1967 Front Axle Info

Ok, well I got my van yesterday, and the kid I bought it from in Los Angeles had told me I was going to have to get an alignment on it.

I could tell right away it was more than that, and I was right. This kid and his buddy had tried to tow it. They must have wrapped a chain around the axle.

I just got a call from the tire store. The axle is bent, the tie rods, kingpins bound up, busted a front shock bolt, ubolts, etc. Just trashed the whole front end.

So after cussing for awhile, I realize I am going to have to find an axle and anything else attached,or this van is going to be a giant paperweight.

If anyone has any leads on these type of parts I would appreciate it! Thanks. Talk about going from a high to a low real quick...

in the back of your mind you knew something was doing to need repaired or replaced. so it could have been worse.Don't get down and think can i fix this, If you put a straight edge on it how bad is it ??? is it bent only one way ?? as in only pulled forward ?? or forward and down ?? Im sure a front axle will be aval. but could a frame shop put it on a frame rack and pull it back with out heat.??? After reading this that was my first thought. but maybe some one else would say i'm out of my mind. .but it never hurts to ask some one with a good machine, My guess is if they can do it thay would charge 2 hours of time, and how much is that cost, will the next one you buy going to be straight,??? my guess is a lot of these vans and pickups had a chain wraped around the axle at one time or a other. is the axle bent at the king pins or are they just frozen up.???

I am trying to find out the details. The guy I talked to on the phone said it was really bad. I don't think these can be straightened. I think the bound up kingpin on the drivers side is from the kinks.

Of course I knew there would be things to deal with, but when these things happen after I paid for the van, it's not what I was expecting. I paid pretty big money for a straight van that didn't have these issues. So for it to happen like this it sucks. I am going back to the seller and bitching, but I doubt I will hear back.

Sorry to hear that. Not cool for the kid to do that and not own up to it. If he had a conscience, he'd have gotten an estimate of the damage and taken that off the purchase price. Do you think the shipping guy might have tightened it down too much or do you definitely know it was the kid?

Well, I can't say anything 100% sure. But the transport driver was very good about documenting all damage prior to shipping on his forms. Kinda like a form at the car rental place where you show existing damage on the diagram of a car. And he took me up on the truck to show me damage under the van. If he did it, he would probably not show me.

I am sure it was existing, the kid told me the shock needed a bolt, and about an alignment. He was probably clueless how much he screwed it up.

I took this pic on the transport truck. See where the shock is loose? The passenger tire was twisted to the outside slightly, as if you were turning right. The driver side is tweaked in looking at it straight on, and the driver side over the front tire is lower than the passenger side.

Tie rod's bent, probably because the suspension bottomed out, because the shock bolt fell out and the shock is not connected. Bent tie rod will cause the wheels to point outward. One bolt holds the shock and the anti-sway bar (several inches above the empty shock eye in photo.) Disconnected, it can give a little lean to the van, especially if you have gas shocks...

I am going to stop by tomorrow and go over the details. But the guy doing the work said he had a 67 econo axle on his t-bucket. So he sounds like he knows what they are supposed to look like. We'll see.

No biggie i'm not being a smart ass . but every used car comes with a monster, and i disagree with you regarding not being able th straighten the axle. all the way up to the mid 80's they would have to pull on a axle to reallign a car. also the site you posted regarding the drop axle states they straighten all axles. I understand you spent good money on the van but king pins is allways some thing that needs replaced. I do feel for you .!!!!!!!. but i'm guessing $500.00 should have you on the road. also if the car hauler didn't tie it down my the axle , Did you notice how it was held down,??? there is not a tow truck driver out there that wouldn't try to wrap a chain around that...

If you need one Tim may have one available, I feel your pain, Ive bought two econos and both axles were beat out at the kingpins, I sleeved one and replaced one. Somebody out there has another good one, you just may have to use a little patience in finding it.

My van had the same thing, a bent drag link. They wrapped the tow chain around the drag link and it bent it in two places. I am in process of making a custom tube drag link with new tie rods. That is one option or you can straighten yours and even add a gusset, like a tube sleeve over the existing drag link and have it welded. I straigtend mine for now and have been driving it that way until I get around to making the new one. The broken shock mount is no big deal. Just buy a new grade eight hardware and reinstall it. Personally whoever is diagnosing it sounds like they are exagerating the severity of the issues. From what I have read its pretty common.

I went to the shop this morning and this is the list of parts they think it needs:

Front Axle
King Pins
Tie Rods
Tie Rod Sleeve
RH bolt for Shock
LH Leaf shackle U bolts
Steering Drag Link

I took some pics tonight, and here is the link in larger format. You can see the bent axle, tie rod sleeve. The driver side leafs are missing the shackle and are twisted.

www.gasfpc.com/vans/MyVan/

I'm thinking that I might as well just get it over with and get all the king pin, tie rods, etc. switched out anyway, they look worn.

Do you think I should do the leaf springs and all that goes with it while I am tearing into all of this? It needs to be done eventually.

My mechanic buddy has a shop at his house with a full hydraulic lift, tools, etc. He works on camaro projects and others. I think I may see if I can work on it over there. He isn't doing anything at the moment.

Any thoughts appreciated.

ABSOLUTELY and while you are at it do all brakes from the backing plate out along with new shocks! Those shocks have not been touched in YEARS

I'm not seeing a bent axle, just the tie rod tube bent all to heck and that can be straightened. "If" the axle has a little bow down in it that can be straightened also.

