Good god, what did I do?!

[ozziemo27]

Alright, so I'm driving on a backroad and i'm going around a curve, pretty darn slow, and I started to slide, so at that point i'm like whoops, so i did a 180 and went in the ditch and what stopped me was my right rear wheel hitting the embankment. So i just wheeled out of it and started to drive home. I stuck my head out the window to check the my rear wheels and they are kinda wobbling. Both sides are wobbling just about evenly. What on earth did I do?!

 

[MAKG]

Bent an axle or a wheel or both. It won't take a good mechanic much to tell the difference (remove wheel and drum, measure runout. Or just rotate the tires and see where the wobble goes.)

 

[ozziemo27]

sounds like an expensive fix!

 

[KELLY88]

The junkyard is your friend.

 

[ozziemo27]

how hard is an axleswap? i have never done one before, i've got friends who could probably help

 

[KELLY88]

As long as you pick up the exact same axle that you have then it's a bolt out bolt in procedure. Some guys can do it in as little as a couple hours. Rear axle swap is much much easier than a front. But don't do that until you know exactly what happened. If all you did was bend a wheel then that's a much cheaper and easier fix.

 

[ozziemo27]

alright, thanks alot! I'm going to take it to the local shop that my buddy works at, they will be able to diagnose it for me, That would be nice if it were just the wheel but i fear its the axle because both the wheels wobble just like one another, unless my logic is flawed?

 

[351crownvic]

I just changed wheel studs on my truck since they broke on me while driving... Took me like 45 min.. Even laying out in the snow... its realy easy...

 

[CJREX]

Hopefully it's the wheels.

Nothing like a valid excuse for a new set of rims!

If you need wheels, Craigslist is your friend.

Search for Jeep rims (Wrangler and Ranger have the same bolt pattern)

I got my like new ProComp version of Soft 8's in chrome for $100

Good Luck!

 

[97BlackBetty]

Where at in Michigan are you, I kow some people that could give you a hand, myself included.

 

[Mac]

When I picked up an 8.8 at the yard, the guy told me that a lot of them that they get in have an axle flange bent, just what you might have done. If both sides are wobblying, sounld like something worse, how fast were you going?
Dave

 

[ozziemo27]

its the axle =(

 

[ozziemo27]

When I picked up an 8.8 at the yard, the guy told me that a lot of them that they get in have an axle flange bent, just what you might have done. If both sides are wobblying, sounld like something worse, how fast were you going?
Dave

like 5-8 mph, not fast at all

 

[martin]

The centre hole in jeep wheels is a little different. check they fit over the front hubs before you buy.

 

[Ranger44]

If it's just an axle shaft, you can get one from either a 7.5 or 8.8. Just make sure you get one from the same side.

If you're replacing the whole rear axle as a unit, be sure to get the same gear ratio as before.