What Does It Take To Straighten A Bent Axle?

Ever hit a massive pothole — or worse, another car — and find yourself stuck with a wheel that vibrates, wobbles, or doesn't want to turn? You may well have bent an axle, and now you're wondering if it can be fixed. Well, you're in luck: Axles can be repaired. The catch is, if you're Googling this, you're almost certainly not equipped to do it.

You may have heard tales of remanufactured axles being offered by shops, to save some money over factory-fresh units, and those are usually safe. After all, an axle (once you get past the CV joints) is just a metal rod — if metal can warp in one direction, it can often warp back. 

The problem is that actually doing that work usually requires careful heating and even the occasional use of a hydraulic press. Theoretically, it might be possible to hit your busted axle with a blowtorch and push it back into shape, but as with some other automotive repair skills, axle straightening is a job best left to those with the proper tools. 

Take a tire with a circumference of about 77 inches, like a 215/45-17. At 60 miles per hour, the axle attached to that tire and wheel will be spinning at nearly 14 revolutions per second — even a small imbalance, whether from a bend or simple uneven weight, will be noticeable. It's the same reason why driveshafts are precision-made to be balanced, because rotating assemblies need to be built well to avoid shaking themselves apart. Your buddy Jim, who's offering to "fix" your axle with a hammer in his garage in exchange for a sixer of Miller High Life, is probably not a precision machinist. 

Yes, your axle can probably be fixed. But it'll take more equipment, more know-how, and more time than you've probably got on hand. Get the remanufactured axle from your mechanic — install it yourself, if you want to feel useful — but let the professionals handle straightening things out for you. At least, if you try to do it yourself, don't blame me when the vibrations after your "fix" are worse than before.