the axles that i have resplined in the past have twisted, they werent in any real high horsepower vehicles.. basicly equivalent of tubbed s-10's with smallblocks running low 7's in 1/8th on sprintcar tires one dipped in the 6.80's in 1/8, he had to go to alloy axles when he went to slicks... after each season axles were pulled and checked, both of them after about 2 yrs were twisted about a full spline.. these axles were cut to fit tight fit per application... you have to be picky which axles you cut and spline, what i found was in most axles there are several diameters on the axle, pretty much 2 or 3 different diameters. its when you go from the smallest diameter where the factory splines are, if you dont cut past this smaller diameter your usually ok, if you cut into the lager diameter this gets out of the hardness area of the factory splined area.. if i remember correctly,seems like the car axles were easier to mess with if the rearend wasnt to narrow.. seem to remember that the 31 spline axles you had to clean the axle off and use your eye and tape measure to make sure the hardness was still where you had to cut and spline... you just cant grab any axle and it work, unless you have the facilities to anneal and re-heat treat.. i myself dont use resplined axles anymore, liability for one thing,, another is if one can afford to narrow a rearend they can afford new axles, thats just part of it... if they cant afford axles then they cant afford me narrowing thier rearend..
If you look at the costs and risks ***ociated; you can buy new axles very reasonably. I purchased a 53'GM rear end already narrowed with re-cut and re-splined axles, and twisted the hell out of them. The new 'Moser' axles were very reasonalble, built and delivered in 3-days. I believe they cost me $220.00 5 years ago, and haven't had a problem since.
just my personal experience,, i broke one that was resplined, but i was running a spool on the street, thats kind of a no no with resplines
I agree. My Chevy II was a race car when I got it. It had a 9" with 28 spline axles and a spool behind a very hot small block and a 5000 rpm stall! I pulled the axles out and they look stock, and were not twisted at all.....
cutting 4 inches off may get you out of the heat treated area, I have no idea how far back it goes. I've seen stock 9 inch axles that were not shortened snap behind some mild motors. BUT this car was running a spool on the street. I think the windup, and release of the axles eventually weakens the shafts to the point they break. I run a locker, maybe that's why my shafts were fine.
Trikeguy, That link CLEARS UP a whole bunch of stuff. I didn't realize you were after a differential action - I was origionally thinking driving one side and letting the other float - at another point I wasn't even thinking any differential action at all. Anyways the pieces you show are totally cool and verr VERY expensive. IF I was to try and build a "better" mousetrap (which in my case "better" would be spelled CHEAPER) I might consider an approach like this: First off I'd use everybit I could of the origional stuff to keep the cost down. So along THAT line - I'd find a suitably small differential housing - I'd then narrow it as desired. I'd then drive the hub using a bell attached to it. This bell could be fabbed as long as you need and with any luck at all you could design it so that a) you use the same on on each side - 1 for the sprocket - the other for a disc. or b) Fab only one bell that with 2 flanges (or 2 different diameters) would drive and brake off the one side. Matter of fact the more I think about it - I'd make the drive sprocket perform double duty and ALSO become the disc brake rotor - that'd be cool!!! So does any of that make sense??? If you use any of these ideas or heck even if they inspire you to come up with better ones - please send all royalty checks directly to me!!!
TrikeGuy, You know depending on how fancy you wanted to get - you could make both axle housings with bells on them (similar to an early Ford banjo rear) to cover up the carrier (almost similar to your example - except minus the "cage"). The other ends (flange side) could be "stockish" with hubs and simply narrowed alot. The disc/sprocket could mount as a disc would normally and ***uming all this places the axle flange too far inward you could make a simple wheel spacer/s. With the extreme light weight the spacers - however long - would still be PLENTY STRONG. So now the list of custom parts is reduced possibly even further. Neat project - keep us posted. My buddy has a '55-ish 3 Wheel Cushman scooter that he got a 130 Ninja m/c engine for. You got me thinking - this setup may just be PERFECT for him. We don't have CNC access, but we do know which handle of a Bridgeport to grab onto! So let me THANK YOU for your post - I'm sure my buddy will like it. Plus I get his old axle as a spare for my stocker '55 3 wheeler!!!! Win win for everybody!!!
IF your are going to race they are not legal. A tech inspector can spot them a mile away. Unless you have a friend doing them for some super price and it is a low HP application, the new street axles that Moser sales are not that much more than the price a machine shop will charge for resplining.If your are racing once again, there is no question what the right thing to do is ! Why take a chance to save a few on what could be a very painful and expenseive out come.
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