Driveline vibration

[Van B]

I had a vibration while on Power Tour. I only did the first few days, but when I was on my way home from the Racine stop, a friend of mine pulled up next to me and said it looked like I had a bent axle because my left rear wheel was moving back and forth.

I have a stock width 12 bolt with factory type axles. When I got home, I jacked the car up, ran it and verified the wheel wobble. I took the rear wheels off at work and spun them on the balancer-they look to be true. Tonight I took the rear brakes off and ran it on jackstands again and the axles do appear to be bent.

Now my question. How do you bend axles? My dad thinks it is from hard cornering at the road course, which I doubt. How else can it happen? Hard launches at the dragstrip?

I am now thinking that they may have been that way since I bought the car.

Opinions?

[PTAddict]

Severe side loading on one portion of the wheel is the usual culprit, e.g. sliding sideways into a curb. No way will normal cornering loads cause bent axles.

The other possibility is that the axle cracked at some point due to something like a hard drag launch with slicks, and that the crack has worked its way far enough through the axle to allow it to bend. That wouldn't seem to describe your condition, because the axle would have failed in short order after you began to notice the problem.

[J2SpeedandCustom]

Van it could be and axles is partially twisted and bent. If your playing hard you'll find the weaknesses. Sounds like it's time for some bigger ones. :thumbsup:

[Van B]

Ordered a set of Strange case hardened replacement axles. When we chucked the left one in the lathe, it had 1/4 inch runout if it had a mm. The right was bent too, but not as bad.

The old heap ought to drive like a Cadillac now!