bent my axle

[nico]

I have straightened several axles over the years... Actually, I've done ATV axles, Ford 9" axles in circle track cars, shock shafts, ATC forks, lots of parts salavaged over the years. I use a conventional shop press with V-blocks to allow me to roll the part and check for runout. I also usually place a block of wood between the press "foot" and the part, just to prevent the steel from digging into the chrome.

Almost all axles are a little warped after forging and heat treating. The get straightened and checked for runout before being sold to the consumer.

Just take your time and you will get a feel for how much pressure it takes to straighten a shaft. The metal usually has to be bent past straight (sometime quite a bit) and allowed to rebound back into its original non-bent shape.

[pro-fab]

When straightening anything hardened like an axle make sure to place your blocks further apart and place the foot of the press directly ontop of the bend. If your blocks are too close together you WILL snap the axle. I am not worried about you having to buy another axle.... I am worried about you having to buy another body part. They are a lot harder to find and install than an axle. But yes axles can be straightened.

[mennis1971]

I've bent them and had them straightened on several axles several times. Then I learned to be smoother and haven't been having that issue. If your doing it when jumping, then i have found that even if you are all out of shape and landing crooked and/or sideways some too then you are better off to land on the throttle and stay loose even though your instincts may tell you to let off and stiffen up for a hard impact. It helps the quad land smoother and has helped me not only save some potential crashes but it has kept me from bending axles too. It helps to pull the quad straight instead of just hitting hard and just kind of sticking it into the dirt.

[rk88r]

I staightened one once with two blocks of wood and a bottle jack under the hitch of a large tractor. Necessity is the mother of all invention.