bent axle housing (3mm), should it be straigtened?

[dirt]

Does anyone know what's an accepatble bend in an axle housing? My FJ40 is currently having F & R ARB Lockers put in. On Friday I got a call from a diff center (apparently ARB sub contract the fitting of their lockers, not something they tell you when you book it in) anyhow they're saying I need to spend an extra $2200 becuase the diffs need reburbishing and the axle housings are slightly bent (3mm one side 4mm the other - both front and rear ). $2200 is a s%it load of cash considering it drives great, no noise from the diffs, no oil leaking into the drums or any other symtoms so I'm wondering what's an accpetable tolderance for a 25 year old 40?? The guy said it's up to me whether I have them straigtened and that 3-4mm was the limit of what's acceptable. I've budgeted $3500 for the lockers which included replacing the carrier bearings and I can't really afford to spend an extra $2200 on this extra work. My car is now in bits at the diff center and I have to make a decision on Tuesday. I can either just replace carrier bearings ($200), refurbish the diffs, bearings, seals etc ($1300) or I can go the whole 9 yards and spend $2200 getting the housings straigtened as well. I can't really negotiate or get a competitive price as ARB has sent my truck there and they've ripped out the diffs and are waiting to put the lockers in. I asked the guy whether this was common and he said it happened all the time - again not something ARB warns you about. What does everyone think? Should I just replace the carrier bearings, refurbish the diffs as well, or should I pay to have the axle housings straignted as well, is 3-4mm enough bend to cause problems? I've been driving around with no problems up to now but I suspect it may also void the warranty on the lockers?

Has anyone had the same problem with bent axles when fitting ARB lockers? Any advice from someone who knows about diffs would be very greatfully received. If I do fork out the cash to get them strqaigtened are they likely to stay that way or will they have been weakend by the bending and be more likely to bend back?

Phil

[jet-6]

Its up to you, just consider this, you have 3 and 4mm, i had a diff in im my ute for 12 years with one side tube shifted back 6 to 7mm, never once had an issue apart from the night i damaged it!

[Vanne]

mate, had my front diff straightend at naralen truck align. piece of piss easy job. cost me 200 in total, and now drives like a dream.
Had 6 degrees bend in it front jettisoning into outerspace from a newly put in unmarked speed hump.

great guys there too, i dunno what the go is, but 2200 sounds friggin exy! how much would the whole truck be worth?

good luck with it.

Oh, and just saw your last line, yeah man, they also (included in the 2 hunge) put a correction of .5 degrees in the knuckles, and havent had an issue since.

[cloughy]

How did he tell it was bent?? If it was fine before hand i'd leave it be

But if you decide to get it straightened, wouldn't you (read: you would) just be better of replacing it with a second hand housing, only a little cheaper

[chimpboy]

Smells like they are trying to rob you.

Not only does $2200 sound too high for the straightening, $1300 also sounds a bit dodgy for bearings, seals, etc.

Anyway, if 3-4mm is "the limit of what's acceptable" and you know that the car drives well, I would say fark spending that much extra money.

If he hasn't told you that the bend (if it even exists) voids the warranty then I would expect the warranty to continue to apply.

The problem with this situation is you've probably now got one of those mechanics who hates working on older vehicles, and if he stuffs anything up he's going to blame the vehicle's age instead of taking responsibility. But you can't do anything about that.

[dirt]

How did he tell it was bent??

On an older truck apparently it's usual to check the alignment of the housing, I've read they use lights & lenses to ckeck the alignment similar to wheel alignment. Aparrently there was a small amount of diff oil in one of the CV joints. I've done quite a bit of reseach and I've read 50% of the lockers that people attempt to return to ARB are becuase of bent housings. I'm just not sure how bent it has to be to cause problems. I've also read that the ARB diff is more of a precision tool than the standard diff and has less of a tolerance for axle housing bends. If I were keeping my open diffs it wouldn't worry me at all. If it was going to cost an extra $1200 for the straigtening/diff overhalls I would probably bite the bullet but $2200, i reckon they are robbing me because they know I'm a captive audience. It's got me a little annoyed because I am very particular about who I let near my cars for this reason. I let ARB put the diff in because they say they are experts and that the main cause of problems is that they haven't ben installed properly. If I'd known they were going to subcontract the work I might have taken it to somewhere else who I trusted not to rip me off. If my truck wasn't undriveable in peices and waiting for the lockers I would buy another 40 and take the axles of it as i've been looking for a spare for parts and I could buy a whole truck for less than $2200. Thanks for all your advice, if anyone else has any knowledge with what's acceptable bend and what will work OK with an ARB locker I will be very greatful for any further advice.

Many Thanks, Phil

[GQ4.8coilcab]

Aparrently there was a small amount of diff oil in one of the CV joints.

that could just be the inner seal.
You know your diff housing is bent when you cant get the diff center out and axles i know
like others have said, cheaper to get another whole diff assembly

[badger]

depends what you use the truck for too.
if its a dayly driver it mab be worth fixing but if it was a play toy.......... who cares you will only bend it again if you straighten it

[ozy1]

i say let them fit evrything up, then in a couple of months when youve saved a bit more cash, id get a pair of second hand housings, get them checked, and braced id say you could have both done for less than 2200, then take em home swap all your bits over and bolt them under your truck,

[dirt]

depends what you use the truck for too.
if its a dayly driver it mab be worth fixing but if it was a play toy.......... who cares you will only bend it again if you straighten it

It's purely a play toy, maybe does 5000ks a year. The front diff would be lucky to see 1000ks a year. Thanks for all your advice, it seems that most of you don't think that 3-4mm is going to do the new diffs much harm. After reading your posts I think I'll just get the carrier bearings done on the front and get the rear diff which sees most action fully refurbished and leave both housings slightly bent. With all the seals/bearings etc I think this will cost me about $1000 rather than the $2200.

I've thought about buying another 40 for the straight housings but in Perth where most 40's have seen some action in the dunes there's no gurantee that the housings on it would be in any better shape. I don't think you could see 3mm bend over the span of the axle?? What's normal axle bend for a 25 year old 40 that's seen its fair share of dunes/rocks?? As mine are bent 3-4mm front and back I would think this must have been done over time, or at least in separate incidents.

If anyone doesn't agree with my plan and has a strong argument (i.e. bad experience with slightly bent housing) against leaving them slightly bent I'd be greatful for your advice. If it's going to cause me lots of greif in 12 months and end up damaging the ARB gear then I'd obviously rather just bite the bullet.

Does anyone work with diffs and know what's acceptable? I spent 2 hours on the internet and couldn't find anything about what might be acceptable. There must be guidelines becuase the guy at the shop reckoned that lots of housings are out of line, even on new 100 series that come in for lockers.

Thanks for all your advice so far, Phil

[Taff]

mate, had my front diff straightend at naralen truck align. piece of piss easy job. cost me 200 in total, and now drives like a dream.
Had 6 degrees bend in it front jettisoning into outerspace from a newly put in unmarked speed hump.

great guys there too, i dunno what the go is, but 2200 sounds friggin exy! how much would the whole truck be worth?

why not get this done after it has all been installed... then you save $$$ and have some peace of mind

[HG]

I bent my housing big time, it had massive camber and wouldn't drive straight at all.
Fixed it by making a jig in the garage and heating it with an Oxy set, new set of bearings & seals were $180 and the hire of the Oxy was $100.
All up took the weekend to fix.
It's perfect now, even had a wheel alignment done and he said it needed nothing done after I put it together in the shed (good old rope wheel alignment trick)
Easy job to do just time consuming.
No way would I let them touch your diff for that price !