I didn't ask him how bad it was bent. From what he said they called him and he saw it was bent. The axles or piñon was making a bad noise he pulled up to work the other day and I tried to hear the noise but I didn't I'm guessing he wasn't going fast enough. I'm just baffled that housing was bent. And it was so bent it had to be replaced. I hope he took pics of it I'm going to see if he did.
Well, an axle housing that is slightly bent is really no big deal and you can drive like that without any problems for a long time. Certainly, I don't think it would have any effect on the pinion and it being bad is most likely unrelated. Still, we're talking about a 3" tube that only has 1/4" thick walls. Drive fast enough and jump or even hit a rut hard enough and things can bend.
While at it, would sleeving the rear axle be a good idea ? Just to avoid saving for a trail60 ... for now :crazyeyes:
thanks
You cannot sleeve a rear axle and I wouldn't waste your money trussing it. The odds of you bending a rear axle and to the point where it needs to be replaced is pretty slim for most people. In fact, the only people I know to have bend a rear axle housing are people with coil overs and live in the desert as they tend to drive a lot faster on rough terrain. Again, jumping will do that too but for your regular weekend warrior who just does a bit of rock crawling, I think you'd be fine. If you really are playing hard enough to worry about this, you really should be saving up for a 60.