Choosing a drop axle.....SoCal, CE, L7, original?

Ok let me see if can explain some stuff

First my disclaimer you quoted
There are to many variables when you get into doing steering arms on customers spindles.
There’s a bunch of possible combinations with different year wishbones and its hard to do with out all the parts in front of me. that’s why I don’t do them.

Second new axles
They are narrower than fords to get disc brakes and 70 series tires under fenders (80 to now street rod stuff)
They are narrower over all mostly at the spring perches.
That is why they look different to you in photos, your seeing the longer curved end.
Another reason for the shape of the end is to gain more room for the steering arms to turn.

Comparison and reason for ford axle
I call the drop of my axles by the amount it lowers your car or P/U from stock
All other people don’t ….. they try to make it sound like the axle was a perfectly strait before dropping or being made. Personally I find this confusing for people and kinda dishonest. All I want to know is how much it lowers my car when I buy something.
Iv personally placed one of my 2 ½ dropped 33 to 36 axles on top of a 5” supper bell and the SB had a ½” more drop.
Iv also had several Super Bells and Magnums here for repairs …. Fords can have just as much drop.
The main reason for using a ford axle is that’s what they ran back when they built the cars and pickup were emulating here and now.
Its not about saving a buck on used parts over new ….in fact new axles look nothing like real ones to the trained eye.


If you really want to piece together a front-end you need to learn yourself on what is what or you will be buying some stuff two or three times = the hard way

Lastly some people think my axles cost to much
Well all I can say to that is you get what you pay for here with me.
Iv seen and worked on several competitors axles that are quite frankly a joke and iv even had to change camber on new axles that arrived with over two degrees positive camber.

 

I like to use original axles, wishbones spindles, etc, when ever i can. In most instances all can be had and refurbished for less than new. It is recycling at it's best, some parts may be a challenge to find, but to ME, that is part of the fun. It may take some time, but all the pieces you need can be found, or find their way to you with little work/searching. Henry made and used some great steel back when, and you would be hard pressed to get the same flavor and quality of ORIGINAL....imo.

296 v8 well said!

 

Thanks for all the in-depth info, along with clearing up the differences and "drop length" myth. I'm definitely picking things up quickly. My job and life doesn't allow me to get out much, so I learn pretty much everything from the HAMB. These threads aren't just A or B options for me, but almost always turn into a learning experience, or at least that's what I hope they are to other noobs who follow behind me. "Search" doesn't always yield the needed info.

Sorry if I came across as a douche. It wasn't my intent.

 

As I understand it the original Heavy 32 Axel is 59" between King Pins, and the new Chassis Engineering and So Cal axles are 57" between King Pins, which helps to tuck the front wheels under a 32 fender a little better. Has anyone narrowed a 32 Heavy 2" ?
HemiDeuce.

 

A stock 32 heavy is 50 1/2" king pin to pin in stock form.

 

Didn't know the Lucky 7 was Chinese . It is a much nicer axle than the So-Cal though,looks wise.Sounds like you should get a dropped Ford axle, or CE if you really want a new one.

 

I just got this in the mail yesterday. looks awsome, and will work perfectly with my wishbone. Original 34' axle dropped by Greg 2.5".

 

That does look sweet. So is that 2.5" drop equivalent to a repop 4", more or less?

 

Thanks, Im hoping to get my frontend back together today. Gregs ad says it about a 4.5" drop from flat, and it certanly does look it. It just doesn't look as extreme as re-pops because they are alot narrower from the spring perch to the king pin than a dropped stock.

 

Cool! Yeah, Greg was very magnanimous and explained a lot to me via PM about all the ins and outs. His advice was great and definitely not out of any self-interest whatsoever.

 

I had 296V8 do 2 deuce big beams 3 inchs for me personally and they are very nice. I can't sell gennie axles under all my repro chassis, isn't practical. I use lots of Super Bell axles which have worked out good, quite a few CEs over the years and am now using some So-Cals. They all have their pros and cons. It's just personal preference.

