Coasty writes:

> No matter what you do it will never be right and you are guaranteed the
> seals will leak and keep leaking.

Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't leaking now.

 

Coasty writes:

> No matter what you do it will never be right and you are guaranteed the
> seals will leak and keep leaking.

Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't leaking now.

 

Coasty writes:

> No matter what you do it will never be right and you are guaranteed the
> seals will leak and keep leaking.

Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't leaking now.

 

I agree with everyone else -- replace it.

If you're in Texas, I happen to know someone with a D35 w/4.88s for sale.
Me! ;-)

- Eric

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98771E2D32A7Asomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> My (son's) 1997 TJ took a collision to the right rear. Crunched the
> corner
> of the body and the bumperette, hit the tire taking it off rim, and bent
> the axle and axle tube slightly. I pulled the axle from the Dana 35 and
> will replace it with a take-off from someone's upgrade. Shock absorber
> was
> yanked off its bent bolts on top; straightened that and put it back on
> with
> new bolts. The suspension arms were both buckled and replaced with spares
> from Quadratec.
>
> I clamped a 10 foot piece of SuperStrut to the brake backing plate, and
> used that as a long lever to straighten the plate square to the end of the
> axle tube.
>
> If I hold a straightedge to the axle tube, it looks to be bent forward
> about 1/8 or 1/4 inch along its length still. I tried disconnecting the
> suspension arm, putting a long bar into the axle tube, and heaving back
> over and over. Doesn't seem to budge it much.
>
> Any tips on straightening this thing while it's still on the vehicle?

 

I agree with everyone else -- replace it.

If you're in Texas, I happen to know someone with a D35 w/4.88s for sale.
Me! ;-)

- Eric

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98771E2D32A7Asomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> My (son's) 1997 TJ took a collision to the right rear. Crunched the
> corner
> of the body and the bumperette, hit the tire taking it off rim, and bent
> the axle and axle tube slightly. I pulled the axle from the Dana 35 and
> will replace it with a take-off from someone's upgrade. Shock absorber
> was
> yanked off its bent bolts on top; straightened that and put it back on
> with
> new bolts. The suspension arms were both buckled and replaced with spares
> from Quadratec.
>
> I clamped a 10 foot piece of SuperStrut to the brake backing plate, and
> used that as a long lever to straighten the plate square to the end of the
> axle tube.
>
> If I hold a straightedge to the axle tube, it looks to be bent forward
> about 1/8 or 1/4 inch along its length still. I tried disconnecting the
> suspension arm, putting a long bar into the axle tube, and heaving back
> over and over. Doesn't seem to budge it much.
>
> Any tips on straightening this thing while it's still on the vehicle?

 

I agree with everyone else -- replace it.

If you're in Texas, I happen to know someone with a D35 w/4.88s for sale.
Me! ;-)

- Eric

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98771E2D32A7Asomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> My (son's) 1997 TJ took a collision to the right rear. Crunched the
> corner
> of the body and the bumperette, hit the tire taking it off rim, and bent
> the axle and axle tube slightly. I pulled the axle from the Dana 35 and
> will replace it with a take-off from someone's upgrade. Shock absorber
> was
> yanked off its bent bolts on top; straightened that and put it back on
> with
> new bolts. The suspension arms were both buckled and replaced with spares
> from Quadratec.
>
> I clamped a 10 foot piece of SuperStrut to the brake backing plate, and
> used that as a long lever to straighten the plate square to the end of the
> axle tube.
>
> If I hold a straightedge to the axle tube, it looks to be bent forward
> about 1/8 or 1/4 inch along its length still. I tried disconnecting the
> suspension arm, putting a long bar into the axle tube, and heaving back
> over and over. Doesn't seem to budge it much.
>
> Any tips on straightening this thing while it's still on the vehicle?

 

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98779289BC5EFsomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> Coasty writes:
>
> > No matter what you do it will never be right and you are
> > guaranteed the seals will leak and keep leaking.
>
> Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't
> leaking now.

These guys are in principle right, but you could get lucky. Is this thing
driveable? If you get somebody to follow you, is it obviously going down
the road sideways? Does it wear tires funny? (This one could take a while
to figure out.) Does it swerve in the wrong direction when you stomp on the
brakes? I don't think you can straighten this without running the risk of
causing more damage, but you might be able to live with it. I would get a
new brake backing plate though.

Earle



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

 

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98779289BC5EFsomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> Coasty writes:
>
> > No matter what you do it will never be right and you are
> > guaranteed the seals will leak and keep leaking.
>
> Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't
> leaking now.

These guys are in principle right, but you could get lucky. Is this thing
driveable? If you get somebody to follow you, is it obviously going down
the road sideways? Does it wear tires funny? (This one could take a while
to figure out.) Does it swerve in the wrong direction when you stomp on the
brakes? I don't think you can straighten this without running the risk of
causing more damage, but you might be able to live with it. I would get a
new brake backing plate though.

Earle



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

 

"Richard J Kinch" <kinch@truetex.com> wrote in message
news:Xns98779289BC5EFsomeconundrum@216.196.97.131. ..
> Coasty writes:
>
> > No matter what you do it will never be right and you are
> > guaranteed the seals will leak and keep leaking.
>
> Guaranteed? It didn't leak after the collision, and it isn't
> leaking now.

These guys are in principle right, but you could get lucky. Is this thing
driveable? If you get somebody to follow you, is it obviously going down
the road sideways? Does it wear tires funny? (This one could take a while
to figure out.) Does it swerve in the wrong direction when you stomp on the
brakes? I don't think you can straighten this without running the risk of
causing more damage, but you might be able to live with it. I would get a
new brake backing plate though.

Earle



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

 

Earle Horton writes:

> Is this thing
> driveable? If you get somebody to follow you, is it obviously going down
> the road sideways?

I haven't had it back together with a straight axle.

I did drive it after the collision after replacing the suspension arms,
when it had about 1/2 inch of runout on the wheel rotation (bent axle), and
about 1/2 inch of toe-in misalignment besides (bent axle tube). The tire
was audibly squirming but you didn't feel it shimmy except at walking
speed. On wet pavement or going around turns or both, you could feel the
traction slipping.

I'm just hoping for rough driveability with a new axle and an approximately
straightened axle tube and backing plate. The guy that hit my son's car on
I-95 was a drunk, apparently illegal immigrant who took off running when
the FHP showed up. The perp's lowlife insurance company that should be
paying for this has stalled for months, so we need time to sue them to pay
for the proper repairs, but in the meantime we want to get this 10-year-old
TJ back to something ugly a college kid can still drive to class.