Middle axle out of alignment

[TexAndy]

Picked up a deuce from san antonio last week. It's in good shape, except the middle axle is about 1.5 inches moved over to the right.

Causing excessive wear on the tires and I assume everything else inside the axle housing.

What's the best way to fix this?

One idea I had was to back the truck up onto a ramp until the middle axle was off the ground. Then loosen the U-bolts, park another deuce along side, and use the second truck as something to push against with a bottle jack.

Or maybe use a tree or something as an anchor and pull from the other side with a comealong or something?

 

[maddawg308]

I like either idea, pretty straightforward.

 

[andybritt2002]

if its slid to the right, how is it causing excessive wear? is it leaning too ?

 

[Jakob]

If the middle axle is just slid a little sideways, parallel to the rear axle, I would assume that it's normal because of the scrub (right term?) when turning.

 

[whyme]

Forgive me if this sounds demeaning but as I know absolutely nothing about you...

The rear axles on the deuce are designed to "float", they can move left and right about an inch or so each as the leafs move on the pads above the axles. The torque rods are what actually hold the axels in place. After making a left turn the middle would shift right and rear to the left.


Not to say it's impossible but it's not likely that they would be misaligned without having been damaged to cause it or poor assembly.

 

[yamabro]

Can you tell if it was hit, from excessive maneuvers. Sounds like your on the right track though

 

[gimpyrobb]

Yup, time to inspect the dog bones and their bushings.

 

[MWMULES]

I think Gimp is on the right track.

 

[TexAndy]

Can you tell if it was hit, from excessive maneuvers. Sounds like your on the right track though

No impact damage of any sort. The paint is even pretty near perfect.

The truck was overhauled in 92 tho. And the rear tires are all nice and worn, which makes me suspect it was simply installed wrong.


I didn't know the axles were supposed to be able to slide left or right. Hm... are you sure? Because every other truck I've ever seen, the axles were inline with eachother. After driving it back home from the guy's place I took it to yesterday, it's still out of alignment and in the same direction. I don't think it moved at all.

Gimpy, what should I be looking for on the dogbones? I've never looked at such before and this is all learn as I go territory for me.

 

[whyme]

consider that uneven tire ware could simply pull/push them around a bit. sometimes when i park mine still arnt perfectly centered. i also agree with gimp to inspect the suspension, but just because its a good practice.

 

[Flyingvan911]

You might try driving the truck straight forward and backward a few times then see how the middle axle is alligned.

 

[91W350]

I am with Gimpy, the torque arms or control arms, look for bent attaching points and bad bushings. I got lucky, my joints all look new, very few stress cracks even. I have seen some that were pretty sad.

 

[tie6044]

Don't try to loosen the bolts and slide the axle, the top brakets where the leaf springs ride in are held in place (left/right) with a pin the goes into the axle housing, kind of like a centering pin in the middle of front leafs. If you try to slide it one way you will just scheer it off and cause more problems.

 

[Barrman]

The rear axles will walk several inches side to side all the time while driving. Do a tight full circle to the left, then go to a full circle to the right. You will hear and probable feel the axles flop around when you change direction.

As stated above. crawl underneath and feel every dog bone end. If one moves, it probably isn't good. Normally, a large pry bar is needed to make them move. Of course, if one is off. That is your problem.

 

[73m819]

If still having the problem, try jacking up the rear, using 2 jacks, place one under each spring pivot at the frame mount, jack till the load is off the springs, see if the pivot will move side to side, if so, pull the pivot cover, remove the outer lock nut, tighten the inner nut to 75 lb, then tighten the lock nut to 150 lb, grease the pivot. the pivot nut size is the same as the spindle nut

also TMs are your best friend

 

[TexAndy]

Thanks guys, I will give that a try and take pictures of everything I can and post them here this evening.

 

[rmgill]

TexAndy, crawl under there and LOOK at the bits and what sits where. The three dog-bones attach the axles to the trunnion for alignment purposes BUT they have flex. In the three link arrangement the springs JSUT provide support and balance. The whole set can pivot under the center trunnion.

Dave at Eastern Surplus has this nice example of a frame cut to harvest a 2.5 ton rear axle assembly as one unit. Note how the axles are mounted to the Dogbones. You can see one dogbone set on top to the right of the diffs. There's another set on either side under the springs.

The other photo of HALF of an assembly shows the lower positions of the dogbones. It is possible the whole axle is shifted over within the assemblies of the clamps for the upper dogbone and the lower dogbone/spring point area.

The axles CAN shift around a bunch. Get the truck on straight and level ground and see how it lies. You could also jack the truck up in a static area and see how the axles rest (jack on the trunnion mounting but support it carefully!).

I hope this helps.

I hope this helps.

 

[TexAndy]

Thanks gill, those pics and explanation do help. Great suggestions fellas. I'm glad I didn't just blindly rush in there with a bottle jack and make it worse.

 

[rmgill]

Thanks gill, those pics and explanation do help. Great suggestions fellas. I'm glad I didn't just blindly rush in there with a bottle jack and make it worse.

No problem thats what this Brain Trust is good for.

The design is meant to have a LOT of flex and it's a good and practical design. Just a bit old. There's a reason these things rattle and bang when you go over bumps though.

 

[Bob USNR]

Just started reading this thread.
First thing, never let any of your body parts (fingers) get between any parts, any time, for any reason. The suspension parts of an assembly this big and heavy can quickly and easily tear things "right off". Or, worse yet, pin you into the assembly in screaming agony.

I went out and looked at the suspension on my M35A2 (1971). It is obvious that the springs are held solidly straight on the center perch by a wide groove in the lower clamp plate at the "U" bolts. There does not appear to be any clearance on the sides of the springs that might allow for "alignment".
HOWEVER!! The spring perch on both ends of both axel housings does appear to be "adjustable" from side to side by as much as 3/4" before they hit the brake backing plate or the "Dogbone" mount. Which is also movable. None of the 4 spring ends touches the sides of the bracket on the axel housings by at least 3.8". If you slide these brackets to the left or right the tracking of the axels should move with that change.
IF I was going to try to adjust the tracking of the axels, while going straight, I would loosen both the spring tip holders on one axe at a time, raise the truck by jacking the spring, (not the axel) wrap a chain around the tire on one side, to connect the come along to, and anchor the other end to something solid on the other side of the truck. Snug the come along moderately to start it moving in the right direction, loosen the perch bolts and try to slide the perch by tapping it with a LARGE hammer.
Start with the perch that will give you the most change. Then adjust the other to (nearly) match.
Let me know how it goes.

e