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Technical 1956 Chevy, broken axle. What to do?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by midnightrider78, Oct 18, 2020.

  1. Ok, I understand, no Nine Inch, what about Dana 60. All of the Big 3 have used them, albeit not necessarily all in cars.


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  2. 2OLD2FAST
    Joined: Feb 3, 2010
    Posts: 5,217

    2OLD2FAST
    Member
    from illinois

    There's a Dana 60 complete on the bay for $200..
     
    chevy57dude likes this.
  3. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    20 years ago my kid didn`t know a thing. But now he`s 25.
     
    vtx1800 likes this.
  4. I respect that you have a loyalty to GM, though it does confuse me. Your car is a hot rod, and no doubt that engine is full of aftermarket parts like a Demon carb. Dana 60 is available aftermarket, or get one cut. Probably as close to install & forget as you will find.
     
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  5. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    Fair enough. But people/businesses don't always get better over time. I can think of a couple of body shops who did iffy work when they started and are still(after 20 or more years) doing iffy work but a lot more of it.
     
  6. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    I had thought about this, but I know absolutely nothing about them... other than the fact that they are supposed to be good rears and that some muscle Mopars have them.
     
  7. lippy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2006
    Posts: 6,825

    lippy
    Member
    from Ks

    I've run a few old P case posi's. I would stick a couple decent axles in it and let her rip. Build something else while you drive it if you want. Lippy
     
  8. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,143

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Just don't drive 200 miles to a burnout contest!
     
  9. So the 425 horse 409s and Z-11 drag cars broke rears every time they came to the line?o_O
     
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  10. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    I think I read that a '57 Olds is 1" narrower than a '57 Pontiac(which I believe is supposed to be more or less a bolt in for my car). So is the Olds also 1" narrower from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface? Or are the drums different from Olds to Pontiac making up the difference? Just curious because the '57 rear I found is an Olds.
     
  11. Pontiac / Olds rearend, GM looks and won't break.
     
  12. I wasn't there personally, and said nothing of the kind.
    Broke a couple myself, have seen others broken by small block cars.
    Pick an argument elsewhere.

    QUOTE="Robert J. Palmer, post: 13786473, member: 257566"]So the 425 horse 409s and Z-11 drag cars broke rears every time they came to the line?o_O[/QUOTE]
     
    Lloyd's paint & glass likes this.
  13. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    Actually, it's the OTHER way around; the Olds is one inch wider per side. With my 57 Olds rear end, I had to cut 1 inch of splines off the end of the axles that were sold to me after being removed from a 57 Pont rear end, then I wound up with one axle that had too short of splines, and had a hard time finding someone who could re-spline that axle (the centering divot in the axle end was gone after shortening that axle). It all worked out in the end, as I did find someone who could do it, and very cheaply also. After I had the rear end assembled with all new seals, brakes, bearings, the Tri-Five spaced spring pads welded on (they had to be moved "inward"), that is when I sold it, and kept the stock rear end.
    I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
  14. 1934coupe
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 5,051

    1934coupe
    Member

    I just spoke to a friend of mine who raced Jr.Stk. competitively and he said they ran Chrys 8-3/4" axles and put in the Chrys. side gears and spiders in the posi unit. He also said that Dutchman axles sells the whole set up. Just a clarification also, I won't use a 9" in any of my cars, and I have a stock pile of Olds/Pont. posi units and housings. That or a 12 bolt Chevy.

    Pat
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2020
    Johnny Gee likes this.
  15. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    Something else for me to consider... Am I going to need a shorter driveshaft for the 9.3? 12 bolt? Dana 60?
     
  16. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    This is the only time I have ever broken an axle in any vehicle. Got the broken axle stub out and thought I'd post a picture. It seemed really weird to me that it broke so nice and neat. Is it normal for them to break as clean as this?
    56 broken axle stub.JPG
     
  17. seb fontana
    Joined: Sep 1, 2005
    Posts: 8,444

    seb fontana
    Member
    from ct

    I would think yes x3.
     
  18. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    Yes.
    Only broke one axle in my life, looked just like yours, mine was OT but had a dimple sticking out on the spline side
     
  19. deuceman32
    Joined: Oct 23, 2007
    Posts: 459

    deuceman32
    Member

    Wow, Pat, that is new to me and really interesting, as is this whole thread. My brother raced in stock class in 1961/62 with a (Canadian) Pontiac Laurentian which was mechanically a Bel Air sport coupe that happened to look like a Ventura. Chevy X frame, 230hp 283, three speed stick. That thing never broke an axle but it broke the center section 4 times (plus one on the street:rolleyes:), teeth off the pinion every time. And those little chevy 3 speeds? 14 in all, usually on the 1-2 shift. All this with a cheater cam, Ansen shifter, dumps and 7.50 or 8.00 x 14 bias street tires. Some of the rears had welded spiders and some of the tires were Atlas Bucrons. I have no idea how the 409 guys kept third members together at that point in time.

