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.
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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".
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[[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.
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[[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.
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[[pic of welding tube]]
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[[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.
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[[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.

Revision as of 22:30, 28 February 2007

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