What's going on with my rear end here?

I was out and about in my '04 DC today. I happened to stop and look at my passenger side rear wheel and something didn't seem quite right - it appeared to look as though the wheel was not centered in the wheel well. I went around to the driver side, it was centered.

Passenger side
Driver side

Some background - in August I was on a hunting trip about 10-15 miles off the highway on a dirt road. Doing about 35 when I hit a big rock (hiding behind a bush) with the passenger front wheel. The impact was significant - it blew the front tire upon impact, the rear flew around and hit the same rock blowing the passenger rear tire as well. The front steering was roached. Made it to town (eventually) and was told it just needed a new alignment. Shop did a 4 wheel alignment and truck seemed okay but steering a little sloppy since. Any thoughts on what is going on here? Any input is appreciated.

 

Crawl under and look at the bottom section of your frame where your leafs mount. See if the passengers side is bent downwards towards the ground.

 

But the OP said they did a 4 wheel alignment, surely the mechanic would have seen an issue this significant. (sarcasm). Either the position of the bed has changed (mine has) or the position of the axle on the leaf spring has changed as previously mentioned above. I struck a concrete highway divider (going backwards sliding on black ice) and hit it exactly perpendicular with my 2" hitch ball striking the wall and nothing else. I was in disbelief that no obvious damage was done to the truck, I was likely going 20mph or so when I hit. The impact caused the tow hitch to bend slightly in and down and had to be replaced. The impact also pushed the bed of the truck slightly forward, or maybe the cab slightly rearward so that now the two are very close to each other and there is evidence of the cab striking the bed in one spot. The impact of hitting the rock may have shifted the suspension, or it may have shifted the bed. I find it hard to believe that nothing in the suspension was damaged with a strike that hard. My thoughts would be off center axle. If so, the alignment shop got some splainin to do.

 

Nothing bent that I can tell. Probably going to put it on a lift and see what's going on.

 

I would guess the center pin snapped and your axle/u bolts shifted back. Look at the leaf springs for signs that the u bolts shifted, you might see them forward from the axle.

 

Your mudflap is missing BTW.

 

lol, that happened when I hit the rock, it ripped it off.

 

This.

 

So here's the update...

A week after noticing this I drove it about 150 miles round trip on the highway doing up to 70mph. The wind was blowing a good 30+ mph and the truck seemed to be wandering everywhere. I attributed it to the wind at first but eventually concluded something was going on. I pretty much had a death grip with both hands on the steering wheel. The next day I went to the dealer and got new U-bolts and a new center pin. Last Saturday I started to screw around with it and then I thought, "Screw this, my back already hurts." and I decided to take it to a shop that was recommended to me.

I dropped it off on Tuesday evening just before they closed, told the guy the history and he said, "Ok, we'll figure it out and fix it." And I have to say, the way he said it I felt a little uneasy - I mean it was with absolute confidence, so much that I thought, "This guy is full of crap" (I'm a cynic, what can I say?).

He called me the next day and he said, "Okay, here's what's wrong - driver inner tie rod is busted, passenger outer tie rod is busted, passenger lower control arm mount is damaged, center pin in leaf is snapped, U-bolt leafs are damaged and passenger leaf mount is damaged. We'll fix all of that and do a 4 wheel alignment, total about $640." As he was ticking off all that was wrong with it I was expecting it to be quite a bit more than that. But I gave him the nod and he went to work on it. In the back of my mind I wondered if it was going to actually be fixed and I'm so fed up with this truck I started thinking about what I'd replace it with. Anyway, I picked it up this afternoon and I'm not sure this truck has ever ridden this smoothly or the steering has been this buttery smooth. It's another windy day today and I took it onto the 118 freeway. Even with a 35+ mph crosswind I had one hand on the wheel and it was rock solid. It's absolutely unbelievable. I'm thrilled that I decided to have the shop do it because I wouldn't have known what to look for. I'm like most monkeys out there - I can swap parts okay but actually diagnosing problems and then figuring out what to do is above my pay grade.

If anybody local to the San Fernando Valley needs a frame & alignment shop let me know, these guys are outstanding. Thanks to all for your input.

 

That’s awesome glad you got it sorted
What shop did the 4 wheel alignment ? They sound like hacks and really put you in danger

 

Agreed. How do you do an alignment and not see damaged tie rod ends and everything else! Unacceptable.

Glad you got it sorted out!

 

Glad you figured it out and your happy with the drive!

 

Thats my neck of the woods, maybe. I'm in Moorpark. Glad you got it sorted.

 

That's a great deal on the repair cost!

 

Glad you got it sorted out and that your steering is buttery smooth. But regarding this thread, I'm officially lost. The thread started with a question as to why the solid rear axle appeared to be canted, or off center, based on the pics you posted. But the solution did not involve the rear axle but replacing some worn out steering components in the front end? Did the shop look at or address your rear axle wheel well measurement concerns?

 

Reread post post #10
Center pin in leaf springs, u bolt, ...

 

Hitting Big Rock behind Bush. This was my Indian Cousins tribal name.

 

They did a bunch of work to the front end but the back end was a mess, too. Sheared center bolt on leaf springs, U-bolts on leaf springs bent, leaf spring mount bent.