Magnum Axels, a bad batch. Ouch!!!

I always thought front axles were forgings ?? Seems like a really poor place for a casting ? Never looked into this as I don't do the "dropped axle thing " but again - a casting seems to be begging for trouble !! . PS Just looked at a 33 front end assy & the axle is definately a forging . Hmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I'm sure you've seen the pictures of original Ford axles being twisted like licorice... Ford had a state of the art metalurgy department and was proud of his steel axles.
 
David J said:
I always thought front axles were forgings ?? Seems like a really poor place for a casting ? Never looked into this as I don't do the "dropped axle thing " but again - a casting seems to be begging for trouble !! . PS Just looked at a 33 front end assy & the axle is definately a forging . Hmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I would say that there is a strong possibility that the front spindles on your late model are castings. Most are these days with a steel axle stub pressed in. Now that is not to say the castings are cast iron, some are cast steel.

Some aftermarket axles are cast malleable iron and if not up to the job I'm sure they never would have been marketed in the first place. The axles in question were obviously a quality control issue.

I do do the "dropped axle thing" but prefer forgings myself.
 
I've sold many 100s of chassis over the years using the cast Super Bell Axle and cast Super Bell spindles with no failures to date that I know of. These axles are built the same way Magnums are. Modern casting techniques and Bells good quality control and testing have taken care of any failure problems to date. I have seen a few pictures of broken axles and some of them appear to have involved in more trauma than just going down the road. I built a 34 extended cab Ford pu for Speedway many years ago and while it was in the hands of Ford SVO it was wrecked by hitting a cement wall with the front corner. The supplied Magnum axle did break under that situation but it did not cause the wreck. I have heard that Magnum has addressed their problem?
 
This situation brings into play the notion of 'how cheap can I make something', forgings are expensive compared to castings. Then we get, how much is safety worth? Forgings are safer than castings. Add in factors such as Quality Control etc. and this situation was always going to happen, it has just been a question of when it was going to happen.

Fortunately as far as we know no one has been seriously injured or worse.
 
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