axle trouble....help please???!!!
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
From: Longview, WA
axle trouble....help please???!!!
ok, so i went wheelin AGAIN today and i went to the store to get smokes, beer...(useless info i know) and called a friend to come ride with me. he shows up, we go out again...he says after the first mud hole.."how can you do that without breaking anything?" to which i reply....its a 78 bronco, these things are tanks. next thing i know im pulling out of the hole with a clicking noise. we stop....look at it for about :30 min. and decide to try to make it to town as we werent sure what was up, and we definitely didnt have any tools on us....(mistake?)
my problem lies here...at the shop we discovered the passenger side shim under the leaf spring was knocked to the rear, obviously messing up the rear axle alignment which would account for 15 miles an hour equivelant to going 30mph over supercross whoopdie-whoops. well the guy at the shop removed the shims and fixed THAT problem for 30 bucks.
what the hell. i understand that ANYTHING is bound to break/snap/bend/twist. but this was one hell of a surprise as the axle twisted toward the rear....well the top of it was leaning towards the front (get the picture?) its now fixed. shimless. and the shop guy said i NEED shims and that i NEED to re-weld the part that attaches to the axle.
anyone ever have something like this happen? im confused. im gonna pay the guy 30 bucks, lets face it, i was in a bind, and going 10 miles at well, 10 miles an hour on a very large vibrator would have sucked, and as it is my U-Joint for my rear driveline is chewed worse than a bone for a rottweiler.
anyone???
my problem lies here...at the shop we discovered the passenger side shim under the leaf spring was knocked to the rear, obviously messing up the rear axle alignment which would account for 15 miles an hour equivelant to going 30mph over supercross whoopdie-whoops. well the guy at the shop removed the shims and fixed THAT problem for 30 bucks.
what the hell. i understand that ANYTHING is bound to break/snap/bend/twist. but this was one hell of a surprise as the axle twisted toward the rear....well the top of it was leaning towards the front (get the picture?) its now fixed. shimless. and the shop guy said i NEED shims and that i NEED to re-weld the part that attaches to the axle.
anyone ever have something like this happen? im confused. im gonna pay the guy 30 bucks, lets face it, i was in a bind, and going 10 miles at well, 10 miles an hour on a very large vibrator would have sucked, and as it is my U-Joint for my rear driveline is chewed worse than a bone for a rottweiler.
anyone???
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 473
Likes: 1
From: Richmond, CA
About a month ago, I realized all my U-Bolts that hold axle to leaf springs were loose. Driver's side was more so than passenger side. So I tightened and torqued down to 120 ft/lbs. Then two weeks ago my rear dif desided to grenade itself into a thousand pieces. When I pulled my rear-end out to rebuild it, the driver side leaf spring came apart. The bolt that goes thru spring pack and shim was stepped like a stair case. And the shim ended up in 3 or 4 pieces. I went to local spring company and purchased 2 new bolts(1 for a backup) for the spring pack. Haven't had a chance to replace the shim yet, which I'll take care of this weekend.
I,also, had one bolt that holds the rear of leaf spring pop off while wheeling, last year. The leaf spring slamed upwards to the cab, luckily not thru the floor board. 2 MPH to get back onto the hwy and about 40 MPH to get home 250 miles away.
BTW - When you mentioned the re-welding, are you talking about the spring purch that's welded to axle housing that the leaf spring sits on? If it is, then a competant welder cand do it. Better yet, go down to your local 4x4 repair shop and have them do it. And, while you're at it, if you still have at least one of the old shims, see if they have the new shims to match the old ones.
I,also, had one bolt that holds the rear of leaf spring pop off while wheeling, last year. The leaf spring slamed upwards to the cab, luckily not thru the floor board. 2 MPH to get back onto the hwy and about 40 MPH to get home 250 miles away.
BTW - When you mentioned the re-welding, are you talking about the spring purch that's welded to axle housing that the leaf spring sits on? If it is, then a competant welder cand do it. Better yet, go down to your local 4x4 repair shop and have them do it. And, while you're at it, if you still have at least one of the old shims, see if they have the new shims to match the old ones.
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
From: Longview, WA
Originally Posted by tite4x4
About a month ago, I realized all my U-Bolts that hold axle to leaf springs were loose. Driver's side was more so than passenger side. So I tightened and torqued down to 120 ft/lbs. Then two weeks ago my rear dif desided to grenade itself into a thousand pieces. When I pulled my rear-end out to rebuild it, the driver side leaf spring came apart. The bolt that goes thru spring pack and shim was stepped like a stair case. And the shim ended up in 3 or 4 pieces. I went to local spring company and purchased 2 new bolts(1 for a backup) for the spring pack. Haven't had a chance to replace the shim yet, which I'll take care of this weekend.
I,also, had one bolt that holds the rear of leaf spring pop off while wheeling, last year. The leaf spring slamed upwards to the cab, luckily not thru the floor board. 2 MPH to get back onto the hwy and about 40 MPH to get home 250 miles away.
BTW - When you mentioned the re-welding, are you talking about the spring purch that's welded to axle housing that the leaf spring sits on? If it is, then a competant welder cand do it. Better yet, go down to your local 4x4 repair shop and have them do it. And, while you're at it, if you still have at least one of the old shims, see if they have the new shims to match the old ones.
I,also, had one bolt that holds the rear of leaf spring pop off while wheeling, last year. The leaf spring slamed upwards to the cab, luckily not thru the floor board. 2 MPH to get back onto the hwy and about 40 MPH to get home 250 miles away.
BTW - When you mentioned the re-welding, are you talking about the spring purch that's welded to axle housing that the leaf spring sits on? If it is, then a competant welder cand do it. Better yet, go down to your local 4x4 repair shop and have them do it. And, while you're at it, if you still have at least one of the old shims, see if they have the new shims to match the old ones.
as far as the re welding....im not sure what you mean by spring purch, but yeah its what is welded to the axle that the leaf springs sit on...(sorry for lack of terminolagy). he just put it where its supposed to be. kindof a quick fix to get me home.
how serious is this problem? should it be an easy fix? or something that requires more? because i have the old shims, one of em is about 2 inches shorter than the other cause it snapped.
but hey, no matter what the outcome of this, it was definitely worth it, i discovered some gnarly mudholes CLOSE to town, and a beach right next to em....it was 75 today...muddin, beach, muddin, beach, muddin, repair shop...
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 473
Likes: 1
From: Richmond, CA
At least you were able to get home. That piece that needs to be welded to housing, which is called the spring pirch, I don't know of any other term for it. If you have a welder at home then yes it's a quick fix. If not then you need to head down to local shop to have it done. Also get those shims when you have it done.Any good 4x4 shop should have some shims on hand for sale The pinion angle needs to be set, which is the part that the drive shaft bolts up to. I personally would get it done asap. But that's just me. On my rig Because my U-bolts were loose for awhile the housing started rolling inside the U-bolts, there is some wear scares on the housing.
