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Ajustment of rear axel?

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J

John_Progess

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I am helping a friend with a 67 BJ8 and he tells me the right rear tire is noticeably further forward than the left side tire. My car is a Phase I car so I don't have any experience with torque boxes. Can you adjust the position of the rear axel fore and aft with the torque boxes? My manual does not even mention torque boxes! Where can I find info about them? When I see the car I will check to make sure the spring is mounted correctly. Thanks and have a good day!

John
 
Can you adjust the position of the rear axel fore and aft with the torque boxes?

PUT simply: NO!
 
I'd start by putting the steering wheel in the straight ahead position. Mark the center of each knockoff with a dot from a sharpie. Then measure the distance between front and back on both sides to see if there really is a difference in the wheelbase between the sides.

Axle position is not adjustable so if wheelbase is different on the right, maybe one or more bushings are missing from the radius arm (can you move it around with your hand and does it clunk), the locating bolt might be missing from the interface between the axle and spring, maybe there was an accident and the frame's bent or the bodywork's cockeyed; maybe the axle u-bolts are loose.
 
Try measuring from the front linkage of each leaf spring to the nuts on the "U"bolts that hold the axle to leaf spring. You may have two different leaf springs. Just a thought. Probably wrong.
TH
 
Steve has some good points and ways to identify the shorter wheel base from the longer (if it is different). however, I was wondering, since the Phase 2 BJ8s use Radius Arms, is the length of the portion of the spring forward of the differential attachment shorter then the aft portion of the spring? If so, one spring may be oriented incorrectly.

Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
You may want to check for a broken leaf spring at the forward mounting position. Mine was broken and I had a similar problem like you had. My spring where the "bolt" goes through was broken off.
 
Yes the axle can be adjusted with radius arm boxes. If the springs are not match sets, meaning if the locating pin in the center of the spring where the axle sits should be the same on both sides. I have seen many springs where this is not the case. If an outrigger has been changed and an incorrect measurement has been taken this can also cause the axle to sit differently from one side of the axle to the other. On BJ8s the axle sits on a rubber pad, if the axle was ever loose at some point these pads will wear causing the hole the spring pin fits through in the rubber to elongate. When any of these situations occur not only does it effect rear axle positioning but will also have an effect on the pinion angle on the rear end.
Hope this helps and remember rear springs are directional.
Marty
 
Hi Marty,

As always, if it comes to the suspension or frame, IMHO you are the definitive expert.

All the best,
Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
Frameman said:
Yes the axle can be adjusted with radius arm boxes.
Click to expand...

Marty, to clarify, I think what you are saying is that an axle that is located with radius arms can in fact be out of whack (you go on to list a variety of causes). The statement above reads to me that the radius arm boxes are adjustable. Just so the original poster is clear, the radius arm boxes are fixed, and the radius arms are not adjustable, but there are other things that can cause the axle to be out of whack.
 
CLEAH said:
Marty, to clarify, I think what you are saying is that an axle that is located with radius arms can in fact be out of whack (you go on to list a variety of causes). The statement above reads to me that the radius arm boxes are adjustable. Just so the original poster is clear, the radius arm boxes are fixed, and the radius arms are not adjustable, but there are other things that can cause the axle to be out of whack.
Click to expand...

Yes the radius arm is not the adjusting point , it is the fixed point. It is the location of the pin and leaf springs that could change the dimension. My perception from the comments was that people were thinking that if the radius arm rear axle assemblies would automatically confirm that the axle was in the correct place. As I stated earlier this may not always be the case and the positioning of the axle could be altered.
hope this helps.
Marty
 
I bet that fella CLEAH got an "A" in propositonal Calculus.==:glee:
 
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