Topic: I have either bent housing or bent shaft.

[Huhwhye]

On my '87 IFS rear something is definately bent.  It was on the smog check rollers and both sides wobbled all over the place.  And its getting bad on the highway, i can tell the rear tires are wobbling pretty good.  And I also have gear oil coming out of the drums so the seals are bad too.  This is the second time that the seals have gone bad.  So they are wearing out prematurely. 

1. How can I tell which parts need to be replaced? Shaft or housing

2. If I need new shafts what is a good cheap source?  Downey is selling replacements for $65 each

3. What else should I replace while I'm in there?

This is my budget wheeler and I want to avoid a big price tag, but I want to fix it right.  I'm saving up to SAS this rig, but that won't happen for some time.

[DTB]

did ya check your wheel bearings?

would explain the wobbling but not the premature seal failure...hmmmm

I would guess you bent the housing before the shafts

EDIT: sorry that doesnt help much

[Huhwhye [OP]]

I wouldn't doubt it since I've been beating on this truck for years.

How can I tell if its the housing?  Can I take measurements or something while its still bolted in?

BTW I've never checked the wheel bearings ever.  So that is definately something that could be wrong.

[MiniSimp]

I wouldn't doubt it since I've been beating on this truck for years.

How can I tell if its the housing?  Can I take measurements or something while its still bolted in?

BTW I've never checked the wheel bearings ever.  So that is definately something that could be wrong.

Just pull the axles and take a peek.

[Huhwhye [OP]]

OK, I'll pull them this weekend and see what I find.  Hopefully its a quick fix because I want to take my 4runner down to install my new diffs soon.

[Hammerhead]

Start by checking your wheels first.  If you like to rally or have slid into things you have a high chance of bending your wheels.  A bent wheel will cause vibrations and also bearing and seal failure.  Your wheel is also much easier to bend than an axle.  I have bent many a wheel and have yet to bend an axle.  To check for a bent rim you can install it on the front of your rig on jackstands and spin it by hand or other similar methods.  You will be able see the wheel wobble.  After you have verified that your wheels are bent you can replace them and proceed to the next step.

By installing a new rim on the suspected axle with the rig on jack stands you can use the engine to spin the axle slowly to check run-out.

As for a bent housing you will not see a wobble at the wheel..  You will however have a problem with your side and spider gears if you are open diff or you will have alignment problems at the locker...

[Huhwhye [OP]]

Perhaps a little history on the axle is in order.

It has a Lockright in it that I installed 100k ago.  R&P lost some teeth 40k and about 9 years ago, replaced with factory gears.  The driver's side outer seal went bad shortly thereafter.  Again, wheel bearings have never been touched.

I've jumped this thing hard many many times.  A few times it has landed very hard on the rear.  (One time I sprained my ankle on the landing )Since I've had a replacement Daily Driver for the last 8 years its been doing duty as the beater/dirt bike hauler.

I'd like to test the wheels.  I've had them rebalanced recently with no change in wobble.  I swaped wheels with a friend that wanted to run my Mud Terrains for a trip and he didn't notice any wobble.  But that doesn't mean it wasn't there.  I do have a newer unmounted wheel that is a takeoff from a '06 Tundra that is going on my 4runner.  I can use that to check for runout.

It will have to wait until the weekend.  Looks like I might need to delay the work on the 4runner.

[Hyena]

lift it up and check and see if there is play in the wheel (up and down) that is one way to find out if you have bad wheel bearings.

[OOPS]

The lug nut flanges on the axles could also be bent. Both of mine were after ten years of wheeling it. Then I blew an axle so I replace both axles with some Poly Performance alloy axles. No more wobbling.

[DTB]

The lug nut flanges on the axles could also be bent. Both of mine were after ten years of wheeling it. Then I blew an axle so I replace both axles with some Poly Performance alloy axles. No more wobbling.

oops, the axle was not the cause of the wobble correct? it was the bent lugs or flanges?

just curious

[Toymin8r]

did ya check your wheel bearings?

would explain the wobbling but not the premature seal failure...hmmmm

Bad wheel bearings causes the seal to fail.

[OOPS]

oops, the axle was not the cause of the wobble correct? it was the bent lugs or flanges?

just curious

The flanges were bent, I did not know it until it was on the SMOG dyno and saw how much they were wobbleing.