Did I just bend my front axle?

leadpot

Senior Member
Used my floor jack in the center of the front axle to raise car which I have done before. Later the A was sitting in driveway and looking at the front from a distance it looks like my front tires are toed in. Have not done any measurements but to my eye it looks obvious. Did I screw up?
 
You are suppose to have 7 degrees of camber on each front wheel, it is built in ; providing your axel is not bent, the only thing you need to do is making sure you have the toe in correct as it effects tire wear and ease of steering.

Ron
 
Used my floor jack in the center of the front axle to raise car which I have done before. Later the A was sitting in driveway and looking at the front from a distance it looks like my front tires are toed in. Have not done any measurements but to my eye it looks obvious. Did I screw up?

Maybe the tie rod.
 
I think it would take quite a bit more to bend an axle like that. The ford I-beam is a very tough animal. Think about the force it takes to drop an axle for a hot rod.
 
Have you moved the car since letting it off the jack? Worn king pins would allow caster change until the car is moved. Of course if they were worn that much you would have driveability problems
 
The axle is very strong vertically. However horizontally they bend very easy as when you hit something with your tire. The good thing is horizontally they are easy to bend back on a small 20 ton+ diy garage press.
 
Just jounce and rebound the front of the car. In other words push down on the front bumper a few times. This will settle the front spring and you'll find the problem may go away.

John Poole
 
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