Is it Bent? Dana 30 front axle after hitting a curb....

So I have about a 3 hour drive later today to determine exactly what the extent of the damage is but I thought I might solicit a few guesses first. My son had an "Event" last night in his 09 JKU x and hit curb and proceeded to drive over a culvert. First and foremost he is OK and his vehicle was the only one involved and that's all that matters.

In the process he blew both passenger side tires and started leaking oil. I assumed he most likely hit the oil pan but after crawling underneath and looking he said the oil filer (3.8l) was punctured. The pics he send me really surprised me, the upper control arm mount on the passenger side somehow was able make contact with the oil filer. I don't think the suspension should compress that much..... :crazyeyes::crazyeyes:



If it's not bent and the suspension WILL compress that much I need to at least turn the upper bolt and have the head side close to the filter.

Hopefully the rims aren't bent as well....



Best case senario: Replace tires and oil filter, top off oil and mosey along.

Worst case axle bent, control arms bent, tie rod, etc. Rims bent.

But in true Jeeper logic I'm working an upgrade scenario. I was planning on a PR44 for my 13 Rubi, I can get the ProRock for my Rubi, pull the D44 from it and put it under my son's 09 JKU. The gear ratios are different (3.73 vs 4.10) but I can pull the front drive shaft until I get the gears changed to match.

What's the normal delivery on a complete PR44? Can I expidite?

Any lift on it and possibly that bump stop extensions weren't Installed? Is the bump stop itself bent sideways during the hard hit? Any chance something else in the culvert punctured the filter and not the bolt? The axle cycles upward toward the passenger side so I'm not seeing how that bolt would have hit the filter.

As far as ProRock, mine took a little longer but I think most people get them in 4-6 weeks.

On both of our jeeps, that bolt goes from inside outward. Yours looks like it's installed the opposite of that. Here's a pic of our JK. That may be your issue.

I bought a salvage jk once and that control arm went through the oil filter too. The axle on that jeep was bent from the accident and I think that's what allowed it to happen.

I hope that is not what happened to yours but have seen it.

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Best case scenario for me (from a monetary standpoint)! All appears to be good with the axle and suspension components. So other than a new oil filter, 5 quarts of oil and a new set of shoes (new tires were needed by the end of the year) we appear to be good to go.

I'm a little disappointed that a new Pro Rock will not soon be under my 13' but that will come in time. After the new tires today all I'll need to do is swap the bolt around on the upper control arm mount to make sure this does not happen again.

WJCO said:

Any lift on it and possibly that bump stop extensions weren't Installed? Is the bump stop itself bent sideways during the hard hit? Any chance something else in the culvert punctured the filter and not the bolt? The axle cycles upward toward the passenger side so I'm not seeing how that bolt would have hit the filter.

As far as ProRock, mine took a little longer but I think most people get them in 4-6 weeks.

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No lift on the Jeep, it's my old rig that I put back to stock for him to drive.

WJCO said:

On both of our jeeps, that bolt goes from inside outward. Yours looks like it's installed the opposite of that. Here's a pic of our JK. That may be your issue.

View attachment 248067

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Thanks for the reference, his mounting bracket looks a little farther to the to the right/closer to the filter. That could be due to not having a lift and the position of the axle under the Jeep. I need to swap the bolt around so it does not happen again. I installed it incorrectly when I pulled the lift a couple years ago.

With an side impact like that, I wonder if your motor mounts allowed enough side to side movement to make it contact. Just a thought


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132JKPNW said:

With an side impact like that, I wonder if your motor mounts allowed enough side to side movement to make it contact. Just a thought


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I'm thinking the same thing. I would power brake the truck in both forward and reverse with the hood up and watch the engine. It shouldn't move much but if it does then the engine mounts are broke. I used to be a bodyman and one thing I did a lot of was engine mount replacements. On a few cars I got really good at them as just about any hit would break them.

Dominic

Maybe never let you child drive again. I would start there after beating him.

Wtf? :thinking:


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132JKPNW said:

With an side impact like that, I wonder if your motor mounts allowed enough side to side movement to make it contact. Just a thought


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Click to expand...

Dominic said:

I'm thinking the same thing. I would power brake the truck in both forward and reverse with the hood up and watch the engine. It shouldn't move much but if it does then the engine mounts are broke. I used to be a bodyman and one thing I did a lot of was engine mount replacements. On a few cars I got really good at them as just about any hit would break them.

Dominic

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It was more of a angled hit on the the curb than a side impact. He drove up and over the curb @ about 50 mph which blew the tires and it turn out bent the rims. It probably would not be a bad idea to check with the power brake anyway, thanks for the tip.

OverlanderJK said:

Maybe never let you child drive again. I would start there after beating him.

Wtf? :thinking:

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LOL, Overlander gonna Overland. Yea, you wonder what tha hell was he doing but considering what could have happen I'll take it. If he would have drifted to the left instead of right, a 50 mph+ head-on would not be pretty. At 6 foot, I'm not so sure I could take him anymore.

Flat Top said:

LOL, Overlander gonna Overland. Yea, you wonder what tha hell was he doing but considering what could have happen I'll take it. If he would have drifted to the left instead of right, a 50 mph+ head-on would not be pretty. At 6 foot, I'm not so sure I could take him anymore.

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That's why you always instill fear in them when they are small and young so no matter how big they get they will always fear you can take them out. My mom was 5'2" and I was still afraid she'd kick my ass until the day she passed. Plus her being Italian was probably part of it..haha.