I run a team with a very tight budget and I got tired of spending over $200 to get all of our axles straightened (we could also try not bending them in the first place but that’s another conversation). I had an extra bearing hanger, some flat aluminum, bearings and an old upright stand laying around. After a bunch of cutting and bending I ended up with this. Took a PKT wide axle collar and used that as a u-channel for the axle to rest in. Then I’ll come up with a way to attach the other half of the axle collar to a bead breaker. Clamp the bead breaker to the bench and bend away. I’ve already tried with a very slightly bent axle and just using the bead breaker as it is, and it worked well. Will update with photos once I attach the collar to the bead breaker.
Where’s the fun in that tho?
Very cool idea and execution. Let us know if it works as you hope.
That’s a clever low-budget solution, and using the PKT wide axle collar as a guide channel is smart since it keeps the axle from rolling while you apply force; as long as the axle is well-supported on either side with bearing hangers and the precision bearings themselves are true and solid, your setup should give enough control to make small corrections without overbending. Just be sure everything stays level and you’re pressing in the correct spot—too far from the bend and you risk warping the axle elsewhere. For safety and accuracy, it’s a good idea to rotate the axle 180 degrees and re-check runout with the bearings after each adjustment, and your bead breaker trick sounds like it’ll give just enough leverage for minor tweaks without damaging the surface or heat-treat of the axle. Great job repurposing what you had!
How, and where do you measure that the axle is straight?
What’s your target for these measurements?
I recently measured the rear axle, on the kart using a disk indicator on a magnetic base, and where the hub attaches, one side had a deflection of 0.002", and the other side was 0.005" (IIRC). The deflection was at the same spot.
Thanks.