Thread: Bent axle shafts?

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Hey guys. I have an issue thats giving me an extreme vibration on the highway past 100km/h. It's a 1991 chevy caprice with a 5.0l. I put the car up on a hoist, put her in drive and i can see major wheel wobble in the rear. I pulled the wheels off, left the drums on, put a couple of nuts on, put her in drive again, the wobble is still there. Next step, i pulled the drum off too and drove it, still wobbles. You could see both hubs wobbling. Has anybody seen this before? This is an old cab and i have fixed it up pretty good, but its always the vibratins and such that drive me nuts. I Stood both axles side by side and it looks like they are slightly bent, but try to find a flat spot in an autoshop, lol. Any suggestions? How common is this thing, and is it possible that if the old guy before me slid off into a ditch bent both axles? I know cab drivers aren't the best and literally don't give a shit about their cars, but i need some input. Anything would be appreciated. Thanks, Val

A bent axle isn't unheard of, I had one on a S10 I bought used. Had to change it to pass the safety check. The aluminum rim had marks on the edge of the bead area where it likely hit a curb, but it was bent at the axle flange/bearing area. Put in a used one and it was fine. Sniper

I pulled the axles out tonight, sending them out tomorrow to have them matched up to a new set. Hard to find stuff for a rear end that is so uncommon on these cars. Its a 9" with 11" drums, not factory GM stuff since they only came with 7.25" or 8 1/2. I have absolutely no clue what kinda gears are in there, would love to know, because maybe i'll get a posi soon. The vin reads 8 1/2 but its not.
There is how she's sleeping tonight
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Probably damaged in a slide or wreck. My guess is either a rollover or two different curb smashing broadies. Doesn't really matter. I haven't heard of straightening them, I suppose you could but I would sure be looking for some replacements.

it could be a rollover. Nothing on paper, but you never know. The front seats look like they are kinda caved in. If you stand in front of the car , judgind by the backrest and headrest, you could see how they are both angled in. I have to do some digging, and measure the frame.

Ok, I put the axles in last week, so here it goes. The noise is gone, half of the vibration is gone, rear wheels no longer wobble, however, there is still vibration. Is the driveshaft my next target? The ujoints are fine, but with the car up in the air, havin it in drive, i could see the driveshaft is not straight. By that, i mean i look on the side of it and see that it's not straight. Should i try to rotate it 180 first, see if it does anything, or just replace it?

Pull it out and take it to a drive line shop or machine shop that does drive lines. They can check the balance and fix it for you.

Ok, i took the shaft out today, took it to a drive line shop, and one u-joint was off center, and the shaft was off balance by 8 thou. Fixed the ujoint, balanced her up, and $75 later, all vibration was gone. I found some score marks on the yoke, so i'm going to the tranny mount as preventive mantanance. It feels so solid now, its unbeliavable, if finally stopped vibrating, i took it all the way to 190km/h(governor limiter was taken out last yr) and it felt great. Now i'm 100% sure this car hit the ditch.