Bent Axle

[colonelpowers]

I recently discovered that I have a slightly bent axle on the drivers side of my ruxtell. I had the rear jacked up to more easily crank start and I noticed a little wobble. It isn't horrible but it is noticeable. It may have been like that for ages and I can't think of anything that could have caused it. Am I an idiot if I put off fixing it for a while? Since the hurricane Helene flood all of my money and time has been devoted to the rebuilding the house and I really can't get into fixing the axle until everything else is finished. It wouldn't matter to let the car just sit until then but we only have one other vehicle at the moment (since the other cars wet swimming) so if my wife has it I am driving the T. Just thought that I would ask your advice. Thanks and God Bless.

[George House]

Take the left rear wheel off. Remove the grease cover so you can see the Hyatt bearing. Watch the axle’s position as you slowly crank the engine. Has it changed ? Is there a groove in the bearing sleeve ? If not, only your wheel might’ve caused the wobbling.

[mtntee20]

Just because you see a little wobble, does NOT mean it IS the axle. Wood spoke wheels are well known to wobble as well. Wire spoke wheels are more reliable but not immune to wobble either. It would appear, more investigation is needed to make a good diagnosis.

[Allan]

Jack the car securely and start it up. If the axle is bent, you will see the centre drilling in the end doing a dance. No dance, the wobble is in the wheel or perhaps within the way the rim is mounted on the wheel for demountables. Much of this wobble can be eliminated by juggling the fit of the rim. Place a block on the ground as a reference and rotate the wheel with the rim loose on the felloe. Then selectively tighten the nuts to draw the rim up evenly, turning the wheel as you go,keeping it as close to the block as possible as you do so.

This may help.
Allan from down under.

[colonelpowers]

I meant to post again about the axle ages ago but am senile. Anyway, I jacked up the car and started it up. Watching just the brake drum I could still see a little wobble so I pulled the wheel. Started it again and it definitely is the end of the axle. The bearing is tight and the seal is good so it is closer to the end but unless it is spinning you would never look at it and say "that axle is bent". Of course I would like to repair it immediately but at the moment it isn't really an option. Aside from wearing the tire (which I haven't actually seen happen and I cover a lot of miles) what damage could occur if I keep driving it like it is? At the tire there is maybe half an inch of wobble, give or take and nothing is noticeable when driving the car. It most certainly has been present for years and happened before I bought the car because I remember being told by someone a while back that I had a wobble in that wheel and at the time I checked the spokes and axle nut and everything was tight so I figured that the wheel just had a little wobble which I have seen before and never really worried about it.

Thanks and God Bless,

Joshua A Powers

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Aside from wearing the tire (which I haven't actually seen happen and I cover a lot of miles) what damage could occur if I keep driving it like it is? At the tire there is maybe half an inch of wobble, give or take and nothing is noticeable when driving the car. It most certainly has been present for years and happened before I bought the car because I remember being told by someone a while back that I had a wobble in that wheel and at the time I checked the spokes and axle nut and everything was tight so I figured that the wheel just had a little wobble which I have seen before and never really worried about it.

Thanks and God Bless,

Joshua A Powers

Joshua,

If the axle is just simply bent, it will most likely do no harm to continue using it. The only other consideration is whether or not it is just simply bent, versus being cracked. Since you state that it's been this way for a "years", I'd be willing to bet it's not cracked, since it likely would have "let go" long ago if that were the case. It may be something to monitor until you have the opportunity to correct it.

[TXGOAT2]

If you have demountable rims, you can probably reduce or eliminate the wobble at the tire by removing and re-mounting the rim so as to offset the wobble.

[RGould1910]

Its pretty common to see axles bent at the tapered end. I personally dont think it presents a safety issue absent other issues.