Pirate 4x4 banner

need some advice on alignmnet bar (HOMEBREW)

4K views 37 replies 21 participants last post by  chris demartini 
#1 ·
im looking into makeing my own axle alignment bar and pucks, so i can make custom axles and retube them.

any of you have success with makeing your own?

i got a guy with all the tools to make pucks and threaded rod i just need some direction, or hints to an easy way of going about this.

Pictures would help alot.

where could i find some that are on the market already to see how they work ?

Thanks,
 
#3 ·
I sell a kit as well...

Basically you want to be able to stick the axle and make sure it's straight and stays straight while you weld on brackets etc.

In order for that to happen, you need a bar big and bad enough that it won't bend. 1-1/2" solid 4340 or tool steel.

You also need a way to adapt the bar to the housing, such as pucks in the carrier bearing bores and wheel bearing bore. The pucks should be aluminum or something softer than the bar.

The thing about threads is they can gual the bores of the tooling and mess that up for you (loosen the bar to bore dimensinos). if you use tool steel, then you can use set screws in some end caps to hold it all together.

Keep in mind, even though you are building this yourself, the materials are expensive and heavy for the good stuff. Can it be done cheaper than buying it already done? Possibly and especially if your labor doesn't have a value.
 
#5 ·
I believe the bar just needs to be big enough to go through the end and capture both carrier bearings. then moved to the other side for the same procedure. I would guess that you can set the ends up for tacking then finish welding with out the bar, then use the same apparatus to heat porting of the axle tube to move the tube into alignment with the metal puck on the outside to align with the carrier bearing then the same for the other side. Ed
 
#8 ·
I woudl say yes, but I'd step it up to 1.5" if you're doing it... The chromed would be ideal, but look at the cost - doubled for 1/2 the steel.
 
#9 ·
so does ne one think the a hardened shaft with threaded portion about a foot on each end would work? it would use Al. pucks on the carrier bearing kept in place with set screws. on the outter ends on the shaft i would Al. pucks and the threaded portion would be used a put a nut on the ends to really tighten and hopefully align everything together.

does ne understand what im trying to explain, to me it sound likes it would work great....
 
#10 · (Edited)
#17 ·
Here's a picture:


Randii
ok i dont know what most of your preferences are but to me this pic makes it seem half ass. so a "new" tube is welded to the factory tubes that was just left in the housing then butt welded? if i where gonna retube an axle, if not buying an entire new housing i would want ONE WHOLE piece of tube running from the inside of the housing to the bearing cup, knuckle, spindle/ whatever you chose to run. does this seem more "quailty" to ne one else ?
 
#22 ·
but you still have to know how to weld up an axle properly, otherwise you'll just end up with a stuck bar....
I'm curious about this statement. It was my understanding that when butt welding either tubes or tube ends (flanges) that one's biggest concerns were pre-heating and stitch welding a little bit at a time around the circumference to avoid warping and improve the ability to keep things straight.

Is this what you were addressing?

(I've got a D60 that I have to weld new outers to and am preparing for doing so and want to make sure I have it down before I cut the old outers off and start throwin' sparks)

Also, what sort of misalignment is acceptable with a full-floating axle? Obviously, being as true as possible is best to avoid stress, axle deflection, etc.
 
#14 ·
I'll try to remember to measure my ROD today and post up the specs...:eek:
 
#21 ·
Sorry, got it measured up... I don't have the best inside calipers in the world, but I'm measuing a difference of ~.0015" between my bar and my slugs.
 
#27 ·
ok so i just talked to guy to night on getting some prices on ground and polished tool steel rod for the alignment bar and was wondering what you guys could get a 48" bar for ?

Now the first two "project" i have when i use the bar is narrow a 14 bolt and make a full float 9" . my question is what would be the best diameter for the alignment bar in these aplications? i dont know off hand the diameter of the spindles, but i figure that would be the limiting factor.

Thanks.
 
#29 ·
im gonna go with 1.250" ground pump shaft, cause the spindle of a 14 bolt are 1.540" ID so i would want some material between the alignment bar and the pucks( or are you guys have a different approach to putting the pucks to the spindles? )

now i just gotta make a phone call to some hyd. pump places and whip out the cash :flipoff2:
 
#31 · (Edited)
I've seen some setups that use the threads on the spindle to screw the pucks on the spindle. IIRC, the threads and spindle nuts are the same for d60, d70, and 14 bolt rears so this could be a fairly universal setup if you went that route where the ID of the spindles are all different from what I can remember. A tapered puck could be a more universal solution if you wanted to center by the inner bore instead.

EDIT: FWIW, my buddy's homemade alignment bar used 1.5" bar, but you wouldn't get that through a d60 spindle without boring it.
 
#37 ·
So i finally got word on some chromed pump shaft with 1.250" OD at Interstate Hydraulics in Farmersville, IL. i think the guy screwed up on the pricing, but i got quoted for $ 1.25 an inch. I think that sounds like a steal. i think im gonna get 50" cause im planning on using screw on pucks for the spindles and a 14 bolt has one side that pretty fawking long in full width.

i made a protective case outta PVC for the alignment bar that i gotta pick up later. one end is glued on cap and the other end has a threaded fitting with a screw on cap. and im makin a handle for the PVC tube with some exhaust clamps and strap steel. its some Grade-A ghetto fab. :flipoff2: gotta post some pics later
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top