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wheel out of whack??

M

mollyman

1/2 ton status
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Aug 18, 2006
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Location
west virginia
I recently bought a 10blt for my 81 k10 sub from a military surplus place. (I know but I can't aford a d60 right now) I cleaned it up, paint and so forth, then I put my old wheels/tires on it so I could move it around easier. Now this axle came bolted down in the original crate. I saw no obvious damage to the crate or the axle. But I noticed the driver side wheel is tilting outward (at the top)! It rolls around fine and the pasenger side looks perfect, when I measured from sidewall to sidewall on the tires the top is 1 inch wider than the bottom! Whats up?? Any help would be great. The wheels are on good, and again I didn't do anything to the axle but paint it and install a set of warn primo hubs (I like shiny things). I know the tie-rod isn't perfect yet but it is pretty close. What else should I be looking at?? HELP!
 
Be sure the wheel bearings are installed properly. And check the ball joints.

Just because it was in a crate does not mean that it was brand new/never used.
 
It is def. never used. The rotors (and everything else) still had that ugly red paint they spray on everything for long term stroage. And when I took off the diff cover it was obvious it had never had any fluid in it. Could the wheel bearings be messed up if they have never been touched? And the ball joints all seem fine. I also measured from the top of one castle nut to the other and that measurment matched the same distance on the 10blt I took out.
 
Yeah the bearings look fine. And when I roll it around it rolls nice and smooth, with no binding or grinding noise.
 
I would bet on the ball joints then. They could have been damaged during install.
Hard to believe that something would be wrong with a new axle though.

Could the housing be bent? Was the crate damaged at all?

And not to sound like an ass but are you refering to a problem with camber or toe angles? your question sounds like you have a camber issue but if you are uneducated about older trucks or autos in general you might just need to adjust the tie rod???

Again...not trying to be an ass. Just verifying that you are not mistaken.
 
If the axle's not bent or damaged, it almost has to be the ball joint. It could have been installed wrong, it might have the adjustable sleeve in it (and adjusted wrong, obviously), it could just be a bad joint.

Another thing to check is for a bent spindle, a bent knuckle or otherwise fubar'd parts. I'd almost be willing to bet that if you start taking it apart, the problem will become obvious.
 
No it's cool because I am new to the wourld of 4x4ing. But it isn't the tie-rod. If you are standing looking at the axle from the front, the left (passenger side) looks good but the right (driver's side) is tilting outward at the top. The ball joints look okay (from what I can tell), I can grap the tire and turn the wheels back and forth with no problems, what should I be looking for? And as for a bent spindle, wouldn't it make it roll funny, because when I roll it there is no wobble or shimmy. ???
 
Does the tire tilt out when it's straight or when you making a "left turn"?

BTW, what surplus place did you use, and how much did you pay, and what type of service did you get?
 
It tilts out when it is sitting there straight and I didn't pay attention when I was turning the wheels, I am assuming it tilts out the whole time. I got it here in West Virginia, they had mostly dodge stuff, and paid about $200 bucks. Good service because I went there and picked it up myself. You could tell the crate had never even been opened. But back to the problem at hand?
 
Pull that side off carefully checking the parts as you go. If you don't find anything re-assemble it. That will at least rule out an incorrect assembly and point towards a bent part(s).
 
Mollyman,

Other than that problem, what is the condidtion of the 10b you got? Is it ready to bolt right up? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks.
 
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