bent axle. can i drive it?
 

im pretty sure that my axle is bent slightly. so my question is, can i drive it? will it be okay, whats the worst i can do? theres an autoX i was going to attend but im not sure. so is the car safe to drive with a bent axle?

if it rubs on the housing enough, it could heat up, or remove material from the axle, causing an area for failure. Also, the bearing isn't designed for that kind of flex.

Basically, you'll be able to drive it until it breaks. :) If in doubt, bring your escort instead of the seven. Either way, I hope to see you there!

lol, my clutch slips like a mofo on the escort, id rather take my chances with the 7, so ill meet you at your place, and i may have my friend with me.

For future reference, the correct answer is yes you can drive it to the races. However, you will have to find another way to get it home again... The good news is, he did make it to the races. The bad news is, he broke down after his first run. But thanks to the organizer who happened to bring a flatbed trailer just in case, he managed to get back home again (about 120 miles). Still geeked about racing though! :)

That sucks that it broke down. What part of his car broke down? Was it something with the bent axle or something else?

well i ran my first pass, and then it wouldnt go into gear, so i just sat the rest out. then we went to move it, and it would go into gear, but only at low rpms. i still have a good clutch, ive got feel in the pedal, and no leaking fluid, no ruptured line, so i think that the clutch is just not releasing enough.

so after that we went to drive it home, my bent axle must have gotten worse, cause there was a terrible vibration right off acceleration, then the clicking from the rotor pushing the pads around.

im still hoping there will be another race in october, i should be ready for that one!

They don't have the results posted yet, but I'm pretty sure that you beat somebody with that one run. (He made a nice, clean run for his first time, and I'm sure that his subsequent runs would have been much faster if he had been able to make them.) By the way, I admire your attitude. Even with a broken car far from home, you didn't seem to let it get you down. :)