Ruckstell Housing Bent???
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2020 4:17 pm
I am in the process of building a Ruckstell axle for my 1926 pickup. Going by the book I am down to checking the axle housings for being straight. My Ford side (passenger side) looks great, but on the Ruckstell side, the axle is 5/8" out of center at the outside end. I don't see any bend in the Ruckstell housing (P156) tube itself.
Reading an old post from a few years ago, on the subject of bent axle housings, Stan Howell commented that most of the time he had seen a Ruckstell housing (P156) bent it was the cast housing not the tube. I really don't see how the cast part of the housing would bend before the tube but mine is or perhaps it was made that way.
I straightened two 1912 axle housings earlier this year by heat shrinking the tube where it was bent without much trouble. I tried heat shrinking the Ruckstell Cast housing with no luck.
Has anyone else had experience with a bent Ruckstell Housing. Do I throw it on the scrap pile and get another one or is there a way of straightening this thing without having to build some big fixture that would cost more than a new axle housing.
Reading an old post from a few years ago, on the subject of bent axle housings, Stan Howell commented that most of the time he had seen a Ruckstell housing (P156) bent it was the cast housing not the tube. I really don't see how the cast part of the housing would bend before the tube but mine is or perhaps it was made that way.
I straightened two 1912 axle housings earlier this year by heat shrinking the tube where it was bent without much trouble. I tried heat shrinking the Ruckstell Cast housing with no luck.
Has anyone else had experience with a bent Ruckstell Housing. Do I throw it on the scrap pile and get another one or is there a way of straightening this thing without having to build some big fixture that would cost more than a new axle housing.