ok if uve seen my previous posts, i hit a curb, bent my panhard rod and pushed the axle off center to the right (passenger side) about an inch or two. so i install a new adjustable panhard rod, center the axle (yes i made sure it was centered), and put on the spare tire. now the steering wheel is turned to the left but the car goes straight. when i level the steering wheel the car turns right. when i let go of the steering wheel totally, the car goes perfectly straight (but with the steering wheel turned to the left). what is wrong?


and another thing. the drivers side rear wobbles when i hit the brakes (it doesnt start to wobble till i come down to 10mph or so) keep in mind this is the side that was impacted and it has the spare on it right now. It did this with the stock wheel on, but it was wobbling at all times and i figured that was because the wheel was bent badly (i can roll the wheel on the ground now that its off and feel where it wobbles)

any help would be appreciated
thanks

 

As far as the crooked steering, the rear may not be straight in the car. The mounts for the trailing arms could have been bent a slight amount. If not too bad an alignment may take care of it. But then again it may crab-walk.

It could also be that the rear itself has bent a little.

Wobble: probably bent the axle. Jack up rear, take tire and drum/disk off, run at low speed and observe axle flange.

RBob.

 

bent axle housing or axle shaft?

 

If the spare tire you put on is a donut then that is going to alter the way the car sits. Your alignment is going to be out. Ignore the steering wheel until you get a regular rim and tire that matches the other three on there.

As for the wobbling, yes it sounds like you bent something back there. The easiest way to check is to put the car on a lift and put the car in drive, bring it up to speed while letting the tires turn free in the air. I'm honestly not sure what the safest method to do this with jackstands with is (only rear on jackstands with front on ground, all 4 on jackstands, etc.) as I've always had my lift at work to do it on. Maybe someone else will chime in.

 

yay! i bent an axle shaft! now i get to be poor again. so should i attempt to replace the axle shaft myself? i dont have a lift and i need to buy a torque wrench. how much do axle shafts cost? how much do u think it would cost to pay someone to do this?

and about the alignment issue, when i straighten the steering wheel, the wheels are turned slightly, so i think its just the front that needs to be aligned, not the rear axle.

lol this car is such a money pit

 

- the car isn't a money pit, curbs are! - Axle can be had for around $100 new, many parts stores have stock/access.(Dorman released several a couple years back...) - when I say parts stores, I mean NAPA/ Parts Warehouse, not dipcount/autozone. - Simple to install. - as for the alignment, get a new tire/wheel on it thats the right size and have it aligned. You may have bent a tie rod or something, but it sounds like it'll be ok past that...

 

the previous owner put in 3.73's...that wont affect what axle shaft i need right? can i just ask for an axle shaft for a 91 Z28? should i try to change the rear bearings while im at it? i dont have a bearing puller, is there something i can use instead? how much do bearing pullers cost? will i need a "bearing driver" too? what about axle seals? how do i know if i damaged these seals? since i bent the axle shaft that cant be good for the bearings cause the shaft is turning at an angle...do the bearings allow that kind of movment? do i need to remove the drum brakes to pull out the bearings?

btw ive driven the car up to 50mph and i havent heard any bearing noise, the wheels dont tilt or click or anything.

now im wondering if i bent the axle tubes (whatever they are called) i would hate to replace the axle shaft, oil seal, and bearings just to find out the axle is bent. how do i check for that?

 

Yes, do the bearings/seals while you're there(do both sides!). - Many parts stores have the loan-a-tool program where you can "rent" a puller. Many times you end up cutting/chiseling the factory bearings out. No, the gear swap won't effect you axle. Just tell them which side it is. Uhmm, you'll be pulling the drum to pull the axla, as for the rest of the rear brakes, no, you can leave them intact.

we are talking a 10-bolt right, not a 9-bolt? I don't think you have 9-bolt, but if you do...good luck getting parts...

 

yes its a 10 bolt. omg i dont want to get stuck trying to cut another thing out...how do i chisel or cut them out? are u sure they will be stuck?

and btw thats what i meant about the rear brakes, not just pulling off the drum

i made another post in transmission/drivetrain fourm....btw GM doesnt make axle shafts for our cars anymore and no parts stores around here have them.

 

Go to a mechanic.

