Uneven tyre wear on M54 rear axle after accident

[maverick]

Hi guys,
I need to pick your brains.

Back in 2007 my M54 A2 was hit buy a semi rig during a trip back from a show. Luckly nobody was hurt, the rig was written off by the insurance company but my M54 didn't come of to bad at all. I was only hit in the last 3 foot on the passenger side rear (don't forget we drive on the wrong side of the road over here) it was mainly cargo bed damage but he did hit the last axle outer wheel. well after checking everything and having the damage repaired i found nothing wrong with the axle except a buckled wheel which i replaced. Well after the 2008 season i noticed that the two passenger tyres on the last axle are wearing away a lot quicker than the rest of the tyres on the truck. Ive rechecked the axle, no damage no leaks, checked tyres and wheels no problem. Jacked up the rear and took drive shaft off and spun wheels all run smooth no knocks, bangs grinding or anything.

so what i need to know is can anybody recommend anything i need to check or have any ideas why its just the two tyres that are wearing on just one side of the axle.

Thanks in advance

 

[maxim]

If it were me , I would start by taking some measurements of both tandems in relationship to the frame and see if there is any differences. I had to replace the u-bolts on my rear axle assembly and the whole thing is dependent on the u-bolts and the torsion arms. I would not be surprised if something was knocked out of alinement. The wheels are designed to articulate forward and back but there is some movement in the spring retainers and previous wear may show it shifted. Maybe try to run a string down both sides of the truck all the way from front to back on both sides along the 2 tandems and determine if the string converge or diverge on each other. That may show the one of the rear tandems got shifted. Just a thought.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Remember they do shift from side to side beween the 2 rear axles. Stuart, to me it sounds like you have a alignment issue with the rear axle, I would look at those torsion bars, I bet one is bent. Possible your drivers side. Let us know what you find.

 

[papabear]

I agree with the two fellers above. The axle is out of whack...could be torsion bar or axle could be shifted in the hangers. If the axle is not bent I cant think of another explanation.

 

[docfarmall]

Yep you need a new dogg bone it sounds like you got a bushing in one of then

 

[maverick]

Thanks guys for all your very quick reply's. Always good to get a second opinion from the experts before i tackle the job i wanted to get as much info as possible and any parts i may need as i want to get stuck in and not have the truck off the road for too long. it may be a few weeks before i start the job but I'm waiting for some new indoor storage to be ready for me to move into. There is also a forklift there so that will be useful. I have just spoken to contact of mine and he is happy to lend me a couple of new torsion arms so i now have them available but I will probably use them just to take them out of the equation. As maxim has suggested i will also do some measurements. Is there any standard measurements and reference points I should use or just use my own start and finish points? When you say U bolts I assume they are the one's that clamp down on the leaf springs and then the axle?

It just goes to show how strong these old girls are. The volvo rig that hit me had a smashed fender, headlight, drivers door, windshield, wheel arch, cracked fuel tank, smashed air filter, badly damaged middle lift axle and that just the bits i noticed while waiting for the police to come out. Lucky enough he never hit the gun

Thanks again guys

 

[timntrucks]

glad your ok .. keep us updated on what you find

 

[maverick]

Sure I will keep all informed of what happens. From the information I got from SS members it should be fairly easly to find the problem and get it sorted ???

Thanks again

 

[gringeltaube]

Hi guys,
I need to pick your brains.

....................................................i noticed that the two passenger tyres on the last axle are wearing away a lot quicker than the rest of the tyres on the truck.
..................................................................................................

so what i need to know is can anybody recommend anything i need to check or have any ideas why its just the two tyres that are wearing on just one side of the axle.

Thanks in advance

After all that damage you had inflicted to the "enemy"..... your own condition most likely is the one represented (exageratedly) in the drawing:
the axle attaching bolts and rods are probably OK and both axle housings still parallel but the rearmost axle end might be bent backwards. That leaves you with 2 tires pulling outward, fighting against 6 that prefer to go straight ahead….!
To check it measure distance F between any two points A and B marked conveniently at axle height somewhere on the tread facing to the front on both inner rear tires. Then roll vehicle (or lift axle) to rotate both wheels exactly 180º, to now measure distance R and compare with F.
Only if the axle is straight F and R will be the same (+/- 2mm). Don't be surprised to find R - F = 20mm or more!

