Do you have a picture of the axles in their current condition? I'm interested in how you said they bent. Could you post some? Thanks

 

A guess, and a suggestion. If the axles bent, the wheels will run WOBBLY as the shafts turn. Have you turned the axles by hand with the whhels off the ground, to feel for freedom of movement/roughness due to bearing damage? Bending stress would have been highest in the area of the shaft BETWEEN the wheel mounting flange, and the outer end of the axle bearing, thus the bend likely would be located in those few inches of distance.

A lathe WOULD be nice; however, the axle shaft can be placed on two "VEE" blocks, located at appropriate places, and rotated while viewing trueness with a dial indicator. This can be done on a flat benchtop.

In my estimation, the axle tubes themselves would likely NOT be bent, but rather displaced at their INNER ends, where they enter the center section. That is a weak point in such construction.

Let us know what you find. An added guess would be cracked axle bearing outer races are likely.

imp

 

Ill probably pull the shafts when I get off work this morning so ill take a pic. You cant really see damage to the shafts just by looking at them though

 

Yea, the wheels wobble. I took the tires off and had the axle off the ground and rotated them and you could see the wobble. Im assuming its bent in the couple of inches between the bearing and mounting flange. Ill take some pics and get some more input. If its just major bearing damage ill be mad! Just ordered both new shafts at about $125 a piece. I figured it it was damaged inside the axle housing or pumpkin you would hear rubbing or grinding and there's nothing.

I should of taken pics of the before and after. Bent torsion bar, blew out all shocks pretty much, bent leaf springs, busted ball joints and tie rod ends. Pretty much everything suspension was done for. Inside fender well on passenger side was damaged due to the 33s bottoming out. Ill post pics of everything when I get off work.

 

Oh, and thanks to everyone for the input and suggestions! Greatly appreciated! Its killing me seeing it broke down for about 3 months now. Only had it for about a year when all of this happened. Loved these body styles since I was a kid and always wanted one. Esp when my grandfather was the plant manager at the ford plant in Louisville, its hard not to be a ford fan. Had plans for lift and tires until this happened...now im stuck driving my poS10...

 

Well the rain and wind put a damper in my plans to tear down the rear axle so it will be postponed. Will update when it dries up a little.

 

Hard hit! Gosh, harder than I pictured it. Agree with you, damage not likely at inner ends of axles, but I feel the outer bearings will have possibly imbedded their outer races into the axle tubes, since bearing races very hard & tube soft, may make removal of bearing races difficult. You may have to drive them out with a very long drift all the way from the other side, if a puller or slide hammer won't get them. I'd examine the inside surface of the tubes after cleaning with a strong light: If new bearings pressed in are stressed by out-of round within tubes, they will fail prematurely. imp

 

Well I got my new shafts, bearings, seals and all that today and got them in. No more wobble in the wheels. Seems that the shafts were bent in the couple of inches between the bearings and the mounting flange. Now I just need some leaf springs and an alignment and she should be back on the road again after sitting for 3 months waiting on parts and time to tear into her. Finally!

 

Wow that's nuts! Hope it works out for you! My truck has seen air a couple times but somehow I manage to keep it on the road. I can't imagine what it would feel like to break a tie rod though. At least it didn't put you into oncoming traffic!

 

What he said about glad you weren't thrown into head on traffic. Better the truck took the hit than you.

Good deal on just the axles being bent. It saves you a ton of time and money. Now for the springs..............