Ok, im a dropped axle lover, been droppin axles for people for a few years, so i kinda collect axles, i like dago axles alot too and have collected up a bunch of them. I came across an axle a buddy had for a project, i told him if he didnt use it id buy it, well i got it now and am trying to identify it, i had always thought it was an okie adams axle, and i still think it is, even tho alot of his axles had a certain look. well i also thought this type of axle was reference as a okie axle. So i was pretty sure the ends had been welded onto the his axle, but hadnt dug into the axle looking for any signs, well today i did, and learned alot more about the axle than i expected too, #1 its wide, not crazy wide but not the normal width of a model A dropped axle (at least i assumed it was a model A dropped axle because of the amount of drop and that it had 2-1/4 thick perches) # 2 its not a model A axle, its a 37-40, the perch width tells me this! #3 its got welded on ends, there is no possibly way to drop a 37-40 axle this much, ask me why i know so i started inspecting it a little close and i beleive i found so weld seems, they are very hard to make out, im attatching a pic with some magic marker marks, the lower weld is pretty obvious, the upper not so much and is more a guess by looking for porosity areas next to welds. so anyone have any ideas or pics of axles like this? TITUS and the walker morisson axle
That looks a lot like the axle under my roadster only mine is squarer where it was dropped, mine's a '40 too but not quite as wide. When I get to polishing mine i'll let ya know what my seam looks like, I might try magnafluxing or etching the grain if I get really curious about it by then
My Dad's got a '34 axle that looks like the one on the W-M roadster. Squarer edges and not quite as dropped as the "Titus" axle. I think my Dad's was just dropped and filled, not actually cut and extended. No idea who the manufacturer was.
I wonder if the drop was done with two axles, so you get the extra material for the drop, then one weld seam through the I portion. And then plate it both sides to fill....It would be super strong. I really like the looks, the chrome one pictured is a little squared off.
The more i look at i do see differences in the W-M axle but still alot of similarities, i too thought maybe this was two dropped axles welded together, hard to say!
If you just sand down the area of interest, to 1200 grit is good, 600 will work though, and then etch with a 2-3% acid in alcohol solution, it will show any weld real obvious. Just swab the polished area with the acid solution for several seconds, you can watch it visually etch. Rinse it off when done and you will know real quick by seeing the difference between the weld and the base metal.