A couple of years ago I called Chassis Engineering because I wanted to buy one of their I-beam axles. (I was hoping that it would be easier to polish than an original Ford axle, but doing it right it turned out to be just as much work as an original axle.) On the phone, the guy I talked to said that they could ship an axle with 2 1/4" perch bosses right away, but axles for two-inch perch bosses wouldn't be available for a while. I said: "Do you have a vertical milling machine?" "Yes." "Can't you just put one in the mill and then send it to me?" "No, not for a while." "How's that?" "The guy who used to run the mill quit, and we haven't replaced him." "And there's nobody who works there who knows how to put an axle in a jig on the mill and take the perch boss down an eighth?" "That's right." I also asked about becoming a C-E dealer, and I was told that it wouldn't be possible since they already had a dealer within a 100-mile radius. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
I have never had any trouble with anything I bought from CE, and I have bought a lot of stuff over the years, maybe I'm just lucky.
In another recent thread here on HAMB, I said I have my heart set on a CE I-Beam axle because it's forged. Now, I either have to buy one right now ( so they don't send me yours) or I have to take a serious look at whether I want to do business with these guys. The answer will come from the way they handle your problem. A couple of months ago I called CE to see if I could buy just the inner bearing spacers/adaptors from their disc brake kits to be able to hang my Nova rotors on my '42-'48 spindles. First of all, the gentleman at CE didn't know if these adaptors/spacers would fit my spindles (repeating several times that they only use '37-'41 spindles) and then didn't know if they sold these things separately. I made my own. That call left me questioning the capability of CE, but I let it go because I know they must make perfect forged axles and I know this because I want a forged axle and therefore I ignored the warning signs in that phone call. A case of enthusiasm over shadowing clear thinking. Please keep us advised on how CE handles your situation. Thanks.
I just bought the whole front end kit and everything was complete and accurate. I think you got one of those 4:00 p.m on Friday before the Holidays axle.
We have used literally 100s of the CE beams and have had no problem. We have many of them polished, drilled & chromed. I have them shipped direct to the shop that does the work, they ship to us, we resell them and have never had a customer that was not happy to date. As to the bearing spacers, they machine their spindles with the spacers built in. Have been a CE dealer for over 20 years and their stuff is tops.
Very pleased with the CE axle on my roadster. It was spot on. We use a lot of CE stuff; spring kits, motor mounts, transmission mounts, etc., at the shop and it always fits. If you have issues with yours you need to give them a call. The press on inter bearing adapter is the only early spindle to GM or MOPAR rotor conversion part that is difficult to make. They are available from Pete & Jakes/Super Bell. I don't think they list them as a seperate item in their catalogs. But you should be able to order them. Check with Jason. He is particularly helpfull. I used a Super Bell basic brake kit with locally sourced MOPAR rotors, bearings and late GM calipers. The basic kit lists for $134.50. The complete kit lists for $365.50. I actually spent more sourcing the rotors, bearings and calipers myself. Speedway offers similar kits. And they offer one for the early Ford 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern.
I have had CE axles and kits on all my forties (six of them), never had any product quality problems. They accidentally sent me a 41 rear end kit once, but paid for shipping both ways and sent me the right kit. They were very good about it and courteous on the phone. It sounds like a fluke to me.
Had Pretty Good Luck Out Of The C/e Axles......i Have Had 1 And A Buddy Has Had 3 Or 4.....the Guy We Get Them From Offers Them With Holes Or Ovals....or Lettering Or Whatever....water Jet Cut ....works Out Pretty Slick ....brandon
I've got a drilled and chromed one on my roadster and I have one on the new roadster I'm building. Both are great. Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm sure they will want to make it right, they have always been standup people. In fact I'm really surprised that one got out the door if it is as bad as you say.
