Technical Early ford style axle retainers on other rearends

There are axle retainers used on early ford rear ends where a piece of steel bolts on to the backing plate and wraps around to the front side of the drum to retain the axle and wheel in the event of an axle failure. Has anyone ever used this method on say a c-clip style axle such as the GM 12 bolt? I have used every style of c-clip eliminator out there and they work fine for a little while but eventually they leak or fail. I started using the more robust units advertised for "street use" and they lasted longer than the original "track" ones but I am tired of messing with them.

 

Really? No one has ever done this? The more I look at it, the more I think this is doable. I don't like the way that the early ford type bolt in with the wheel cylinder bolts, so I am going to weld some tabs onto the backing plates that the retainers can bolt to. On the outside of the drums where the retainer would rub in the event of an axle failure, there is a slight radius in the casting that could act as a "ramp" if you will, and possibly start to bend the retainers outward once contact is made (which it hopefully never will). To solve this, I am going to turn down that radius with some craftiness on the brake lathe. Also, I am going to install two per side, opposite of each other because where one is good, two are better. Right? Now, what am I missing here?

 

A difference here is that Early Ford axles have the bearing out at the wheel, so that axle is still supported and capable of rolling in case of a break as long as those safety clips or the better safety hub kits prevent the drum and wheel from moving out.
Modern axles like a 12 bolt have the bearing several inches back, so unless the axle breaks well back into the housing there is no remaining support to allow wheel to roll. The axle may tend to break right outside of the bearing because those outer inches are unsupported, and if it does break there no simple clips are going to be able to help much.

 

Thanks for the reply Bruce! You have a good point about the bearings being inboard, it definitely wouldn't work if the axle broke outboard of the bearing but then again neither would a c-clip eliminator in that same scenario. Lets just say that the axle breaks near the middle, or even back at the end of the splines (I use these examples because that is where I have broken them before). It should retain the axle and wheel at least long enough to come to a stop, like say at the drag strip, wouldn't you think? I am not worried so much about breaking axles on the street but more at the strip.