yes the axles are cut down and re splined, or depending on what style axle they are cut and then shortened and re welded with the oem splines.
Curious who you know that is re-welding them? Many axle shafts are "necked down" past the splines. That style is typically replaced with an aftermarket axle.
Ive got an old hot rodder friend who cuts them off and re welds them on 4 wheel drive stuff. Customarily we cut the axle flange off and shorten it from that end. Then we true the axle, weld the flange, then face the flange in the lathe.
Wow! that's a really bad idea. The potential failure is not worth the $350 your saving on not having axles made.
if you get the right person cutting and welding the axles it will work. i had a 53' chevy 2 ton axle break and the local jeep racer/machinist welded the axle back up and they are still using the truck today. that was 25 years ago.
I DO believe that's the way Summers Bros made their axles. A tight shrink or press fit accompanied by good welding should suffice.v
We've welded a few axles that worked for years. We used 3/4 ton floating axle rears in stock cars, that way the wheel is not held on by the axle, but some were normal rears, like a '57 Chev cut down to fit a 327 Vega. On that one we cut down the long side to fit the stock short axle, then cut and welded the other side. Sometimes the short axle in the long side is all the narrowing that's needed, without welding either one.
Brick this guy has 100 times the skill of you, he has my utmost respect, and i really dont need your ****.
Ok not to stir a hornets nest but I have been doing this a very long time. Cutting and welding an axle is a very bad idea. Cutting the flange off and welding it is as much work if not more work than cutting and resplining. The flange end is where the bear is pressed on, you would have to cut a new place for the bearing to land, and it would need to be dead nutz. Not so say it can't be done. Just a 10 dollar cure for a 10 cent problem. A lot of axles don't have enought meat to respline, just the way thay are originally cut from the factory, so what is normally done is to contact a company like Strange or Dutchman or any number of other companies that build new axles and have then built to the proper length for your cut houseing. Given the cost of building a rod not too awfully expensive.
i still would like to know what rear end he is talking about narrowing , depending on what he has the axles may or may not be able to be re-splined . i won't comment on the axle welding the last custom axles i bought were $275 from John's Rear Ends
This is one of the reasons that the 9" Ford rearend is so popular. Most of these offerings can be shortened and resplined if at least 4" of the splined end is removed before resplining. Ford axles, for the most part, don't neck down after the splines like most other brands do. I've lost count of how many sets I've had Mosher Engineering do for me over the years. Quality and turnaround is second to none. Frank
Hey, I may not be an old hot rodder guy, I may not have your respect and I apparently have 1/100th the skill of your friend but I still would never weld the flange on an axle I intended to use on the street. Brick
I also have been doing this on 9 & 8 inch Fords for 30 + years. Years ago you could go to several wrecking yards buy a bunch of 9z or 8z and with alot of figuring use a short & long axle to make it work. Than along came Currie and they were all ****ed up. After that we started cutting them off short and resplinning. On some I acually drilled a 1/2" hole in a cut off spline and than left a 1/2" dowl stiking out the axle shaft V ****ed and welded with Super Missle Rod in the V **** and on the end with no failers. So the answer to your question is that there are several ways to do it, "depending". Never did do it at the flange end because their would be no safety net, but that don't mean it won't work just I wouldn't trust it with others ways to do it................ JMO, Lon
It is all about risk ***essment and what options/choices are available to you. I am sure most would agree that the best option would be find the correct width diff. 2nd option would be doing axles swapping to achieve the correct width required. 3rd and this is why it is 3rd, because cutting and welding would be your last option . Maybe years ago it was acceptable practice, but now days I doubt it. Do it at your own risk, but if something went wrong and you hurt somebody else and it was discovered cut and welded axles were involved I am sure they would come after you legal wise. Not something I would be wanting to deal with!
The Jalopy Journal
