Placing a jack under an I-beam axle...?

Had the solid I beam aligned on my old T sedan lonewolf says is right on, it take a hell of lot of power to bend one on a Bear alignment machine. I believe it doesn't hurt to jack up from the center of the axle.

CRUISER

 

I had worked for a while doing truck wheel alignments. The general rule of thumb at that shop was never to pick up a truck by the center of the straight axle, always under the perches. We used two jacks at times. Once the truck was chained down to the alignment rack, that was another story.

Anything with holes is going to be weaker than something solid, period. Better to be safe than sorry with a vintage axle.

Bob

 

i agree.

 

You're probably right... and he would be too.
Vinyl is coming back though... and I for one am thrilled.

The point I was making there was about weight/pressure that is distributed over a larger or smaller surface area.

For example...

Take an un-sharpened pencil and stand it up in the palm of your hand... and place a 10 pound weight on it.

Now, take a sewing needle and do the same thing.

Same weight... different disbursal... more tears and cuss words.


JOE

 

used a jack on my truck many times and it's freakin heavy. the axle is still straight and i don't have to worry about it.

drilled axles? i'd like to know about that.

solid i-beam you shouldn't worry about tho.

 

sounds like common sense stuff to me. just my .02 worth.

 

If it hurts it, then im screwed, my truck set on jack stands front and rear for around 2 months. Oh well I had it trued up and nothing was out of order just a minor camber adjustment.

 

I think you mean that there are many young people who have never owned a record player, only Compact Disks.

 

I've done it many times. Never had a problem, never left it that way any longer than it took to place padded jack stands under the spring perches, always used a jack pad to keep from scratching anything and help spread the load.

I might have some reservations about doing it if someone stuffed a Cummins diesel in a 32 Ford.

 

This is where mechanical aptitude when working on cars...trucks.. etc plays a big role.
The inate ability of just knowing if something is going to work, or not, or cause damage.
The best mechanics ( not me ) were born with it. And then you have plain old experience.

 

wish I could find the video I wanted to post. model T's getting airborne over ditches. looked like they were driving sideways across a potato field. I believe they were tested to be WAY stronger than jacking up in the center would do.
if not, the axle would bend or break if you pulled into a steep driveway at an angle, and twisted up the suspension.
more likely to break a shackle than bend the axle jacking up one wheel.

 

Ive left mine on the jack for a month when i was building the coupe.. Super Bell drilled ?? Aint no way its gonna bend .
Dave

 

I unnerstand that a plastic surgeon can fix your too big holes.

 

I'm with most of you, just measured mine, 7/8 holes on 2 1/2 centers, dropped 5 inches, ends are filled, then chromed I beam, 1941 Ford, in my 32 steel roadster.
After 5 trips across the USA & NSRA events, 300,000 miles total,-----NO PROBLEMS!!!-----------Don

 

give henry some credit, they are strong.

they arent hard to straited on the press but if you think about it your puting 5 tons of pressure on it with 2 other mounting points to press against, if you have it in the air the weight of the front is like what 1500 lbs-2000lbs, and with nothing working as a stop to bend against if that makes sense.

i wouldnt ever worry about it ever, i got more important things to worry about.

jeff

 

This has been an interesting thread!

The beam axles used under cars and trucks - from the 1900's up to today; and that includes aftermarket - are a lot tougher than you might think.

Ford Motor Co. had to demonstrate that the front axle under the "T's" and the "A's" was strong because customers thought "they LOOKED too flimsy."

To show how "breaking a beam front axle was highly improbable", one of Ford shops mounted an axle in a huge lathe, holding the ends (at the king pin bosses) then they proceeded to TWIST the axle - like a "cork screw" - about TWENTY-FIVE times!

It didn't break then and they are not likely to break nowadays either!

 

what's a ''record player''?

 

Someone who has been in the "game" for a long time .......