TCpickup86

What’s going on everybody.

So last summer a wildfire burned through and took out my house and property, worst part about it is that I had a mint ‘85 solid axle in the house that burned up with it. I had the 3rd member and hubs pulled because I was planning on building it up to put under my ‘86 pickup (which I no longer have but am now looking for a 1st gen 4Runner to build up)

So I’m wondering what you guys think on if it’s salvageable? It burned pretty hot through the woods on my property so I imagine the axle got pretty warm, but could it still possibly be used if I welded on gussets to beef it up? Any input on how I can check to see if it warped? And if it is salvageable, any tips on the best way to clear out all the crap on the inside from the fire?




Thanks in advance for any help! I’ll include a picture of the axle as well.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I would almost say that it probably got distorted due to the high heat.
axle housing are getting hard to find, especially the 84/85 since they are more desirable due to the longer truss over the 81-83 axles.
You could try cleaning it up, throw the third in there and see if you can insert both axles easily.
Its almost a roll of the dice.

2ToyGuy

I would think, not being a metallurgist or anything, that not only could it have very easily been warped, but that the properties of the metal have been changed by the heating/cooling cycle it went through. Not only could it be warped, in other words, but it may be much more brittle, or softer (comparitively), than it's designed to be. Stuff that might not show up until it gets a load of some kind on it. Like the weight of a truck's front end, for example.

I don't know the kind of abuse a non-fired axle might take, but maybe a few good solid whacks with a sledge hammer will tell the tale? If it shatters, well, it got brittle, if it gets bent or something, maybe it's softer. Like I said, though, I'm not a metallurgist. I can't even forge up a decent knife. Not really...

Pat☺

TCpickup86

Thanks guys!

I’ll try testing it with a couple whacks and if all seems well I’ll go for it with the diff and axles. If it shatters, at least I’ll have some cool decorations to hang on the garage wall.

Thanks again for the help guys!

2ToyGuy

Good luck to you in this project!
Keep us up to date, at least once you get done, to let us know how it went.
May you never have decorations to put up in your garage!

Have fun!
Pat☺