I just purchased a new Magnum 4" dropped axle to replace my stock undropped A axle. When I put the bones on, theres a good 1/16" of slop between them! The new axle is not quite 2 1/4". Is this normal for them? Do I shim it, send it back or what? Seems like for $400 it should fit like the original...
magnums are sized for v-8 wishbones which have 2inch perch bosses. you can use a 1/8 shim top and bottom
sorry...should have read your post better. sloppy work i guess but it could still be shimmed if you didnt want the hassle of returning it.
have you tried to tighten the spring perch and squeeze the wishbones down to meet the axle.or worse case call magnum and ask them what's up. -danny
Read the post... I said if the cambers off also I'm gonna be pissed. And I think I'd have the right seeing how much they cost. Don't be an ass.
I've used Magnum axles on two of my cars without a problem. I'd think the bones will close tight around it when it's torqued down, shouldn't be a big deal.
Send it back and call Chassis Engineering for a forged axle. From what I hear, they are the best aftermarket axle availible.
The ones from Chassis Engineering are a little narrower. Thats why I went with the Magnum. I'll just try tightening it down and see what happens. Just doesn't seem right for all that money. And its not even the drilled axle. Thats $200 more. Oh well, thanks for the feedback.
It all depends on your wishbone. A 2" perch boss fits the 2" wishbones 1932-36 but their is two different sizes of the so called 2 1/4 " wishbone. (no coffee yet-forget which years) So axle manuf. make the 2 1/4" boss to fit the smaller one. A little shim slid on top of the axle is common place. I'm guessing you have a 1947-48 ?? Did I type that where it makes any sense?
I've had to shim the Magnum axles I've used. I don't find that to be a problem. I just used some fender washers of various thicknesses. You can also buy a shim pack kit at WWGraingers if ya' really want to be precise. The radius rod end won't compress too much, so don't depend upon that. The CE axle is nice, but the perch pin spacing is different from a stock axle (37-40) which means ya' have to modify the radius rod length if you plan on running them uncut. AND .............. ya' can't use the stock Ford spring with the CE, AND ................ AND ......... Ya' see wher I'm going with this. I learned all the above, the HARD way.
SuperBell axles come through with 2" perch bosses. Batwings, etc. from other hot rod aftermarket places have a 2 1/4" opening. They also supply four 1/8" thick shims/washers to take up the excess space when required to do so. I'm guessing that perhaps your bones were cranked down over a 2" perch boss and remained in the slightly bent position which would dis-allow the use of two 1/8" shims per side. The pic shows a pair of 1/8" shims on a SuperBell axle with Deuce Factory batwings. Can you mic the wishbone opening and see if it's square? A shorter measurement toward the front would indicate the bones were cranked down over a 2" perch boss without shims. Fitting the new parts on my car had everything slide together snugly with no play and cranking down on the perch nut didn't require it to travel very far before reaching it's proper torque value.
I used a Super Bell early axle on my car, 2 inch purch width but used late model wishbones so I had the 1/4 inch gap problem, well The Chassis Shop in Detroit has these really bitchen washers for using with rod ends and the 3/4 one is exactly .250 thick so it fit perfect! I also made my own axle thru bolts from some 3/4 heavy wall 4130 that I tapped 1/2-20 on both ends, then I bored out the axle and the wishbone to 3/4 and made some special tapered spacers to fit into the counter sinks on the wishbones, now everything is held together by a 1/2-20 socket head cap screw from both sides. Lost of work and kind of neat result but now some one is making a special flat head axle bolt that I just saw on someone's rod that really looks good. As for drilling the axle if you are using an early axle, 2 inch, 3/4 holes are just the right size, I did mine in about an hour and I had a big countersink so I did a slight taper on each hole. I will bet that the cost of a 3/4 drill and a 1 inch 45 degree countersink tool is a lot less than the $200 that the axle makers want for drilling an axle. You can see the washer in the attached pic and also the 1/2 inch SHCS that holds everything together. Rex
Aint it cool how everyone loves to blow there money on these kinda ugly new parts ?? Why dont ya send that $400.00 dollar Magnum piece of crap back to them & contact 5wBomber on here and get an original Ford Dropped axle from him for $250.00~$300.00. Another perfect reason i hate 1-800-SEND-PARTS Ext. CREDIT CARD #
My Super Bell fits perfect, THANKS TO VAPHEAD! Plus I just drilled it and it looks sweet. The spacing is such that if I wanted to grind off the logo and add more holes they'd be even.
This is common. CE axles require shims too. The .050" shims are available from Pete & Jakes (Superbell).
"Kinda ugly" is in the eye of the beholder. You, above anyone should know that. Superbell and Magnum both make excellent product that is well worth the money.
So now we are comparing NEW magnum axles to Original '32 heavy axles that have been dropped & chromed ? Yes i am aware of "EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"..... But in my opinion an old dropped axle has way more chracture than ANY new axle. And the fact of i have personally seen 3 NEW axles that have BROKEN OFF at the wishbone in an accedant makes me wonder whay ANYONE would buy one. You will NEVER break an original Ford axle..... NEVER
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