Straightening a rear end housing
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[[pic of jackstand wrappage]] | [[pic of jackstand wrappage]] | ||
| − | A straight bar is necessary. This hardened and chrome plated bar is about five feet long, and 1.5" in diameter. It's available from McMaster-Carr for about $115.00. | + | A straight bar is necessary. This hardened and chrome plated bar is about five feet long, and 1.5" in diameter. It's available from McMaster-Carr for about $115.00. Alternatively, an old length of scrap steel shafting can be used. V-blocks and a dial indicator can be used to ensure that a used bar is straight. |
[[pic of bar]] | [[pic of bar]] | ||
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The housing end insert slides over the bar, and indicates how much the end of the housing is bent out of alignment. | The housing end insert slides over the bar, and indicates how much the end of the housing is bent out of alignment. | ||
[[pic of bar hanging out of end]] | [[pic of bar hanging out of end]] | ||
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| + | Hold a ruler on the tube, to see where it's bent. In this case, it's bent at the areas that were welded by the previous "builder". | ||
| + | [[pic of hand holding ruler]] | ||
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| + | Next, rig a chain at the point of bend, and put a 12-ton bottle jack under the end of the axle. To prevent bending the center casing, put the rear cover on. | ||
| + | [[bottle jack and chain pic]] | ||
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| + | Then, jack up the housing into perfect alignment with the housing end insert, and heat a band all the way around the tube, until it's red-hot. Let the tube cool while it's still supported by the jack. | ||
| + | [[pic of welding tube]] | ||
| + | [[pic of red-hot band]] | ||
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| + | In this case, when the tube cooled, the housing end was only a few thousandths of an inch off, and was easily bent into alignment cold, using only the bottle jack. This housing was initially out by almost 1/4" on one side, and 3/16" on the other. Now, the housing end slips on with minimal effort. | ||
| + | [[hand pushing on housing end]] | ||
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| + | I did this once before on my big table. The setup was the same, (I was using a borrowed alignment bar and inserts.) And it was on a 9" ford. I have a bunch of old center sections that have no carrier in them. So I use one as a dummy. | ||
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| + | I don't know how involved someone would want to get , building their own set of rear axle tools , ( I do intend to do this again), but maybe this thread will help inspire someone with a little ingenuity to do it at home. | ||
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