 

nah i got it under control. they are easy to get out. i will never take my car to a "mechanic". i cant stand it when someone else works on my car without me standing there making sure he doesnt do anything wrong. besides im training to be a technician anyway...gotta learn somehow

 

lol

Ya know I swear I mentioned checking out the axle when u were repairing the other damage :-)


later
Jeremy

 

Get your axles from a junk yard, they are really cheap there. 10
bolts are all over the place.

If your axle flange was wobbling like Rbob descriped, you bent the axle, if the axle tube was bent, it wouldn't wobble but it would change your rear camber or toe.

Try to pull the bearings out with the puller, if that doesn't work, hop back on TGO and learn how to chisel em out.
Put the junk yard axle in your rear end (you could probably grap 2 axles for less than $50), make sure that fixed the problem.
Get 4 matching tires and wheels and get an alignment.

Axles - $40
Bearings/Seals - $60
Balanced wheel - Depends on which wheel you got but if they are stock not more than $100
Alignment - $60

Total - $260 and two evenings on your back.
Last time I hit a curb it was around $600. Your lucky. Like you said, gotta learn how to do it sometime.

 

the only 3rd gens in junkyards around here are 80's and have grass overgown all over in them. i dont want to get all muddy and try to fit under a junkyard car...

i was told 80's camaros used 26 splies and 90-92 used 28 splines.

lol alignment is 80 bucks around here...pretty gay huh

i havent been able to located ANY 91-92 (z28) wheels...the ones for sale on the net are over $100. i wish it was that cheap and easy

im renting a bearing puller from autozone. they shouldnt be that hard to get out. The car has 80k miles and im sure the bearings have never been changed. btw i dont know how a chisel would work since they are inside the axle tubes

 

So do you know how to get them out?

You are going to need a torch to burn the loctite off the bolt that holds the cross pin that retains the axles and c clips. If you dont do this you will ruin several sockets trying to remove the retainer bolt, or may strip the bolt and then be in real trouble. Make sure you have a good block of wood and a big hammer to drive the axles back in after the cross pin is pulled so the c clips will fall out.

The bearing are not in the axle tube. The have a tapered fit at the end of the tube. The will come out easy. The seals are an easy out too.

Make sure that you polish with light sandpaper the part of the axle that rides on the new seal if you dont want it to start leaking soon after the repair.

There are alot of tricks to learn about this job that will save considerable time. A mechanic will know these.

Why do you need a torque wrench?

Why do you need an axle puller? I have pulled axles several times on 3 different 3rd gens and never needed one.

You need to be worried about the axle lenght not just the spline count.

You should not be afraid of crawling under the weeds if you are "poor again". This build character and keeps you off the curbs in the future.

Search the web to find out how to do a home alignment, you will be a real tech after you can do this in your garage. why pay $80 for someone else to mess up your alignment.

If you are training to be a tech this will truely be on the job training.

From the questions that you are asking, I think this will be a challenging job.

 

ive taken apart a GM 10 bolt rear end in school. i got the axle seals and bearings out easy. what is an axle puller? all the junkyards around here only have 80's camaros so thats out of the question anyway. aftermarket axle shafts are the correct length. why would the new seals leak? i know where the bearings are...sorry i dont know the official terms. i dont have a torch...the bolt shouldnt be that bad dude. that bolt has a torque spec. so do the diff cover bolts.

and yes i know it will be a tough job. so were headers and the panhard rod. but i got through it

 

No offense, but if you are trying to be a tech, you need to learn how to tighten things by feel. There is no reason to use a torque wrench on a diff cover. Definitely on the bearing caps, an intake manifold, or a head, but not a piece of stamped sheet metal thats sole purpose in life is to prevent fluid from leaking. I hate to say it but you can't be a perfectionist in this trade and expect to be able to put food on the table and parts on the car.

 

except the intake part, never done anything other than a ratchet/wrench an tightened em'. - I've never had to heat the cross pin retainer bolt. I do have a smoke wrench, but never needed anything ohter than a socket and a 1/4 drive ratchet, and I've had atleast 30 rears apart. - the bearings do drive in, but most will pop out w/ a slide hammer. Those that don't you chisel into pieces and start pulling out pieces...