i cant believe what this shop did to my axle!!

[rollingthunder]

So I took my brand new 9 inch housing to a local body shop to have my coil over mounts weld strong... I asked for him to put the pinoin at 2 degres up...so when the axle is perfectly sitting level the axle braket should go 3 degrees back so when the are put straight up and don't forr the coil overs then the pinoin kick up 3 degrees...easy right??? Well I just got the axle back..and the pinion when the brakets are 0 degrees vertical is 9 degrees!!!! I'm so ****ed right now it unbelivable.. I can bring the pinion angle down to about 4 degrees but then the coild over brakets do not sit flush with the coil over bolt it bends it slightly....what the hell can I do...make a shim..I'm steaming!!!!!!!!!

 

[donsrods]

I think you answered your own question when you said you used a body shop to weld your rear end brackets on. How do you expect a guy who pounds dents out to understand pinion angle, heat warpage, etc. ? You have yourself to blame on this one.

Next time find a welder or rod shop who knows more than how to strike an arc.

Don

 

[skull]

have to fix it

if you were in western washington l know several shops and people who can fix properally.



Later

 

[rollingthunder]

Should I make a wedge with washer to make to mounting surface 0 degrees and drill the 5/8 hole a little larger ..or try and remove the brakets... these things are welded like a mother on there..its probably trashed

 

[skull]

post pics

pic would help[

Later

 

[rat rodder 37]

Pinon angle

What i would do is start over because everything u do from this point on that housing will bit u in the a______s so go find a friend or a local hot rodder and see if he will do it for you most will because of your interest in cars

 

[cornfield customs]

send it to me i will get it straightened out for you. lol

cut it all off and get it fixed right. the best thing to in situations like this is have all the brackets cleaned and tacked in place where you want them, that way some one can just burn them in and you know they are where you want them

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

What kind of bodyshop can't read an angle finder? Jeez. I'd hate to see how they do a four-wheel alignment, or straighten a frame. Do they use a crayon and a freakin' yardstick?

I don't quite understand how coilover mounts affect your pinion angle or vice versa. How about that pic?

 

[rollingthunder]

Here is an illustration..I'm at work!!!haha

 

[donsrods]

What kind of bodyshop can't read an angle finder? Jeez. I'd hate to see how they do a four-wheel alignment, or straighten a frame. Do they use a crayon and a freakin' yardstick?

I'm not taking the bodyshops side, but you are asking people who normally don't deal with chassis fabrication to suddenly become fabricators. Their mindset is totally different from those of us who envision these things and are able to automatically know what to do to make them a reality. When I worked at the body shop I would never have asked any of the guys there to do fabrication on a chassis for me, they wouldn't have had a clue of where to begin. Strange as it might seem, a lot of body men are not car guys like you would think.

There is also more going on here than pinion angle. Even if you exert great care it is very easy to warp a housing and throw the tubes out of alignment. A person who wouldn't know this would just keep burning a hot weld all around those mounts and possibly warp it badly. Then there is the issue of are both mounts in exactly the same plane in relationship to one another.

No, you have asked a Dentist to perform brain surgery. In the days before I had my Son to do my welding for me I would tack weld stuff and then take it to a pro welder and make sure I explained everything to him fully so there was little chance of it coming back wrong. I think your only fix is to cut it off and start over, and to check to see how warped it might have gotten already.

Don

 

[donsrods]

I found these pictures that might help you the next time. When we welded the coilover brackets to the 8 inch rear in my rpu I made a special jig to hold them and make sure they were in the same relationship to each other. Then we leveled the rear, slid the brackets and jig underneath, made the mounts 90 degrees to the ground, and pointed the pinion up 3 degrees. THEN we welded it up, skipping around to miniminze heat build up.

Don

Here is the jig with the two mounts clamped squarely in place.

And here it is slid under the rear, ready to be welded on.

 

[rollingthunder]

how do I check for warpage?? And do I go to him and get my f- 100$ dollars back so I can buy a new axle.. or have him fix it and possibly f it up even more

 

[rollingthunder]

How bout doing this

 

[donsrods]

The correct way to check for warpage is to have one of the special alignement tools that has a support on each end and a long bar that slides in through both of the supports. If it goes easily it is straight, if it binds, it is warped and needs heated and pressed straight.

The home garage way to check for warpage is to put the center section in, then try inserting the axles. If they go in nicely, you are ok, if they bind, it is probably warped. Not a perfect way to check, but better than nothing.

As far as going back to the guy to get your money back, I think you are trying to shift the blame onto him. Did he sell himself as being a rod fabricator or just someone who could weld on what you brought him? Like I said, I think you were assuming any welder would understand how this was to be done and asking a body man to do it was not the right thing IMO.

I think your solution in the drawing is worth trying, it will save any more heat on that housing.

Don

 

[rollingthunder]

Thanks Don!!! One more idea with a pic..wich do you think is better... if I do a shim it would be less evassive and could be easily changed? But not as sturdyy

 

[donsrods]

I like the first idea better, but if you do the second one you will need a tapered shim on the inside and outside so the stud pulls straight and can be torqued down. Otherwise it will work loose.

Don

 

[rollingthunder]

Don ..it looks as though you cut existing brakets off of you axle...how hard was the clean up and did it do any damage?