So it happened to me, *accident* HELP!

[south59]

I was on my way to class yesterday, and it had been about a week since it had rained, so the streets were as slick as they could be. The particular road i was on was a 2 lane road in a pretty bad area, one that i had never had any problems on before. Well immediately as I make the turn on to that street, I see a car coming head on to me in my lane completely out of control. My first instinct was to swerve left to avoid getting hit( im going about 30), which i did fine, but I ended up smashing the left rear tire against the curb in the process

We mounted the spare back on the truck and proceeded to drive home on the side streets, but my uncle who was driving behind me noticed that the left tire was wobbling pretty badly at all speeds. I put the truck on jack stands today and confirmed that the spare wasnt the problem, and that the whole axle assembly that the tire mounts on to is wobbling(only on the left side). Does anyone have any ideas to what this will entail to fix? is it just the axle shaft??? Is this something i could replace myself? I have a 3.73 LS in the rear if that helps any. Thankyou

 

[j602]

Might have bent the axle shaft. You'll just need to pull it out and replace it with a new one. Shouldn't be too hard, just unbolting it at the differential, pulling it, and bolting in a new one.

 

[nascar_intimid]

not something you should try at all by your self...pretty in depth for a beginner

 

[410Fortune]

yes it sounds like you need new upper and lower control arms, possible tie rod, axle shaft, etc, plus the entire frame it mounts too might be jacked.
It is best to have this work done at a repair facility.

Dont fret, it could have been alot worse!

 

[Creager]

yes it sounds like you need new upper and lower control arms, possible tie rod, axle shaft, etc, plus the entire frame it mounts too might be jacked.
It is best to have this work done at a repair facility.

Dont fret, it could have been alot worse!

haha 410 hes talking about the rear

You probably bent the axleshaft pretty bad. Possibly taking the bearing along with it. Make sure you didnt turn the bearing and possibly screwed up the housing. But a replacement axle shaft is what you need. I believe the left shaft is the shorter one (there is like a 2.5 inch difference between the shafts)

This is something you can do very easily yourself. Get a Hanyes manual, and look for replacing the rear wheel bearings/removing the rear axle shafts. If you do need a new wheel bearing you are going to need a Slide Hammer to tap that sucker out.

 

[south59]

I've done a good deal of work on the truck before, just nothing with the rear end except changing the diff fluid and installing shackles Ive got a haynes already, i guess i wasjust wondering how hard this is for the average joe like myself...doesnt seem bad at all. So the best route to take right now is to replace the left axle shaft and see if that corrects the problem? I'll check into the haynes about bearings as well, thanks for all the help guys

 

[metstalker]

so what happened with the person in your lane. i bet they didnt even stop, at least your ok

 

[nascar_intimid]

I've done a good deal of work on the truck before, just nothing with the rear end except changing the diff fluid and installing shackles Ive got a haynes already, i guess i wasjust wondering how hard this is for the average joe like myself...doesnt seem bad at all. So the best route to take right now is to replace the left axle shaft and see if that corrects the problem? I'll check into the haynes about bearings as well, thanks for all the help guys

sounded like you were a beginner with those questions but since you have the Haynes and you've had your hands dirty before obviously you know your way around a truck so your not a beginner and yes you can do it in about an hour. Look closely at your mounts especially...good luck and let us know how you made out..'ol south

 

[south59]

sounded like you were a beginner with those questions but since you have the Haynes and you've had your hands dirty before obviously you know your way around a truck so your not a beginner and yes you can do it in about an hour. Look closely at your mounts especially...good luck and let us know how you made out..'ol south

Thanks bud, i should be taking it up this weekend if all goes well

 

[410Fortune]

dang sorry.

It is very likely you bent the axle tube and axleshaft, the 8.8 is a strong rear, but the axle tubes do bend.
You can have it checked for el cheapo.

A visual inspection of the leaf spring, shackle. mounts, etc can be done.
You can use a tape measure from the front tires to see if anything is seriously out of whack.

