Itching to start my 28 Model A build; School me on axles.

So I have a large pile of parts, and now that I've bought a house and moved in I'm ready to get building this thing.

So far I have two 28 frames, and a 10'' Z with crossmember for the rear that I have to graft in. I have a 28 truck cab and bed, and a Ford 8'' rear with brackets on it to bolt to the stock frame.

The various axles, mounting, wishbones, etc all are confusing the hell out of me, and most of the resources I'm reading are just saying to "use this axle" and arn't giving a reason why, or why one axle is different than the other. How do I figure out what axle will fit my needs, and how do I tell them apart when I'm "shopping"?

 

If you are using fenders then width is very important, you want a gear ratio you can live with and a centered driveshaft, you need to search other build threads similar to what you are doing.

 

Sorry, talking about front axles. I'm using the 8'' from a late 60's Fairlane.

 

Model a thru 36 axles are your best bet up front. They have the greatest distance from kingpin boss to perch boss, so they give plenty of tire to wishbone clearance if you split the wishbone, and are the best for dropping for the same reason.
28-31(model a) axles are 2.25" perch boss, while 32 and 33-6 are 2".


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Aside from looks, any reason not to go with a speedway tube axle for simplicity? Only thing I don't like about it is the hairpins.

 

With a tube axle you should use 4-bars.

 

Yeah, thats what I'm reading. Ugly though lol.

From what I'm seeing, looks like most if not all of the ford OE axles have little to no drop and for the most part look like this;



So the only option to go lower in the front would be, if I'm understanding this;

-dropping the stock-style axle and probably killing myself
-Buying an expensive cast drop axle
-Buying a tube drop axle
-Z'ing the frame extensively.

Am I understanding this right?

 

You don't want a cast axel!Have your stock axel dropped-three good people here do them.

 

A properly dropped original forged Ford axle is as strong or stronger and, in my opinion, better looking than any aftermarket axle out there. I, personally, would never use a cast axle for several reasons.

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