hello everyone.
i have buy a pre lit westfield with live axle . how i can make wheel alignment?
do i have to add something or to change something ? thanks
are you trying to 'fix' the axle or locate the axle properly in the chassis? Its two different things.
The axle is fixed geometry and hopefully straight, if not you'll be bending half shafts and wearing out bearings. The only way to 'fix'
this is as others have said via heat.
The axle location on the locost / westfield is fixed due to the trailing arms / panhard rod being fixed length so you're hoping the axle brackets
and chassis brackets are correct. It is possible to rebuild / remake the trailing arms / pandhard rod to be adjustable - but you've got to ensure
you don't have them different lengths as that introduces twists which puts pressure on and eventually breaks things.
So bearing in mind I often don't know what I'm talking about, could the live axle make use of alignment spacers fitted behind the hub? I
remember in my VW days the rear axle had a similar lack of adjustment, but you could buy shims to sit behind the hub, like this;
Assuming the axle was straight and the drive shafts could take the degree (degree - do you see what i did there?) of bend then it seems a good idea
for small changes. How much you can practically do before it becomes an issue - no idea?
(joke)
You could fit a washer under a couple of wheel studs and do the same.
You have not clarified if your axel is bent or you just want to adjust the trailing arms (or you need some that are adjustable) to realign the axle
relative to the rest of the car. They are two quite different problems...
I suggest a photo of your axle.
Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet
On the rover sd1, rear axle alignment is done by the torque on nuts applied to "leading" arm bushes. It's possible to have the car crab
when not done correctly.
As per Pigeondave's response, you can adjust a live axle to some degree by heating it.
If it's only a small amount of adjustment needed, you don't need to cut and weld or physically bend the axle: if you heat it locally using
an oxyacetalene welding torch, the metal expands where you heat it, but doesn't shrink back all the way to where it was before, as it cools.
The trick is therefore to heat it on the side that you need to make longer in order to get the adjustment you require.
tbh from the OP replies, it sounds like it's the trailing arms that are not adjustable not some wonky banana axle. If you managed to bend an axle
case on a Westfield there'd be little left of the car . Not sure why a manufacturer like Westfield would not have supplied adjustable arms.
Why it's important to detail exactly what your asking about.
Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet
Westfield make the chassis on a jig and weld up the axle brackets on the jig. In theory the arms therefore don't need to be adjustable. If you do
start adjusting the arms you risk having different lengths and introducing all sorts of problems including shearing brackets off with unintended
stress.
quote:Originally posted by Mr Whippy
tbh from the OP replies, it sounds like it's the trailing arms that are not adjustable not some wonky banana axle.
Could be either, to be honest.
If its the thrust line that's out on 4-wheel alignment, then yes, its the trailing arms.
But rear camber or toe is the axle casing - nothing to do with the trailing arms - and it's not unusual for them to be slightly out.
. Not sure why a manufacturer like Westfield would not have supplied adjustable arms. 
