metaulic

I am lightly exploring (not seriously considering) the idea of cuttinng and turning my front axle to fix caster and pinion angles.

I am a do-it-yourself person with guts, common sense and some experience and id like to explore how intensive this project would be.

I also like 2 things - the most badd ass suspension system out there (in my opinion) and excellent driveability and road mannerism.

I have a rubicon dana 44 front, teraflex 6" long arm, 1.4 degrees of caster (soon to be about 3 degrees) and coast driveshafts (no flange - yoke replacement).

I am assuming this job constitutes of this...

1) Remove front axle from Jeep
2) Put on a bench and get comfortable
3) Remove axleshafts
4) Grind off welds retaining outer C's to axletubes and drill out plug welds
4) Mark old locations
5) Mark new locations
6) Twist from old location to new
7) Weld into new location
8) Reinstall axleshafts
9) Reinstall axle onto jeep
10) Drive around for a bit
11) Change Gear oil

Am I wrong? It sounds like a 2 day job if I take my time?

I could also cut and turn the axles. I dont have a problem making a jig to do this. I have the evo sleeves (not yet installed).

Input? Thanks!

JdTms11

im not 100% sure, but i think that ive heard or seen that when axles are first built it takes a large press to press the tubes into the pumpkin, so even if you did clear out the welds its still going to take a tremendous amount of force to turn the tubes. again im not 100% sure on this but its just a thought.

RA070424

What would the advantage be doing this instead of adjusting caster with the Teraflex arms?

metaulic

Yes I think you might be right.... Hopefully someone can chime in and confirm this?

metaulic

I can get the front axle caster to where I want it for perfect steering but then my pinion would be aiming at the ground, which would increase my pinion to driveshaft angle closer to 90 degrees. This in turn causes an unhappy driveshaft ujoint, vibrations and possibly binding depending how hight the angle is operating at.

TeraFlex

Correct. That is possible.

NE Wrangling

yes it can be done and I think you have most of the steps but the turning the housing and the c's are the challenge. Wondering why you could adjust the arms to account for the change you are looking for in caster? I know of guys running 6" of lift and they didn't have to do this.

KenB1010

He's trying to get the correct caster and the correct pinion angle at the same time. On the rear axle you can adjust the pinion angle, but on the front you have to compromise pinion angle to get a livable castor. That's why you see people on the forum running 7-8 degrees of castor on the front axle.

With his 6" lift he is probably getting front drive line binding that is limiting his articulation. By turning the axle tubes on the pumbkin he is trying to improve his castor and pinion angles. Most people don't do this because of the work involved. People that are upgrading to the Dana 60 front axle are using the upgrade to help improve these angle as well.

KCTW

Thank's for explaining this. I couldn't figure out why he would want to take on a task like this, but now I understand.

AMMoyer

Why not some offset ball joints? Set your pinion where you want it, measure your caster and install appropriate offset ball joint to get the caster you want. The ones I know of come in 1/2degree increments up to 2 degrees max and have a grease fitting. Seems like a far easier job to me and should get you the best of both worlds.