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Axle sat out more to one side

Oli.g

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Aug 31, 2019
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england
Hey everyone, I’ve just noticed that my drivers side rear wheel is flush with my arches but my passenger side is around an inch or so INSIDE the wheel arch on the rear of my Colorado!:oops:

I’m panicking now that my chassis is twisted or axle is about to fall off hahah.

I’ve just had the front lifted with peddlers springs an monroe shocks, not got round to fitting the rear shocks an springs yet as the unit I’ve used for the ramp is chocker with jobs for next few days. Could it be something as simple :pray:as it’s due to the front being higher and the rear still has original saggy 20 year old springs an blown shocks? Hahah

anyhelp will be massively appreciated! Thank you!
 
Measure from arch to the centre of each back wheel and i bet you find the same inch or so difference
 
What would that mean if it is Shayne? I’m panicking like mad about this haha
 
the rear is a solid axle so when one wheel goes down and out the other goes up and in seesaw fashion .
 
When you lift a solid axle, the panhard rod will act to pull the body and chassis to one side. But the same is true if the vehicle is lowered due to saggy old springs. Now generally the amount is not that much but combine it with lifting the front, 20 year old bushes and so on and there may be enough slack to push you over by this amount.
 
When I changed the rear springs on mine I was surprised to find that one rear was broken - it wasn't very obvious.

I wouldn't panic until after you have changed the rear springs and shocks ( and control arm bushes, ARB bushes, ARB drop links, the brake-limiting valve . . . :icon-wink: ).

Bob.
 
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It's a 90 so 2" lift and it will be fine once all the springs are in .
 
*update*

Might be time to scrap her unfortunately! Spent so much on this thing, literally owes me thousands!:cry:

turns out the reason the axle sat more to one side was nothing to do with the lift..

I’ll attach a pic and let that do the talking.. pan hard rod mount on the chassis has split in half!

Unless someone can sell me a rear half of a chassis cheap I think I’m going to have to sadly scrap/sell her for export/parts! The chassis rails around the rear shock area are also rotting on the awkward spots around spring mounts, I love this truck to bits but I can’t afford thousands on repairs:pensive:
 

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Don't give up on it a welder could fix that easy from what i can see , hose it down and give us some more pics , and where are you someone might know a good welder in your area ?
 
Sadly this is where most Colorado's are going to end up anytime soon and the reason I don't have one any more.
Weigh your options up
,replace it with another if you can find a good one and transfer your good bits over to it or chase the rust round with a MIG welder.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the nail! Yes that could be fixed fairly easily. It's not a difficult fabrication but give it a really good jet wash first so you can see what's going on. It is fixable.
 
Will do thank you lads, I want to save her and don’t want to give up on it but the rear chassis needs rebuilding, it’s just going in circles of chasing rot :disappointed:

good spot on the nail! Thank you!
 
Yes I think that what we're saying here on the rescue front is that the bracket is fixable. But if it's indicative of the rest of the vehicle then you may indeed be chasing the problem. You can stick a whole new axle casing on the back as some have (circa £500) but if there' s nothing to attach it to....
 
The front half of the chassis is mint, not really even surface rust, it’s the rear where it was covered in wax oyl that it all rotted, the axle mounts, difflock work etc all okay and just needs a wire brush an paint, The very back part of chassis, around bumper to where the panhard cross member goes has been rebuilt with box and is fine, it’s just from the panhard cross member to the trailing arm mounts that’s rusting and could really do with new box section welding in but means body off and a lot of work

going to pop down my friends garagewhen he closes and we’re gonna grind back the rust and see what can be done so I’ll keep you all updated!
 
Get it cleaned back and see how bad it is, from a fabricators perspective. I recently dropped a 4 figure sum on mine to get rear end rust sorted. Granted the brackets and mounts were all OK, but the chassis rails needed plating section in behind the rear wheel rebuilt and the sills were questionable at best. I do fear another bill a few years down the line, but I aim to protect it as best I can. There seems to mixed opinion on waxoyl, some swear by it, others say it only hides the internal problem.

Either way, if you love the truck, you'll save it as I did, just takes a bit of wedge unfortunately
 
If you have to spend a grand to get it fixed then spend a grand now compare that to the price of a replacement truck going by the the dizzying rising prices of trucks with their hidden defects you may be in the same situation six months down the road and don't forget your lucky nail
 
As others have already said, clean it back and get a quote to fix. I bet that will still be considerably less than the cost of chopping this one in for a replacement - one which may be hiding a whole raft of problems, most of which you're bound to unearth only after you've had it for a while. Sometimes it's better the devil you know. :icon-wink:

I'm going to have to bite the bullet for replacement rear axle casing in the near future, as my (Heath Robinson'esque) attempts to repair the perforated rear diff case are slowly failing. Though in fairness they have lasted nearly 2 years.....and I might give it one more go, when the weather gets a bit better. It'll be more JBWeld than original by that time! :icon-exclaim:
 
I'm in a similar situation but I suspect my rear chassis is far worse than Oli.g 's sounds, although maybe different parts, as it has not had the work done his has. My plan was inspired by the youtube video of the 90 guy doing a body lift in the street (can't recall the name at the moment sorry). I propose to raise the body enough & support it so I can take the rear part of the chassis away by cutting it further forward & bung it in a mate's van to transport it to a great welder and restorer of old cars who does my MOTs I know a few villages away. Supply him with some key Amayama bits (spring hangers & key brackets and mounting points that are rough) then while he's welding away with all the access and space around it he needs I can try and find the time to tidy up the rear axle and do a few other jobs, bush changes, fix steering seal etc. Once chassis done then weld the 2 "halves" back together. Going for a 45 degree rather than 90degree cut as stronger when welded. My axle back plate is a bit porous but the turrets that hold the top arms have been rebuilt in thick plate by the same guy. My theory is as of others above, if I change it who knows what hidden surprises there will be and a serious fix now will save hassle down the line. From what I hear another manufacturers 130" models are only their 110" chopped with a bit added and it's done with other vehicles too so I'm not worried about this guy doing it. He's up for coming round and doing the join as I trust his welding far more than my own. Also I would have rather had the red but have the silver which thankfully hides the scratches well and mine's a chick magnet as is proven by my profile picture. If anyone has any hints or tips I would be interested to hear as this forum has been the best I've been on for vehicles over the years. Thanks to all who have contributed.
 
Oli.G how did the chassis repair work out for you? I recently replaced the panhard rod on mine as the steel pipe around the bushing had broken. Rust in the chassis seems to be a big issue on these, but why is it always the back half?
 
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