When I was into get a set of Kinmont brakes I came into the idea fill the ends on my 32/heavy axle. I has not like that trick before, but the idea is cool. How is it filled, Is it tin ? ( I might get the wrong word ) Hard weld it up, or ? -Is that a cool factor to use a filled chromed heavy axle and Kinmonts and solids gold Halibrands on a 32 coupe.
usually done on dago dropped axles to mask the ugliness of the drop. simple as cutting some 10 gauge metal to fit the opening, weld around the outside and grind to finish. the 32 roadster i posted on your other thread has a filled dago dropped axle on it. dago axles were dropped without using heat, they were hammer formed, as opposed to the mordrop axle i have on my 27 roadster that was done with heat in a press
Years ago at the Hershey swap a vender had a dropped axle for sale, it was dropped by cutting the ends off next to the spring perch bolts and new solid ends welded back on, It looked just like a dropped and filled axle. The vender told me that he had sent it out back in the late 60’s to have the modification done, it looked like it was done very well.
I has seen a vintage cool Bell Auto axle on a 32 roadster here and ends was filled, but if ends was from a 32/heavy or new made at Bell I don’t know but it was a tube between ends so they was welded. I start see this filled ends cool. By the way I came into this for my Halibrand wheels and Kinmont brakes, so today I’m a owner ( deal set ) Big $ but...
As the others said, originally it was to hide rather ugly and often not matching side to side distortions from the drop and stretching. I've got a Chevy truck dropped axle that is the ugliest thing you ever saw but it was used under the truck it had been under for a lot of miles.
Here are 2 threads about the Bell Auto dropped axles: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...u-identify-this-old-dropped-tube-axle.539226/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1948-bell-axle.538928/#post-5952695
I filled both sides of the axle I used on my Mysterion clone. I used a vintage forged steel axle, dropped the proper 2" or so. It was a huge learning process!! I started with maybe 10ga steel sheet and got constant cracked welds. I chased those welds around the axle for maybe 4 days! Weld, grind, come back to that spot and it had shrunk and cracked. Tried preheating the axle with no success. I finally cut out all the plating and used 1/4" plater and it worked perfectly!! The axle has those spring cups welded on so I vented both sides of the void created by the plates with holes inside the cups, going through the axle web to the front void. My axle Made thin plywood patterns Making my first, flawed, too-thin plates. Subsequently used 1-1/4" wide 1/4" bar. Filler must be near the same thickness as the axle web to prevent differential shrinkage rates = cracking. Success!! Incidentally I visited Galpin Auto Sports museum in Los Angeles while building my Mysterion and noticed Dave Shuten had the same cracking problem on his clone of the car. Dave's axle
Another thing to think about is that a regular I-Beam axle with hairpin style radius rods will flex/twist as one side goes up and the other is down (very different height on one side vs the other). When you weld the plate in the middle - which is fighting the twist. This could sure contribute to cracking.
If ( I’m not shore yet ) if I will use the heavy axle it will not has the center filled, just the ends. It compete with a lovley polished old deep chrome A-Ford axle with a old way drop design.
If your plan is to run a split wishbone, you really should NOT fill the center of the axle. In order for that setup to work properly, the beam needs to be able to twist during suspension cycling. If it cannot, because it has been rendered rigid, you will have a front swingarm/giant anti-sway bar combination. It will ride rough, and be really hard on parts.
While Tin will stick to steel during the application, when the axle flexes, and they do flex, it will likely be ejected.
This was a crooked old hammered axle that I had Andy Kohler fix the drop and angles. Then I had another buddy clamp it in the mill and we cut the sides to an even 5/16” deep. Then I cut plates and TIG welded them in, making sure to keep the heat up and even. No cracks at all, and the angles stayed put.
As I said I will not fill center ( I will use split bones ) so just the ends. Picure above ( top axle ) is it a 33/34 or a A-Ford axle ?
I bought a 32 axle that someone welded 50 uprights on the ends. It was s****. I made gooseneck plates from 1 1/2” plate and made my own dropped axle. I had some cut off ends. I just needed to make the middle parts. I discovered making a weld fixture that the king pin bores were parallel with the shackle pin bores. I could lift the axle straight off the fixture and also use it for both ends.
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