ever have to straighten a spindle?

[escavader]

Igot a alignment problem on my big tex,rear drivers side tires keep wearing out on the inside .All 3 others wear perfect .you can actually sight down it and see its off.
Ive had lots of suggestions,from chaining and jacking ...to replacing...Best idea,im considering was to cut almost al the way around tube with sawzall ,bend it in place then reweld[not sure which rod i should use,or how thick that tube is],id have to remove wire in tube first[goes to brakes]
I took off the drum ,backing plate etc,cant get to where the spindle is welded in tube because the plate the brake assembly bolts too is also welded right in front of...
I really dont want to bend the axle more,because the other opposite tire wears perfect
Idont know how it happened either ,never overloaded or beat on the trailer.axle and brakes still looks new ,not a spot of rust,id really rather fix then replace.
any backyard mechanics got a fix for me?
ALAN

 

[Diamondpilot]

Do not attempt this yourself. You will probably make a bigger mess of it. I have had a bent one before from a customer who hit a gas pump at a filling station. Thats another story. Anyway we took it to a place called Greensfork Alignment here in Indiana. They work on semi trailers all the time and do heavy duty spring work on things like dump trucks, trash trucks, school buses, ect. Anyway they did the fix in a jig for $125. That was 4 years or so back but all has been well with that trailer since. You may not have a Greensfork but I am sure any town of decent size will have a shop that is similar.

By the way it also bent the wheel so take it off first and have it spin balanced at your local tire shop. They will find out real quick if its bent. I always have all my trailer tires balanced even though most people don't I feel it helps with not only ride but also tire wear.

Chris

 

[ray66v]

If you have a frame shop in your area, with a drive on frame rack, they can bend it for you.

I have done a few of them over the years.

 

[Egon]

Take it to a shop.

 

[Renze]

straightened the bent swing arm on the first 1 ton axle on my fathers tandem horse trailer last year. I had to yank our 4 ton tractor real hard whilst the other end of the trailer was tied to a silo. Its perfect now.

My brother complained about his car hauler eating a new tire within 2 months, but this one was bent outward which made it a little easier: i could just hang a comealong around the swing arm and around the other end of the axle and strain it to the max untill the rusty old chain broke. Its much better now, not perfect but it doesnt wear tires anymore.

On the old garage of my former boss' trailer repair shop, there were plenty of crushed bricks in the wall from re-aligning accident damage on trailers.

If you have a straight axle with leaf springs, you can use a pipe bender if its strong enough. It takes some force to bend just the spindle end of the axle because there isnt enough length to excert leverage on.

When its a hollow axle tube, i'd align it with the torch. just a wee bit of cherry red heat on the outer radius of your bend and it will shrink towards you.
Cutting with a sawzall and rewelding is something i dont recommend, it wont be as strong as it was, and it will shrink after welding so you'd have to align with a torch anyways.

 

[woodsmith]

I agree that it is a job best done by professionals.

However, 20 years ago I build a 6x6 truck and I used Land Rover Sailsbury axles. I wanted to have long driveshafts in both sides to make a wider axle so cut and welded a longer axle tube onto it.
The first one was fine but the second axle had a bend in it, probably from some previous damage. My friend straightened it for me by using a rosebud on a torch to heat the outside of the bend making it bend even more. As the heated area cooled it shrank back more then it expanded and slowly pulled the axle straight.
However, he knew what he was doing.

 

[Renze]

When using mechanical force, you can just take small steps at a time, watching how much it flexes back when you release the tension.
For torch aligning, you do need to have some experience with torches and steel.
I aligned the beater shaft on the manure spreader i'm rebuilding last winter, just give it time to cool down at least 10 minutes, before you decide that you need more heat. It first comes back quickly from the thermal expansion, but the actual shrinking (the effect you want to align it) comes a bit later.
At my job training, the first time i aligned steel with a torch, i really messed up because i was reheating before the actual shrink became visible. I had to heat the other side too, to get it back straight. The thin steel tubing was all wavy, but it was a workshop door for the company itself which was crashed out with a forklift the week before, luckily not a customer job..

 

[AlanB]

Dad and I have done it pretty much as you suggest, usually walk in with a grinder or porta band and relieve it enough to where we can move it where we want, then weld back together. Works fine for us.

need to come up with something to extend your sight lines usually to get a good feel for where you are at and moving it too. A piece of Angle iron with some holes or a T welded on to pick up a couple bolts helps to give your eye something.

Good luck.