I live in so cal and got a price of 250.00 to straighten my narrowed 9in rear and and was wondering if this is a fair price. The reason I think its bent is that its wearing the outside of the tires real bad [ not cheap tires m/t sportmans ] and the axle seal is also leaking. I just thought it was kind of high, but maybe thats the going rate. thanks.
I'd say they gave you a fair shake. You won't be able to replace a custom axle housing for twice that price. The shop I work at charges that and more, depending on the size and damage.
That's cheap. That's only spending a few hours on it. I couldn't even give a good idea without seeing it. Hell It'd cost at least $70 for me to tell you if it could be fixed or not.
Most of that job is checking before and during the straightening process. There is also a lot of set up involved, so the price isn't that bad. Bob
I charge $50.00 for one side-$75.00 for both sides, it takes less than an hour. I have to straighten at least one tube on 9 out of 10 rear end housings that I narrow or do any kind of work on. So you think you have a straight housing, think again. They can be bent and the axles will still slide in and out easily.
I've had Cook's Machine in East L.A. do rear axle and drive shaft work for 40 plus years. Call Jim or Paul at 323-268-6571. 4845 Telegraph Road, 90022. The FOGGER
I can straighten your housing if it isnt too bad for much less than your being quoted or build a new housing for $250 minus brackets. A sandblasted housing with new tubes and large bearing ends $250 plus shipping. Rich
At $80 an hour, it looks like 3 hours, at $60, 4 hours. I think that is in the ball park, if not a little optimistic. It is probably warped from welding the first time, or it wasn't aligned properly in the first place. If it doesn't come around easily with a press or heat, it will need the ends cut off and redone. That is a very narrow axle. It looks to me like the ends are well centered on the tubes. I find that very unlikely, in my experiemce. The tubes are never that straight and a short housing is hard to get that straight.
If at all possible get a back brace welded onto your 9" housing. Launching at the drag strip or heavy thrashing on the street with sticky tires always tries to and usually succeeds in bending the two axle tubes forward.
Just wondering if it's bent...my original axle in my '57 was out about 1/4inch and would eat the outer wheel bearing every 12-15K miles...simlar bearing setup as a 9inch (i/e pressed on the axle). I never noticed tire wear like yours though. If you pull it apart and put straight edges on the flanges, then measure across, you shuold get a good idea if things are square or not.
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