Good to hear of the fine outcome. I've been buying C.E. productls for about 20 years and have never had a problem. Always helpful people and fast acurate delivery. Frank
I too am glad to hear Chassis Engineering made it right.I will definitely be ordering mine from them..... as soon as I sell a couple of more helicopter parts and What's-her-name loosens the purse strings a bit.
I'm glad to hear that turned out ok for you. Last week I had an aquaintance pick up a chassis built by the guys who build So-Cals Deuces chassis'(different style though) I made sure he ordered as if it were mine. In fact I did the order. I specified a forged chassis engineering axle. The chassis was preassembled as a roller & I took a good look @ the front end as well as each & every gusset & bracket=Top Notch In fact, I called them back a little while later & complimented them on their work. I have personally never had a problem with a CE axle,product,customer service or the like. I run one of the precedessors (VCW=vintage chassis works) dropped forged Slot drilled I-beams on my 34 roadster & by far it is the best axle that I have ever owned! Again, I'm glad everything worked out for you-I personally would never use a cast axle.
C.E did ya right thats cool,they did the cages in my 73 Gremlin and my buddys 8 sec 74 Gremlin and did a great job
not trying to be an ass , but i think that is a different Chassis engineering...one makes hot rod chassis and parts ( and the axle in question) and the other makes drag race chassis and stuff i like CE's ( the hot rod one) axle..i have used several. i used one of the VCW's axle mentioned by Cyclone Kevin in the early 80's in a `29 tudor..it now haqs over 60,000 miles and doing fine
Glad to hear they made things right. See, every company will fuck up now and then, it happens to em all. The fact that they took care of the issue, called to update you, and then had the replacement at your door in 2 days is a sure sign of a top notch operation in my book...
There has been altogether too much Bull-Crap here lately about cast vs. forged front axles. I thought this debate was put to rest with logical technical information several weeks ago . I'd like to see ONE picture and documented evidence of a ductile cast iron axle failure while in normal service. I've never heard about or seen one. I have broken Henry axles on the track, but that was severe conditions. Don't include breakage caused from being hit head-on by a Kenworth Tractor or trying to jump the Grand Canyon with your JATO rocket equipped your old Ford.
DUDE....This what I'm talking about. Perhaps an over reaction on my part to a bit of additional un-needed information by Cyclone to your thread. Quote: Originally Posted by Cyclone Kevin personally would never use a cast axle.
For clarification,they are indeed two seperate companies.The Chassis Engineering that does hot rod chassis is in West Branch,Iowa and goes by Chassis Engineering Incorporated.The drag race Chassis Engineering is in Jupiter Florida.Confusing,but I had to set the record straight.
not to beat a really dead horse (and i mean really dead) but, super bell (and the original ford axles) where cast and both have been around for years. if the cast ones sucked to bad why are they still around, the cast is the same price as forged. again not trying to hijack or cause a shit storm.........i'm just sayin.
Well it looks like I spoke too soon. I ordered a CE 4 inch dropped axel and it came in today and it must be the one you returned THe kingpin hope was at least 3/8 of an inch off center and the sping shackel hole was off by nearly as much on the same side. The other side was about an 1/8 off. WTF is what I'm thinking too. I didn't accept it and didn't order another one either. In fact the Forging? was awefull as well, it had lots of pitting like a bad casting would look. Needless to say I was very dissapointed after waiting three weeks as it was. IT's a shame after all the parts I have used from theses guys in the past to see something like this happen.
Now imagine taking that rough axle and using abrasives on a stick of wood to get it flat and uniform, and working on it with progressively finer abrasives over and over until you can see your reflection it, with no ripples or waves. That's what I do. The C-E axle that I polished (shown on the top of the picture) needed three trips to the TIG welder to fill in small low spots. Any axle, old or new, is a ton of work to polish. They're all rough and they're all relatively crude. Some of you may not realize who so many of us go through what we do with these old Ford axles. None of the new axles look like an early Ford axle. Once you learn what to look for, you can spot a reproduction axle easily. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/axles/
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