the accident? Maybe that tire is losing air?

Also, jack the rear wheels off the ground and pull them in and out - the impact may have broken something in the wheel bearing/spindle/hub.

Well it actually blew the tire and I had it replaced. I have taken apart both wheels and can't see any damage and I don't notice anything bent... I found shop that laughed when I told them that Pepboys said they didn't know what was causing the rear tire alignment to be off. They said that they wouldn't have any problem with telling me what is bent.

They did say that one degree is "in the red" or considered to be out of an acceptable range and that I would feel it but IDK....

Ill let you know when I get it fixed...

Did you ever figure out what was wrong? I'm experiencing the same thing. the truck has been back to the dealer several times to no avail.

I have not figured it out yet. I took it one other place but they could not help me. But honestly I have not had much time to work on it much and it hasn't been enough of an issue to keep me from using it when I need it since it is not my daily driver...
I will be sure to post back when I have more information.

You do have uninsured motorist insurance, right? Most states require you carry that coverage. It usually has a low or even no deductible.

just an easy quick frame check, look at the gap between the bed and the cab on both sides, have they changed? and look at the gap between the bumper and the bed. they should be about the same, if they are majorly different you should goto a body/frame shop and get it checked out. good luck. you should have called the police at the time of the accident.

Im new to this forum. 06 F-250 SD. For tens of thousands of miles, I have tried to figure out the vibration on l/s rear at 45-50 mph. Re-balanced tire smoothed it out some, but it is always there. The left rear brake squeals when brake is applied.

I have not over loaded the suspension. I did set my superchips controller to full power once just to see what it did and experienced a wonderful hole shot in 4x4 ... one time only.

Im thinking I twisted the axle after reading this forum. Any thoughts?

did they ever find what was bent

I was scrolling down the thread to see if anyone brought this up.

In the event you describe, the type of insurance you have, or even if you have no insurance, doesn't matter. The other driver is at fault. Their liability insurance pays for the damage to your car, and probably rents a car for you to drive while yours is getting fixed. You have no deductible, co-pay, or any thing.

You don't even need or want to call your insurance company. It's best if they know nothing about it. You contact the at-fault driver's insurance company. They should send you a check for the full amount of the repair costs.

He said in the OP that it was a hit and run. He had no way of contacting the other driver's insurance company, because the other driver didn't stick around to give him that information.

Also, this was five years ago.

Well, that was stupid of me to post. I forget to look at the date on these threads when I search for relevant topics.

I think most do it more than we'd like to admit :-jammin