Front axle shifted 2”

[Hobiedad]

On my 79 CJ5 I noticed the front axle had moved to the left which was causing my passenger tire to bump the leaf on a sharp turn. I pulled the springs off tonight and found the driver side spring out of alignment. Passenger side is straight. Crawling underneath I see no other reason for a shift.

Is what you see pictured enough to cause the axle to move that much? Do you think I can just knock the leaf back in place and tighten up those clamps and push the axle over and reinstall?

What else keeps the axle in position and straight?

Thanks

 

[Torxhead]

It does appear that the lower leaf has rotated a bit. Maybe the u-bolts loosened up ? The only thing that can stop it from rotating much more than that are the u-bolts. I think you should have just wacked it with a sledge hammer and checked the bolt tightness. Make sure you replace those bolts with new ones.

 

[Posi]

The overload springs shouldn't have anything to do with shifting the axle.
Your problem could be the pin, u-bolts, main leaf, or shackles
The pins look in good shape but double check
The u-bolts should be vertical not leaning.
Check your u-bolt torque 1/2 to 55ft lbs, 9/16 100 ft lbs
Make sure your shackles are not twisted.
Inspect the rebound clips and spring perches as well.

 

[Tinman22]

Check your limiting bolts.(on the outer c’s). A 2” shift is pretty substantial. When anybody brings back one of ours and an axle has moved that much they can tell us what they hit and usually show us a cut,bruise or broken bone. Plus there is always something else bent or broken. I dont know factory ubolt torque spec. But we spec torque on grade 5 1/2” at 70ft/lbs. grade 8 1/2” at 85 ft/lbs. 9/16 5 at 100 and 8 at 125. And they still rotate leaves.

 

[Hobiedad]

Great info guys. I’ll take a look at those things. The shocks were way too big and just about fully compressed. It was out of whack when I got it. It’s just time to fix it. You’ll see in the photo the shock at an angle and the leaf out of place. I haven’t whacked anything, but I’m sure it got worse.

Thanks for your advice.