Bent rear axle?

As a father to a son that went brain dead at 16, I recommend you tell your dad. My son did plenty of stupid things and always told me and we never lost our trust in each other. But I would get it checked as soon as possible.

 

You are correct that a sheared center pin will not cause positive or negative camber. With that out of the way, we don't even know if he has a camber problem. He hasn't measured anything to see what the angle is. You really cannot tell much from the picture, it just doesn't look " right ". I just suggested he check it as that is a common failure mode when hitting a ditch as he did.

Measurements do need to be taken and the results posted in order for us to assist him.

OP. Don't try to scam the dealer to fix your screw-up as others have suggested, or lie to your dad.

Be honest and man up to your mistakes and all will work out for the better in the long run. Messing up is a right of passage.

Hint:
Being honest when everyone is watching is one thing, being honest when nobody knows is quite another. The latter tells the true character of a person.

 

Get in the white Bronco and drive like hell.

 

Tell Oz you're on the way and need someplace to crash.

 

Dude tell your dad. This is 2013 and it's America, my father will kick my ass for thing like this and scream the shit out of his lungs for something like this. But that was 25 years ago and we didn't have social services.
Believe me You will get in more trouble for lying.



Here is an explanation about the social services quote :
http://youtu.be/yVcePxjFujs

 

everyone asking for alignment numbers..i dont get it. the rears have no adjustments.

and kid, tell your dad. dont be an idiot. so glad i dont have kids.

"if" something is bent or broken, which i highly doubt from how you described the incident..this is a safety issue. you dont want some fatigued point to catastrophically fail because you were to chicken to talk to dad.

 

i just looked at the pics..the truck needs to sit on a flat surface.

that suspect wheel is on an incline. your truck is fine. (i suspect)

 

OK, I'm not gonna debate the possibilities and what not but if you slam or jump enough to bend the axle and/or housing, how would it be bent with the top of the wheel out like it appears in OPs pics instead of the bottom of the wheel out like in the other guy's pics? Generally I would expect the top of the wheel to be further in the wheel well or the backside of the wheel further in the wheel well if it was hit with crazy force while driving.

 

not a bad point.

if one side has a positive camber..the other side would be negative?

 

I think its fine. I hit a ditch on a dirt road going 65 and the hit was hard enough blow out a bilsetin 5100 on the rear. It hit really hard and it hurt, but everything is fine, except the shock.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm taking it to the shop on monday to get the bumper fixed and I'll have them look at it. The truck feels sluggish when moving and I have to brake harder to slow it down. And I did tell my dad that I hit a ditch but not because I was going off road. I told him I had swerve out of the way to avoid hitting a deer. I couldn't tell him I was going off road because he told me before that if he saw mud on my tires again, I won't be driving the truck anymore.

 

This makes me feel better. It's a brand new truck so I'm super careful about it. Also, I hit the ditch at an angle which explains the alignment issues.

 

Yeah... that was a bit of a stretch of the truth...

 

Hard to say if it's real or placebo. The rear drum brakes are mounted on the axle flanges, so a bent axle can cause binding there, in theory.
Sheared/mislocated leaf spring centering pin is also possible, especially with the low U-bolt torque on some trucks coming out of the factory.

What are your camber numbers? If you didn't buy a $30 inclinometer yet, there are iPhone and Android apps that can accomplish the same thing with a smartphone.

So your dad buys you a $35,000 truck? Must be nice...

 

No point in giving this kid anymore advice.

This is gonna be like that James ins. Fraud thread that's in threads of legend.