Rear Axle Shifted

MagnetMan14 · May 12, 2017

Hello all,

Got my truck a week ago and ordered some trail ready wheels (thanks CustomWheels4u). They'll stick out about an inch more than stock and I was trying to get a sense of where they would fall in relation to the fender. When eyeballing the wheels, something looked off. Long story short, my axle is shifted about an inch to the passenger side.

I grabbed a level and a framers square and took a measurement off the pinch seam on the inside of the wheel well/bed and the tire, with the truck on level pavement. I know this is not an exact science, but the measurements validated what I saw looking at the truck from behind. I asked my brother to take a look to make sure I was not crazy, he got the same results. The axle is about 3/4" - 1" off to the passenger side

Shackles look good and beefier than I expected, and I know the leafs have positioning pins, least I would hope so. Took it off road once, into the desert. No jumps, no angled hits. Has anyone else had this issue? Any advice as I am about to lose my mind.

Thanks,

Alex

whoisbigman · May 13, 2017

Is the bed possibly shifted over?

CoronaRaptor · May 13, 2017

Welcome, don't say anything to the dealer about taking it Offroad, even though it's an Offroad truck. Hope it's an easy fix.

MagnetMan14 · May 13, 2017

whoisbigman said:
Is the bed possibly shifted over?

It's possible, but gaps look fine.

Ecoop · May 14, 2017

All backspacing the same?

dewalt · May 14, 2017

See how many tracks you can make in mud driving straight ahead, or a mudpuddle on the road

MTF · May 14, 2017

Take it to a good alignment shop that does true 4 wheel laser.
I believe it's normal to an extent for a reason, to stop dog legging.
If it really bothers you loosen the bolts on the U-bolts and knock it over and have a wheel alignment done.
There is enough play in there to move the axle a little.

As dewalt suggested but use the double or single line in the center of the road and see if both front and rear run straight.
If they do then you can move on to moving the bed over.

MagnetMan14 · May 14, 2017

MTF said:
Take it to a good alignment shop that does true 4 wheel laser.
I believe it's normal to an extent for a reason, to stop dog legging.
If it really bothers you loosen the bolts on the U-bolts and knock it over and have a wheel alignment done.
There is enough play in there to move the axle a little.

As dewalt suggested but use the double or single line in the center of the road and see if both front and rear run straight.
If they do then you can move on to moving the bed over.

Thanks for the replies. I thought about knocking it over a bit, but will I run into any issues with locating pins or is that the "play" you're referencing? I understand that solid rear ends with leafs aren't an exact science, but it was enough for me to notice in my rearview, so I guess I'll be breaking out the jackstands.

MTF · May 14, 2017

If you still have stock springs, it sits on top of that bump stop horn so there will be some wiggle room, I do not remember exactly how much, when I did mine six years ago.
I'm going to say anywhere from 3/8 to 7/16.

t_j · May 14, 2017

If you back off the u-bolts you should replace them as they are single use torque to yield bolts.

Rear Axle Shifted

MagnetMan14

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whoisbigman

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CoronaRaptor

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MagnetMan14

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Ecoop

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