    Midnightrider, I like a guy who says 500hp when the dyno says just a tick under 530. With the torque north of 450 from 4200 all the way to 6100, that's a nice engine you've got there. Gotta be some fun.
     
    Budget36 likes this.
  20. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    It is a fun car. But going fast/quick is like a drug. After I drove it 6 or 8 times I was already saying "I wanna go faster/quicker". LOL
     
  21. You got lucky running that rear for this long Time to step up. Do yourself a favor, order a Mark Williams catalog, look at the prices. Then after that EVERYTHING else will seem affordable!
     
  22. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    Yeah, it went thru a lot. I don't know a hp number, but back when Dad street raced this car some it had several .060 over 12.5:1 327s. And those were still the original 1956 axles.

    I actually have a couple new pistons from those days sitting on my bench just cause they look cool.
     
  23. 1934coupe
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 5,051

    1934coupe
    Member

    Be prepared! When you fix the axles, you will break the rear. Fix the rear you will break the driveshaft. Put 1350 U-joints in and the trans will be next. Decide how far you want to go in this pissing contest! I personally don't need to break another part so as some one mentioned an egg under the gas peddle works well and they are cheap. Last burn out I did in the street was in 1972. By the way it had a narrowed 55-64 Chevy rear with Henrys axles.

    Pat
     

    Attached Files:

  24. As far as stock tri five rear ends go my experience says the posi is a lot stronger than an open. The ole 57 vette had a blown stroker motor years ago and never broke the rear end. It had a 3.55 gear and 235 tires. My 55 bel air had a 3.08 open and i broke it on the way to work.
     
  25. 2OLD2FAST
    Joined: Feb 3, 2010
    Posts: 5,217

    2OLD2FAST
    Member
    from illinois

    Keep in mind , given the right circumstances , you can break an anvil ....
     
  26. ‘55 with 480 HP, 475 torque. Broke left axle in 3 pieces by running up to 3000 in first and nailing it. M21 and 4:11 posi along w Caltracks. Car hooks great.

    I replaced axles with stock spline count from Quick Performance, great people.

    No more trouble, but I don’t rev to 4000 and pop clutch off the line either !

    My broken axle left stub in hogs head. Unbolt hogshead and rotate by hand while working hogshead to find sweet spot to remove it. Some folks use a strong magnet to remove axle stub, I’m told.
     
  27. “So the 425 horse 409s and Z-11 drag cars broke rears every time they came to the line?o_O]”

    They broke a lot. Read up on what Bill Jenkins did to beef ‘em up. Some Chevy teams went to bulletproof Chrysler rear ends as inspectors couldn’t tell the difference (with a little cosmetic grinding !)
     
    chevy57dude and olscrounger like this.
  28. GearheadsQCE
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 3,375

    GearheadsQCE
    Alliance Vendor

    When you're ready to step up to a Quickchange, let me know!;)
     
  29. midnightrider78
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,285

    midnightrider78
    Member

    I've been thinking a lot about this too. I don't know how much further I'm willing to chase things.
     
  30. fortynut
    Joined: Jul 16, 2008
    Posts: 1,038

    fortynut
    Member

    Brand loyalty is a form of psychological conditioning. The belief that Brand X is somehow better than any other goes against reason. The scientific principle when applied to mechanical devices arrives at a conclusion based on verifiable and repeatable results. Unfortunately, there are many, somewhat educated, car people who make costly decisions based more on superstition than logic. And, no. I am not about to wade into a campaign to change all that. When you see someone who believes something so strongly they are willing to argue about it, and can't understand that it is more about metallurgy, ease of installation, choice of gear ratios and that some parts are chosen by racers over others based on this, as opposed to the limitations and scarcity of other systems, as Will Rogers should have said, 'You may want to make them like you for suggesting otherwise, but it won't matter and instead will make them madder than hornets.' So the next best thing to being kind is keeping your mouth shut and whistling like the dickens when you walk on past them. 'Cause a man has mind made up is like talking to big ol' rock.
     
    seb fontana, 1971BB427 and scotty t like this.

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