Eagle_SX4 Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 I know that the "C's" on the end of my axle are bent and I have to much camber on the front. I am going to pull an axle out of the junkyard to replace it then weld some gussets and maybe a truss on to strengthen them so it hopefully doesn't happen again. Does any one have any measurements/angles they can provide so I can find an axle that is not bent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 40 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said: I know that the "C's" on the end of my axle are bent and I have to much camber on the front. I am going to pull an axle out of the junkyard to replace it then weld some gussets and maybe a truss on to strengthen them so it hopefully doesn't happen again. Does any one have any measurements/angles they can provide so I can find an axle that is not bent? My axle on my MJ was bent on the “kingpin” yoke on one side. It was cause bt some previous owner not using a correct ball joint installation tool on the upper BJ, which cause that flange to pushed up out of parallel with the lower flange. It was off by about 1/4” is that the sort of bend you are worried about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 3 minutes ago, AZJeff said: My axle on my MJ was bent on the “kingpin” yoke on one side. It was cause bt some previous owner not using a correct ball joint installation tool on the upper BJ, which cause that flange to pushed up out of parallel with the lower flange. It was off by about 1/4” is that the sort of bend you are worried about? Yes. I would like to know the distance between the ears where the ball joints are and the angle from the axle tube to the "C". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boilermaker Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 7 5/8" measured from the very end with steering knuckles off. Both my C's were within an 1/8". Gears were recently replaced professionally, so it should be straight. Can measure in a different location with knuckles still on. With all the brackets on the axle, couldnt find a good way to measure the angle. Couldn't get an accurate measurement while holding the phone, so the Pic is more to show where I measured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 @Boilermaker Thanks for the measurement. As for the angles I was thinking from the top of the axle tube to the top of the upper ear (or ball joint) and the inside vertical face of the "C". A digital angle finder would be the easiest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 I measured my axle and one C is 7-5/8 the other is 7-3/4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 The machined surfaces on the "C" (I call it a "yoke") are the only ones that can provide any reliable measuring surface, as the others are forged (?) surfaces that are not terribly precise. I think @Boilermaker provided a pretty accurate measurement. For the yoke to be bent (on both upper and lower flanges), the axle would have to be subjected to "Dukes of Hazzard" type stuff, with the vehicle being jumped. And even then, I think the whole vertical part of the yoke would show distortion and would be pretty obvious. The axle i installed in my MJ to replace the one screwed up by the poor ball joint replacement technique had camber angles that were out of spec. on the yokes, and that axle came from an XJ of unknown provenance, so it might have been abused a bit. What I did was to remove the upper knuckles, and then make a tubular fixture from a piece of PVC pipe that slid over the outside of the ball joint body, and contacted the machined surface on the upper flange of the yoke. The top and bottom surfaces were exactly parallel, as they had been cut/machined on a lathe. This gave me a flat surface to measure the camber angle using a cheap gauge I bought on Amazon. I then used my carpenter level to figure out how flat the floor between the jack stands holding the axle was, with the aid of some trigonometry, I figured out the difference is between the floor measurement and the ball joint flange was my camber angle. It was out of factory spec., as i had presumed. Offset ball joints from Moog fixed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 4 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said: I measured my axle and one C is 7-5/8 the other is 7-3/4. I think that might be within manufacturing tolerances. the real trick is what is your camber angle on each ball joint. My above post sort of explains how I measured it on my axle. If you need a detailed sketch on my method, I can whip one up in a day for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted December 3 Author Share Posted December 3 8 minutes ago, AZJeff said: What I did was to remove the upper knuckles, and then make a tubular fixture from a piece of PVC pipe that slid over the outside of the ball joint body, and contacted the machined surface on the upper flange of the yoke. The top and bottom surfaces were exactly parallel, as they had been cut/machined on a lathe. This gave me a flat surface to measure the camber angle using a cheap gauge I bought on Amazon. That PVC pipe trick is a good idea. I will have to make one and check my angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 I believe you can get adjustable ball joints to correct camber. Might be quicker, cheaper, and easier than swapping axles. Then again, it’s nice to have something that’s right and you’ve got an opportunity to upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 1 minute ago, Eagle_SX4 said: That PVC pipe trick is a good idea. I will have to make one and check my angles. clean up the machined surfaces around the outside flange of the upper ball joint with a wire brush or the like to get dirt, rust, crud off. Then a 2" dia. (I think) pipe piece will slide over the surface perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 1 minute ago, 89 MJ said: I believe you can get adjustable ball joints to correct camber. Might be quicker, cheaper, and easier than swapping axles. Then again, it’s nice to have something that’s right and you’ve got an opportunity to upgrade. Yeah, I mentioned in my post that I used adjustable upper BJ to fixed my camber issue that was trashing my fairly new tires. Ever since I did the measurements to determine how much of an angle change was needed, and then installed the proper Moog offset BJ's, my steering has been wonderful, and the tires no longer have funky wear on the insides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted December 3 Author Share Posted December 3 Adjustable ball joints might be the answer. I will take it to the shop and get the alignment checked and then measure my self to make sure I can repeat the numbers then decide if adjustable ball joints will be enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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