How to straighten bent axle?

Vermont66 Tuesday, 1/17/2012

Hi all... I just signed up. Dug out collection of track and cars from the 1960-70s from my parents' attic and now having fun with my kids racing head to head.

QUESTION... my five-year-old saved his pennies (literally) and bought a basic indy car that beat the socks off of everything (including big brother's more expensive nickel-axle cars and my golden oldies)... until 10 minutes ago when the front axle bent. He's deep in mourning.

I've heard rumors of an axle-straightening tool but can find nothing online. Any clues for me? Thanks! -Michael and crew in VT


Discussion

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model40fan 1/17/12

WELCOME V66,
NICE TO HAVE A FELLOW NORTHEASTER RACING DIECAST....
THE TOOL ONLY WORKS IF THE AXLES ARE STATIONARY [ DON'T SPIN ],
EARLY REDLINES HAD [2] 90 DEGREE AXLES NOT A STRAIGHT ONE, IF YOU J.B. WELD THE AXLE, IT WILL NOT SPIN, NOW YOU CAN ADJUST IT............ YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE THE BODY OFF TO J.B.WELD....
.......... BOY DID YOU COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE...

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Jobe 1/17/12

I've had good luck straightening axles but you have to take the car apart to do it.
I clamp the axle in pair of pliers just to the left or right of the axle bend. Then gently bend by hand or another set of pliers to straighten the axle out.

Hard to do on the body, but on open wheel car you might get lucky with a little gentle force

welcome aboard!

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redlinederby 1/18/12
Site manager

Oooof...bent axles are rough. I haven't found any way to straighten them back to original performance state.

Best thing I can suggest is to replace the axle entirely. I could have sworn there was a thread around here detailing the basic process, but I can find it. Basically you get some 1/16 tubing from the hobby store, cut it down to the right width then take donor axles from another car and insert them into the tube with the wheels. You need to do some chassis work to account for the added diameter of the tube but the end result seems to work pretty well.

Within this thread is axle change info.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=311

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