8.8's are fairly cheap and a snap to replace if it is indeed bent. Grab another 8.8 and drop it in there....easy bolt up conversion, just have to bleed brakes.
You can get them pretty cheap.

 

[Creager]

I've done a good deal of work on the truck before, just nothing with the rear end except changing the diff fluid and installing shackles Ive got a haynes already, i guess i wasjust wondering how hard this is for the average joe like myself...doesnt seem bad at all. So the best route to take right now is to replace the left axle shaft and see if that corrects the problem? I'll check into the haynes about bearings as well, thanks for all the help guys

dont worry im an average joe like yourself and did my own gears! and i had never removed the axleshafts from the 8.8 before. I know you can replace the shafts no problem.

here is a part of the write up i did on doing gears... this is the section that talked about removing the axle shafts

Start by removing the differential cover. Make sure you got some kinda pan underneith the axle, gear oil is going to go everywhere. Once you get this far, spin the carrier around until you see the Cross shaft bolt shown here...

With the cross shaft removed the C-Clip port should be in view, Push in one of the axles and remove the C-Clip. Use needle nosed pliers or just your hands to pull the C-clips out. Pull out the axle shafts and being careful not to nick the seal. Do it for both sides.

Also what 410 said, make sure the actual [axle] tubes are not bent. if they are you will need a whole new axle housing. Make it easier on yourself and try and find one with your same gearing.

 

[south59]

Thanks alot creager, good info!

410- I went under the truck briefly and found this....both of the shackles are bent to the right, am i screwed? or can i just replace the shackles again for an easy fix? here are the pics...

 

[Creager]

yeah those shackles definatly dont look right,

if you can, put the frame on stands, thne put the axle on a jack. remove the shackles and lower the axle housing on the jack... then take a pic so maybe we can tell if the axle is bent real bad or not... Cuz from those pics the axle housing looks alright. those shackles on the otherhand look like they need some replacement haha

 

[410Fortune]

ouch. See how valauble a visual inspection is!
I would replace the shackles, they are not too expensive.
However this would not cause the wheel itself to wobble, just cause the axle to be located wrong.

It is highly likely you bent the leaf springs as well, the axleshaft, or the housing itself.
You could get all these parts from a donor all at once

 

[410Fortune]

go measure your tire to fender clearance, your axle is not centered under your truck anymore.
Also those look like some cheap ass shackles, not surprised they bent, but this may be a good thing, meaning you bent the cheap shackles and saved everything else.

A wobbly wheel however is most likely a bent shaft, or housing. Do you see any gear lube leaking out from behind the suspect wheel? A out of round axle shaft will usually create a leak at the wheel bearing seal....

 

[Brandons]

Ive never seen shackles like that, with just the two sides (no bar going across to the other side)... Hope it is pretty cheap to repair. As 410 said theres lots of donors that can help you out

 

[davidmmm69]

they are from autozone as i have the same ones oin my 1995.
actually it might be good that he has the cheap ones on his also.
I mean because the weakest link always breaks or usually breaks.
so mybe the shackles took the brunt of the force and and not the frame or the axle..

 

[IZwack]

wow those are quite the bent shackles!

once youre done, hang those puppies up in ur garage and show it off as a "wheeling" accident

 

[Brandons]

they are from autozone as i have the same ones oin my 1995.
actually it might be good that he has the cheap ones on his also.
I mean because the weakest link always breaks or usually breaks.
so mybe the shackles took the brunt of the force and and not the frame or the axle..

You make a very good point, id rather replace shackles then any other part under there!

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed it looks like the shackles are toast. I'd recommend the warrior shackles.... those look too flimsy for my liking.

Again, the axle shaft is probably toast. The procedure above is all it takes (in addition to removing the brake caliper and rotor). Any halfway proficient shade-tree mechanic should be able to handle it, no problem.

-Joe