Let us know!

G.

 

[maverick]

Outstanding, thank you so much for the drawing and extra information, its great, just what i need. I will keep you all informed.

Kind Regards

 

[hmburner]

I am truly impressed G. I would never have thought of that method in a million years. I like it so much ,I think i will go measure my duece ,just to see how it works

Thanks again
Bill

 

[AceHigh]

Goes to show how effective the camo paint is- you were invisible to the Volvo.

Better paint it blaze orange!

 

[5_TON_TOMATOE]

Most rigs have a center pin in the spring set that center in the pad on the axle. This keeps the rears in line with the rest of the truck. The impact could have sheared this off, and moved the assembly out of line. Just a thought.

 

[maverick]

Ok thanks for the tip, i will check that as well

 

[FreightTrain]

yea,I will second the bent housing part.Jack up the axle and if you have a pair fo bare rims bolt them in place of the tires.Measure from lip to lip front and rear.This will tell ya if it is bent.Or measure from the back side of the wheels if you don't have a spare rim.Will need 2 people.You can get away with just using one empty rim.Put the tap against the rear of the wheel on one side with the tire and measure the rim lip on the other side.Empty wheels make it easier since you have that thin peice of metal instead of trying to look behind the tire while bending the tape measure to get an accurate measurement.Measure in several location.Front rear,bottom,top if you can get over the chunk.This way you know if it is bent up/down/front/rear.If the dog bone was bent I would think both sides would be wearing funny since both ends would be rotated the same angle just one side moved farther distance.I got a deuce like that.Bent lower rod.Real fun to drive when it was mobile.Ate tires like crazy.......Never fixed it cause back then I had an unlimited supply of 70% or better tires mounted for $25 each....but the place was bought out by people of northern agression and everything is being ground up now

 

[maverick]

Thats very interesting information and will help me a lot, I just hope the axle isnt bent and its the dog bone thats the problem, axles are a real problem to source here in the UK. I Just cant wait to jump on this as soon as I can now, with all the information you have kindly given me I hope i can spot the problem quickly and get it sorted. I will let you know the results asap.

 

[maverick]

Hi Guys,
Here's the latest update.

Brought the tuck home Sunday and jumped straight onto the task of the rear axle. I found nothing broken, marked, scored etc etc, So I then checked the dog bones, all seam ok, not bent, damaged or anything like that, so the final job was to check with measurements. The result was the distance between the middle axle hubs and the final axle hub is 1 1/4 inches further apart than those on the drivers side. So I would say the axle is bent as per GRINGELTAUBE's drawing

So my next question is does anyone have a axle for sale in mainland europe? If not, what the going rate for one in the US?

Ive been told about a guy here in the UK who might be breaking a 800 series truck, are the axles the same as my M54????

Thanks again

 

[topo]

when rebuilding a m269 wrecker low boy I found out that the torque arm on a trailer is about 1 5/8 shorter then one from m52a2 . on the trailer the beam is round and on a truck it is more like I beam in shape . the ends are the same . I would pull the axle shaft out and check the splins that go in side the third member if the housing is bent it would be tough on the axle . the axle shaft could be broken or hard to slide out or hard to line up when puting it back together . good luck kenny

 

[DaveP]

I have seen both the round and i beam types of both lenths.


seems to me the round ones were most allways on the early vehicles.




I Just reread the first post in this thread.

i deleted some of my original post.

 

[gringeltaube]

........................................................... the distance between the middle axle hubs and the final axle hub is 1 1/4 inches further apart than those on the drivers side. So I would say the axle is bent ............................

The difference measured does not necessarily tell you if the axle tube itself is bent or the whole R/R axle has shifted back on that side.
Although, the fact that only the pass. side tires show abnormal faster wear would indicate the first case.
Anyways before start looking for a replacement axle I would take the time to measure according to that diagram...

G.