Technical 37 Chevy gasser axles and steering

I race this 37 Chevy and want to replace the Speedway straight axle with a drop axle for a more level stance for better handling. I have a 48-53 Chevy front axle but don't know if the axle will fit and if the Speedway brakes will interchange. Any insights on this issue?

 

I'm no expert but that axle is drilled so that the leaf springs are set wider in the back than the front and I believe the Speedway axle is parallel. The later Chevy axle is drilled to mount the springs parallel.

I suppose you could fill them and redrill.

 

The Speedway axles that use the Chevy spindles, use car spindles, not truck spindles...and Chevy used a different kingpin angle on cars and trucks. So I doubt you could use the spindles, either way.

Have you searched for a late 30s car axle? I expect it might be a bit harder to find than a truck axle.

 

Not answering your question, but here is a picture I took a few years back...

 

I have a 37/38 chev standard car I beam axle complete with springs if that excites you. No location in your avatar

 

I photographed his car in MD and saw it a few times in that area. I would assume he is a Maryland, Virginia or Pennsylvania guy

 

I'd look at rustyvalley's offer as I beam looks better, but check eztbucket.com for a dropped tube. Someone said he is the source for Speedway axles. If so, he should be able to duplicate spring pad locations. Dropped axle is 48" kingpin centers, but he can make custom widths.

 

I'm located in Danville PA

 

To start with the Chevy truck axle will be too wide to fit under your '37. They are about 3" wider and even with skinny tires and wheels you'll have tires hanging outside the front fenders by an inch per side. And since you drag race your car, you don't have the option of narrowing the Chevy truck axle to fit. NHRA doesn't allow narrowed axles, so it wont pass tech if it's narrowed. The springs being not perfectly parallel is actually good, as the '37 frame isn't parallel either, so it would match the frame rails once it was narrowed.
I narrowed a '55-'59 Chevy truck axle 5" to fit under my '39 Chev coupe, and they're about 1.5" wider than the early 50's truck axles. I've narrowed a number of these axles, and they're easy to do, and plenty strong. But of course not NHRA approved. I do a "Z cut" which is cutting the axle in the middle, and then cutting the top half off one side, and the bottom half off the other. Then overlap the two 5" sides, and bevel all the adjoining surfaces. Then weld them on both sides, and use 3/8" plate inside the web on the backside over the whole overlapped weld area.
This is after welding, and during mockup in my '39 Chevy. I used a Speedway disc brake kit to convert to discs and 4.5" bolt pattern to match the Ford rear axle.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313397129892?epid=6034018&hash=item48f7ecb2a4:g:whwAAOSwKfVXKWaO

If I was you, I'd simply order a dropped tube axle from Speedway that uses the same kingpins and spindles. Then weld new perches on it, and swap everything from your straight tube axle over to the dropped tube axle. Give the Speedway techs a call, and they can direct you towards which of their axles is the correct one to accept your parts swap.

 

Need a better view of the front spring hangers . It’s a bit tuff for me to see in the photos . The stock hanger offset the spring from the frame , making the spring run straight and not same as the frame . The frames narrow front to rear on the old Chebbies .