Hot Rods Customer's Custom Double Dropped Axle, will it work?

A buddy of mine in California is building a very unique '29 Roadster Pickup. It has a built Flathead with Ardun heads and a supercharger! He wanted a one-of-a-kind front axle and sent me a napkin drawing of the crazy double-dropped axle design. I told him I really didn't know if this design would hold up to the weight and stress of a built flathead and driving down the freeway. He told me that it would be a forged alloy type material from the areospace industry and it would be strong enough. Here's what I sent him. I also sent the cad file so they can do an computer stress test on the design.
What do you think? Will it work? Would you drive it down the freeway?

 

With the middle raised up, it takes away from the drop.

 

looks like it would have to be a spring behind setup to work

 

Looks stupid to me.

 

Don't sugar coat it Andy, tell him what you think!
Looks too show car/street roddy to me.

 

It's not double dropped... it just has a raised center. Most of the stress is from the bone/spring mount to the kingpin boss. The center doesn't get a whole lot of stress.

 

Is there a reason for it? Looks to have a bolt hole in the center.

Looks like an example of "just because you can does not mean that you should".

 

Not true. Maximum bending moment occurs between the spring perch holes and is constant from hole to hole. However, shear stress between the perch holes is zero.

 

if the goal is to have people ask "WTF did you do that for?" it would be much easier to just die your hair pink.

 

Why? The drop is gone after you do it, then all you have is an axle that will sit to close to the road. Just looks like a stupid thing to do for no gain at all. And WHAT is with the hole in the center?

 

My, my...

 

I'm with Andy. Looks dumb

 

Drop is not gone
The drop is measured as a vertical pr elevation difference from the spring perch to the kingpin boss.

 

Yep

But it if one were to do that to a stock axle, it should shorten it

Not to many care if you dye your hair pink anymore

 

.....especially if you dye areas not immediately seen. lol

 

.....especially if you dye areas not immediately seen. lol

 

Huh, the spring is mounted near the ends not the center, the bend does not change anything.
Just something to say WTH.......

 

This is bitchen little hot rod !!
Check out the axle on this. That thing that looks like a nerf bar is the axle made from 2. There's better pics of it someplace

 

Only if the carpet matches the drapes.....

 

Wow! Nice comments.

 

The original question is would it hold up. If the material and engineering say it will, I can't see where it wouldn't. It is not like a dude welding a couple of pieces of junk together. I don't really understand the reason for it, but maybe it would look cool on the car he is designing. I would have fewer concerns driving that than the nerd style axle posted above.


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@raprap did your buddy tell you why he wants to try this?

 

To each his own.. If it won't work, he'll find out soon enough. I personally don't think I'd waste the money.

 

You've heard everybody ask why, but you haven't answered.

 

Soooo....is the intent to mount the axle solid to the frame at the center point and use it as the spring AND axle?

That might be cool.

Doable?

 

Looks stupid, but if he likes stupid go for it.

 

......you think this may have started out as a Mopar front axe' or no ? Pretty nice setup, doubling as a nerf bar....I thought it was its frame spreader initially. Sweet. Must be one of your cohorts.....

 

I replaced my axle with a light weight Super Bell aluminum I beam under the front of my roadster after it was involved in a accident in route to Indy.

All the aluminum axle is said to have all kinds of research behind it and was /is safe so I drove the car with that axle for almost a year,then one day a friend of mine just kicked the tire and I saw movement,,I told him to do it again and again I is saw it shake.

We drove down the road and I hung out and watched the wheel and it appeared to have movement from the spring perch to the wheels,it scared the crap outta be.

There is no doubt in my mind that the aluminum axle is pretty and shiny but I think they are better suited for trailer queens.

That very day I ordered a Chassis Engineering forged axle.

As someone said earlier,just because you can don't mean you should. HRP

 

Haha!
I talked with the guy who made it, just 2 regular old original ford axles bent to shape and welded in the center.

 

Damn, that's even more impressive. Beautiful work.