broken axle

F

flatheadA

Senior Member
Just wanted to show a picture of an axle I broke 2 weeks ago.
It's a 39 truck axle I have on my AV8.Lucky for me I was just
taking off went it broke.
 

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Background as to why you think it broke? Pop the clutch?, non stock power?


flatheadA said:
Just wanted to show a picture of an axle I broke 2 weeks ago.
It's a 39 truck axle I have on my AV8.Lucky for me I was just
taking off went it broke.
Click to expand...
 
Most likely reason it broke is that at some point in it's life it wasn't tight enough and was driving on the key instead of the taper. Always mag a used axle and look real hard at the inboard end of the keyway for a crack starting there. I have rejected many axles over the years.
In my roadster, I had the banjo modified to accept 9" Ford axles and clipped off the ends of the housings for the 9" bearings, backing plates and brakes because I wanted to eliminate that possibility. It still looks old timey but with a built flathead I don't worry about broken axles plus an upgrade to the brakes.
 
deuce_roadster said:
Most likely reason it broke is that at some point in it's life it wasn't tight enough and was driving on the key instead of the taper. Always mag a used axle and look real hard at the inboard end of the keyway for a crack starting there.

BINGO!
Click to expand...
 
Every time you say that, I picture you at some Church hall on a Thursday Night with all the old ladies! :D
 
ford38v8 said:
Every time you say that, I picture you at some Church hall on a Thursday Night with all the old ladies! :D
Click to expand...
Hey, wait a minute! I assure you I am too young to be mixing with the
Channell #5 crowd. At least for the immediate future...
 
flatheadA said:
Stock 8rt,mash the gas ,popped the clutch,that's all she wrote.
Putting drum brake retainers on.
Click to expand...
It's highly doubtful this happened from too much torque. As has been suggested (strongly) at some time or another, the drum was not installed correctly. That sets these axles up for certain disaster.
 
Kube said:
It's highly doubtful this happened from too much torque. As has been suggested (strongly) at some time or another, the drum was not installed correctly. That sets these axles up for certain disaster.
Click to expand...

I agree. Story of my broken axle lends credence to this also: I had been on a cross country trip, and unexpectedly became airborn over a set of railroad tracks. The car landed hard, still in gear, engine racing. Five miles down the road, the axle gave way going around a corner. Yet, it wasn't that incident that did the damage! Close inspection revealed the crack had started long before, the edge being oxidized from age. I remembered that I'd replaced a worn key on that axle when I built the rear end, the root cause of my broken axle.
 
I'm going to put retainer brackets on ,I see that there are several on the market.
Macs,speedway,tardel,also seen one from a barner,any body have any info ,pro. or con. which is the one to use.
 
I had this problem a few years back. I had a 27T rod with a french flathead and stock three speed 39 box and rear end. Whilst driving to work one morning a drunk driver lost control on a bend and slammed my rear wheel at about 50-60 mph, sent me up the hedge.
Things got sorted with insurance etc and I repaired the 27. It bent up some brackets destroyed the wide five rear wheel and wrote off a brand new wide white cross ply, shifted the rear axle over to one side considerably.
Forward a few weeks and I am once again driving to work when all of a sudden no drive to the rear wheels. I phoned work and as I was only about 6 miles away my boss came and towed me in with his new all singing all dancing landcruiser. Not being one to hang around he promptly towed me back on a very short rope at a steady 50 ish mph through the winding back roads to work.
Jacked it up in my lunch break to see what was wrong and my rear wheel fell clean off as it left the ground. Me and the boss were pretty shocked to say the least. How it didn't come off while being towed I will never know.
Lesson well learned, don't take it for granted that if it looks ok it actually is.

Paul.
 
flatheadA said:
I'm going to put retainer brackets on ,I see that there are several on the market.
Macs,speedway,tardel,also seen one from a barner,any body have any info ,pro. or con. which is the one to use.
Click to expand...

The clips will be better than nothing but will still fail if the axle breaks on cornering.
The better solution is the weld on ring type with the 2 studs that go through the backing plate holes.
 
Pete said:
The clips will be better than nothing but will still fail if the axle breaks on cornering.
The better solution is the weld on ring type with the 2 studs that go through the backing plate holes.
Click to expand...
Pete,
I'm not familiar with the ring type, do you have any pictures or info on where I can get one.
 
Here's what they look like but apparently Speedway doesn't have them any more.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/SAFETY-HUB-KIT-EARLY-FORD,3399.html
Watch ebay, they show up there sometimes.

They are very easy to make at home with hand tools. All you need is a welder to install them. The retaining plate can be flat 3/8 plate and the bolts tack welded thru holes to the retainer. The weld on ring for the hub can be made from 3/8 keystock bent around the hub and welded in place.
Of course if you have a machine shop you can make them up real fancy.
 
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