These so called dropped forged axles......are they really? the parting line looks cast. Speedway and all parts peddlers have them. Are they any good? My project is split wishbone, I need forged...NOT CAST.
If available, the Chassis Engineering axles are forged. SoCal are forged. That's it. But, why not get a real one dropped?
Chassis Engineering axles are now made by Pete and Jake’s/Superbell. But, they also make cast axles so make sure to specify which you want when you call them on the phone to order. Yes they will actually talk to you on the phone, and you might end up buying more of the great parts they sell.
Why take the chance? A real dropped axle is comparable price wise. I wouldn’t risk it. I’ve known someone that had an axle break, it’s not a pretty sight.
Another vote for a dropped original Ford axle. They are as strong as any out there in the aftermarket and won't break and drop you in the dirt. I've got a SoCal dropped axle that I picked up on Ebay that was a shops show display axle for long enough that it showed handling but I got it for a good price and it is forged and stout. Their plain 4 inch dropped axle with no holes and no extra frills isn't that spendy.
As said earlier avoid Hoffman group parts. Names like Johnny Law are the tip off. China made to no real standard.I tried their customer service once.Never again.
Been thinking of these cast axles breaking. Do they seem to all break on the drivers side? Maybe just the photo angles Ford could twist theirs
In looking around at forged axles from three different suppliers I see a common thread, look at these photos and the businesses named at the top. The last photo is marked to show their common feature, they all came from the same forge shop. No idea where the shop might be located but that design feature strongly resembles the Hoffman cast dropped axles that were crap. Three different hot rod parts sellers appear to market the same axle yet many buyers may believe they are getting a particular name brand axle. How many times have we heard Speedway stuff is Chinesium, buy from Joe Blow, or whoever. Comments?
I can believe that without a doubt, it just that the old Speedway cliche tells us their stuff is Chinesium yet if you buy from Roadster Supply it’s going to be superior. Would I use the Hoffman cast axle? Of course not, but my suspicion is their casting may have been used to reverse engineer (if that’s the right use of the term) the forging dies for the axles I showed above. There has to be a reason for the commonality of the available axles. So do they manufacture their own or purchase from the same company?
Speedway does not make anything. I don't think that Roadster Supply or So-Cal does, either. They suppliers that make things for them. It may all be the same supplier. This is the case with most vendors. Before they got with is with the packaging, the parts sometimes came in boxes revealing the OEM. When that happened, I started buying directly. As for those axles matching, they might. I can assure you that they don't match the Hoffman junk. I had one in my shop, which I removed from a customer's car, and cut up and recycled.
Again, I don't have money to burn, but if you (anyone) uses the lowest price to drive your buying decisions on things like suspension and brake parts you probably won't be coming back on here to report it when the s#/t hits the fan. And again, I will say this, I'm sure there are things in your life you can live without instead of cheaping out on the important things.
Yep. Same with those generic black painted 'vega' steering boxes and a hundred (thousands) of other products. Except the Borgeson ones obviously.
Speedway Motors does have a 70,000 sq. ft. CNC machine shop with 20+ machines. As to what they are fabricating is anyone’s guess. I’ve seen it mentioned online that So Cal buys axle forgings and machines them in house but can’t verify that info. I understand that all sellers have suppliers, but I think my point was missed, those axles look exactly the same so how can some suggest an axle from Nebraska is inferior to one from California? We see the Speedway Chinesium comment all the time, well if everyone has suppliers why do some here only rag on Speedway?
In the past Speedway was selling Super Bell and Magnum dropped axles. (Cast ductile iron). Don’t know what they currently sell.
Fordors, it’s pretty obvious to me that the Speedway axle in your pics is similar, but not the same as the Roadster Supply and SoCal axles. You can’t see the difference?
1. Speedway is treated as the only place you can buy things. 2. People say they bought a Speedway this or Speedway that, as if Speedway actually make any of these things (the steering boxes is one that comes up often.) 3. If someone comes up with a part or idea, Speedway has it cloned off shore, sells it cheaper. There may be other reasons.
@alchemy , yes, after another look I see that you are correct, I see at least four different areas. I should have paid more attention last night when I posted.
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