Bent control arm bracket

[Midnightsecurity]

Looking for some advice on this, the bracket that houses my lower control arm is bent as seen in the attached pic, now my dealer is telling me I need a new axel ( surprise surprise) I'm wondering can I unbolt the control arm and straighten out the bracket ? Will it break if I bend it back? And if did break could I make and weld a new one onto the axel housing?

 

[superj]

just bend it back in place. that is fairly common

 

[rubn1out]

Dude I got a half dozen dana 30's and 35's ...if you need one I'll give it to ya free... but to answer your question... no...you DON"T need a new one...YES you CAN get a new bracket welded on....dealer rip-off mofo's!!

 

[Jason4x4]

Exactly. Try to straighten it. If it breaks, you can cut off the bracket and weld on stronger aftermarket ones. They aren't too expensive. If you are able to straighten out the stock bracket, I would suggest investing in a set of control arm skid plates. Skid Row makes them (not sure if anyone else does). They'll prevent this from happening again. I believe they are around $100.

 

[Sid1966]

Dont even unbolt the control arm just get a BFH and straighten it they bend pretty easy.have straightened both sides of mine like that.should look into stronger brackets if you bent it once it will bend again

 

[Ggg]

They are flimsy brackets, you do not need a new axle housing just because of that. I would get some beefy brackets from Blue Torch Fab, or Poly Performance and replace them. You will not have any more bracket issues then.

 

[Midnightsecurity]

Rubn1out: thank you very much for the offer, where abouts in the country are you located? I'm happy to hear that they are reparable, gonna try to bend it back and see what happens

 

[Midnightsecurity]

Thanks for all the advice! I kinda thought my dealers story was bullshit lol he was tellin me that I couldnt weld anything to the axel...I asked him how the stock brackets remains on there...super glue? Hahaha

 

[jaydub]

You definitely do not need a new axle. The dealership simply is not the place to get that fixed.

Those can be hammered, bent, and 'coaxed' back into place. Eventually, the metal will fatigue and give way (after many bend and fix cycles).

At that point, you can still repair it with a competent welder.

You can buy brackets from many 4x4 parts providers that are way stronger than stock.

This is a pic of my rear axle while 'in progress'

Those are genright brackets and they are either 3/16 or 1/4" thick. (about 3-4 times the thickness of factory).

 

[Midnightsecurity]

Thanks jaydub, ya by the looks of your rear axel welding, there won't be a problem on my front axel lol it bugs me how dealers are never straight with you, I actually got into a yelling match with the parts guy who insisted that it was "impossible" to weld the housing...just cause I like the guy so much I'm gonna make an effort to show him this pic !

 

[jaydub]

Thanks jaydub, ya by the looks of your rear axel welding, there won't be a problem on my front axel lol it bugs me how dealers are never straight with you, I actually got into a yelling match with the parts guy who insisted that it was "impossible" to weld the housing...just cause I like the guy so much I'm gonna make an effort to show him this pic !

Umm if you want pics of front axle welding - I have those too.
With the Low Center or Gavity suspension Josh at SkinnyPedal is building for me, we decided a 3 link front would be a good plan.

Hint for the parts guy - that third link mount was NOT bolted on.

No room for a truss up here so we made swiss cheese out of the housing to prep it for a sleeve.

The sleeve was welded in on every one of those holes as well as on the end.

If you want brackets, ideas, help, etc. go to www.skinnypedal.net, get Josh's phone number, and call him. Your parts guy is no Jeep expert.

 

[rubn1out]

Rubn1out: thank you very much for the offer, where abouts in the country are you located? I'm happy to hear that they are reparable, gonna try to bend it back and see what happens

I'm in Bel Air Maryland zip code 21015

 

[Midnightsecurity]

I'm in Bel Air Maryland zip code 21015

I'm in Alberta Canada, thinking the shipping charge will be huge to get an axel up here, but I'll look into it

 

[Midnightsecurity]

Umm if you want pics of front axle welding - I have those too.
With the Low Center or Gavity suspension Josh at SkinnyPedal is building for me, we decided a 3 link front would be a good plan.

Hint for the parts guy - that third link mount was NOT bolted on.

No room for a truss up here so we made swiss cheese out of the housing to prep it for a sleeve.

The sleeve was welded in on every one of those holes as well as on the end.

If you want brackets, ideas, help, etc. go to www.skinnypedal.net, get Josh's phone number, and call him. Your parts guy is no Jeep expert.

That's a great resource thanks !

 

[rubn1out]

I'm in Alberta Canada, thinking the shipping charge will be huge to get an axel up here, but I'll look into it

I remember seeing Alberta on a game of Risk before...lol

 

[Midnightsecurity]

I remember seeing Alberta on a game of Risk before...lol

Lmao I'm surprised Alberta would even be on there

 

[rubn1out]

Lmao I'm surprised Alberta would even be on there

oh it's definately there....i just checked...it's number 2.... like what i just took a few minutes ago...lol


A representation of the Risk game board, showing the different territories, an approximation of their borders, and an approximation of their usual coloring.

The numbers in parentheses represent the number of additional armies granted during the reinforcement stage of a player's turn who controls all of the territories in that continent.
North America (5)

1. Alaska
2. Alberta[note 1]
3. Central America
4. Eastern United States
5. Greenland
6. Northwest Territory
7. Ontario[note 1]
8. Quebec[note 1]
9. Western United States

South America (2)

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Peru
4. Venezuela

Europe (5)

1. Great Britain
2. Iceland
3. Northern Europe
4. Scandinavia
5. Southern Europe
6. Ukraine[note 1]
7. Western Europe

Africa (3)

1. Congo[note 1]
2. East Africa
3. Egypt
4. Madagascar
5. North Africa
6. South Africa

Asia (7)

1. Afghanistan
2. China
3. India
4. Irkutsk
5. Japan
6. Kamchatka
7. Middle East
8. Mongolia
9. Siam[note 1]
10. Siberia
11. Ural
12. Yakutsk

Oceania (2)

1. Eastern Australia
2. Indonesia
3. New Guinea
4. Western Australia