I don't see a bent axle either...but I may not be seeing what it is that your seeing. If you say it's bent I believe you. BUT...You need to take a closer look at the driver side leafs. When I zoom in on your pics from the link you posted, it looks like you have 7 leafs on the driver side and 6 on the passenger side. There appears to be something pinched in between the 3rd and 4th leaf as well, probably the piece that holds your leafs together, that would explain why the leafs are moving out of alignment from each other. That being said the extra chunk of leave that's been added may be to strengthen the stack cuz they are sagged out. My 67 that I have here has the same amount of leafs on both corners. All is very fixable, so don't be to discouraged. You have a lot of great help here to get you back on the road.

My first thought is "Do you trust this mechanic?" "Have you had work done by him in the past?"

I ask this because, the axle beam (just from the photo) looks fine. If the mechanic/tech measured the wheel geometry AT THE WHEEL, but the king pins are loose and the wheel bearings are loose and the tie rods are shot, then there is NO WAY he could know that axle is bent. Really, there is no way to tell if the axle beam is bent unless you have NEW king pins, NEW tie rod ends and properly adjusted wheel bearings. There could easily be too much slop in the system to even suggest a "bent" axle. Like I said before that the axle beam gets purposely bent to adjust camber. My first axle had a significant "Z" bend in it but it drove beautifully:



You could have a wobbly looking axle beam that holds a perfect alignment!

Your list says "Tie Rods" but there is only one, that is the bent piece going across-wise behind the axle beam (also called a Center Link.) Common to see these get bent, that one looks like it got bent from bottoming out the suspension which can happen if your shock(s) is/are not working. Easy to fix that, beat it back straight, it's mild steel. A bent tie rod will result in "toe out" rather than "toe in."

It would be a good idea to do the king pins, but shop around, I've done it myself and it is NOT a lot of work if approached right. You can buy a good quality Moog king pin kit, take the axle apart yourself and take the beam and spindles to a local machine shop and have them ream the new bushings to an "interference fit" (slip fit) and that should not cost very much.

Tie rod ends are a good thing to replace, I think that is what was meant by "Tie Rod Sleeves" but not sure. Couple hour project to remove and replace with the right tools.

The Shock Bolt was kinda hard for me to find, I finally found the right one and right grade at NAPA, had to order it though, like 4 bucks, with lock washer and nut.

The Drag Link is SUPPOSED TO BE BENT, a lot of guys think theirs got bent but it is made that way, to clearance the front spring mount and still have a straight shot to the steering arm, yours looks good. Don't replace it, too expensive, over 150 new, unless the ball ends are loose, the ball ends and drag link bar are integrated as one unit...

...you DO have one serious problem, your forward U-Bolt on the Driver's Side looks like it is broken. Replace. Good inexpensive source is McVay's Truck Spring, I think they cost me a couple bucks apiece. That is a MUST DO item. And hammer your leaf springs straight while you're at it!

As other members suggested, it is a good chance to do the brakes if needed, and inspect and re-pack the wheel bearings for sure.

It would be really great to get that Van running as good as it looks. Congratulations on such a great find! That's got a LOT of potential!

George

ditto what george said above but let me add this. todays alignment people are not used to a straight axle. they are not interested in trying to find out why the specs are off, but instead interested in selling a ton of parts for the commissions. if a person replaces everything it should be right, correct.!! one thing i noticed is the spring with the broken u-bolt has the leafs twisted as well. the center bolt is probably broken or bent. it is only a few bucks for one but if the axle moved on the perch the specs are a mile off and the tech would consider the axle bent according to his alignment machine. you need front end work for sure but you need an old school inspection first by someone with straight axle experience.
by looking at your pics heres what i see ;
with a broken center bolt wheelbase is off on one side.
camber and caster are off on both sides.
van has toe out on both sides.
tow strap marks on front axle and center link.
the newer computerized alignment machines will give a printout of readings and possibilities of reasons for those readings. and some machines now are not even any good to do an alignment on a straight axle. someone under 40 years old would have little or no desire to check into it to help you out, time is money.
my advice to you is some basic stuff first. repair the bolts for the shock and u-bolt. when you replace the u-bolt check the center bolt in the spring or just replace it anyway.the head can be bent so try to turn it to look at it. if its broke the spring will let you know when you remove the u-bolts. straighten the center link. grease the king pins and check the wheelbase with a string. some help is needed here but it will tell you a lot and you can do a closer adjustment for toe in. if you have a friend who is into stockcar racing they are good at it. it is a lenghty procudure to type out here and to understand. check and adjust your wheel bearings and then take it to a shop that has experience with straight axles not some big chain auto repair joint. the specs won't be as far off i'll bet but more repairs and part replacement is probably required. a good shop will know how to bend a straight axle or shim the springs to get the specs right. keep the faith van looks like it is real nice shape......

Wow..thanks for all the great info everybody. I think I will leave the axle and linkage alone, and replace the other parts. Then see what's happening.

Any opinions on putting all new leaf springs and associated parts in while I am doing this?

every major city has a leaf spring shop that replaces and or re bends existing springs here is one in k.c. http://www.kcspringworks.com/#overview

Looks like you are in KC, send that front axle to Sid at Dropper Axles (Nostalgia Sid's) in Guthrie OK. He can mount that axle on his jig, straighten it if it needs it and put new King Pins in.