 

Pertinent question:

I've seen So-Cal's new '32 Heavy, and it is in stock configuration. (not dropped)
Does SoCal also offer their own dropped version that is "comparable" to CE?
I have used CE numerous times, and recommend them highly. (the only USA Forged axle available)
As there were NO pics of CE or SoCal axles, I ask again: Is the SoCal axle dropped?

 

the so-cal axles uses a 29-1/4" main leaf. same as the superbell and magnum 46" axles.

 

the So-Cal axles is only available dropped. the only company making an undropped 1932 axle at this time is Pete & Jake's.

 

Sorry to keep this thread going...I think I might rename it because we've gone into axles in general. I was curious what the hell "ductile iron" was....so I looked it up. Found this on the "China" requirements for it (since so many of these like SuperBell, etc are made over there)

http://www.iron-foundry.com/65-45-12.html

AND...I just found this pretty nifty study on the comparison of steel forgings vs. ductile iron:

http://www.autosteel.org/~/media/Files/AUTOSTEEL/Programs/LongProducts/crankshaft_executive_summary.ashx

 

greg, i knew you would be on this thread. just wanted to say hi.. hi..

 

Aftermarket axles look like crap compared to a properly dropped original Ford axle. Do yourself and our eyes a favor and have '296V8' drop an original Ford axle for you, you won't regret it. Leave the aftermarket axles for the folks who don't care what's under their car or how bad they look.

 

Called Lucky 7 today, their axles are forged in Taiwan, milled in Canada. So there you go....

That, and I think I already mentioned that SoCal's were forged in Malaysia.

 

How close is Malaysia to Taiwan ?





Pic came from this blog:
http://hatefactoryusa.blogspot.com/2010/09/los-angeles-part-3-so-cal-speed-shop.html
Dated September 16, 2010.

 

WHAAAAT!!! Well, they told me Malaysia on the phone....sheesh.

I'm so much of a noob that I can't and won't say that there's anything wrong with those axles or any of the others made overseas. However, my suspicions come from the fact that I am heavily involved in other types of product made in that region (China, etc), and we ALWAYS have had problems with them trying to slip us a fast one. We would look at the prototypes that they sent over for us to inspect, but once the production run was in full swing, the plastic mix was changed to a cheaper formula without telling us, copies looked much worse than the originals, etc. The company had to send someone over there full time to make sure this wasn't happening. I don't know if Taiwan is any better, but I can't help but have my doubts, you know?

 

Absolutely.

 

Might have been an honest mistake, the guy you were
talking to could have got two countries on the other side
of the world mixed up. He knew they weren't made here.

 

Just a quick note and then I'll go back to being invisible.

CE axles do not take a special spring, Posie 1004rt, if it has a part number it's not special, besides, do you want to run a nearly 80 year old spring?

 

I'm glad someone posted that picture above of the crate full of So-Cal axles.It shows exactly what I was trying to describe. FUGLY.

 

Hey Kevin, thanks for dropping by the thread! I do have a couple more questions for you and anyone else who wants to chime in:

-Have you ever heard of the dropping process for original axles somehow compromising the original heat treating process that gave the steel so much strength? Technically speaking, wouldn't you have to go through another heat treating or super freezing process to adequately redistribute the molecules to ensure the newly bent area retained all the original strength? (I know that's probably splitting hairs to the Nth degree...but hey, I'm curious now that I started reading about the metallurgical aspects.)

-What are the potential benefits of running a 33-36 drop axle underneath an A over a 28-31 axle? Drawbacks? From what I've seen, I like the look of the 33-36 more, but it doesn't look like you can get as much drop out of them comparative to the 28-31.


BTW, I want to thank everyone for changing the scope of this thread. I swear, I've learned more through this thread than any of my courses way back in college. There oughta be a "HAMB-iversity".

 

A quick update as of today, April 3, 2011.....Dave Mann, Roadsters.com, no longer drops axles. He told me he is concentrating on polishing only. He recommends Chassis Engineering.

 

Me!
And 80 year old axles engines and transmissions.and pedals and steering wheels/boxes
;wheels...wishbones

Give all parts to me , i be glad to take them of your hands.


If you buy everything new, where is the point of building a hotrod?

 

got mine from eric today

 

And if you can't get ahold of him get ahold of me.