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The "axle curse"

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aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
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Yesterday, our club ran an event at Pocono Racetrack (in Pennsylanvia). The event that I had entered was a 2-hour enduro with a "LeMans start" (actually, a modifed LeMans start where a crewmember runs to the car...the driver is already belted in).
Anyway, before the start, everyone was talking about all the "smokey burnouts" at the start. There were 4 NASCAR trucks entered, an ARCA racer (similar to NASCAR racer), and lots of "Vettes and Mustangs....those of us in the small-bore class knew that we'd get "lost in the smoke".
Anyway, two of my Sprite-racer buddies were warnings me to take it easy since I am still running stock axles. Spridget axles are a weakpoint, especially in racing, but I have never broken one.
We had a long conversation about Spridget axles and the various improved types and so forth.
Anyway, I had a great start (beating several Hondas) and was going like gangbusters with only 30 minutes left in the race when (drum roll, please)......an axle breaks!
Fiddlsticks! I have warned my friends that before all future races, we will not be talking about mechanical stuff....only the weather, women and other pleasant subects.
 
Nial:
1. Double bearing hubs.
2. Huffaker axles.
3. End of problems.

Having broken a few of the pesky little buggers in my day, I found this solution to be pretty foolproof.
Did it snap at the flange? That's where the double bearing hubs really help, and Joes axles are bulletproof.
Jeff
 
It snapped at the flange....a bit of sythetic gear oil oozed out by the wheel, so I knew it was the flange right away.

I just called Winner's Circle. $249 per axle plus $350 for the double bearing kit.
Around $850 to do the entire job. Arrgh!
Minimania is even dearer.
...or I could just slip in one of my 6 spare stock axles and see how long it lasts....I'll probably fire up my MaxnaFlux and see which spare axle looks best and do that for now. I'm only running about 70 HP on stock wheels and DOT tires (and an open rear). If I get another failure, THEN I'll probably bite the bullet.
One thing: I've heard that the banjos bend under race-stess and then the axles keep failing (even the good ones). I guess I could check one of my spare rears and see if it's straight. Have you ever heard of this problem? I'm thinking of putting an empty rear on lathe centers to check trueness....does this sound right?
By the way, the axle held up fine for the big burn-out at our LeMans start. Later, I was coming into an easy left hander in third gear and I backed off a bit. When I rolled the gas back on, the axle snapped....not like there was any great shock-effect like a standing start. Most of my other axles have failed this same way, under moderate loads....funny.
 
Help the midget with bolt on wheels has a different axle,??The other doesn't have bolt on wheels. The one I have is flared the other car has a nut with a cotter key /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gifon the end of the axle.........axles axles axles
 
I heard somewhere that you could turn down the axle ( bottom of splines dia.) and 1" from each end. This is supose to flex ( like a sway or torsion bar ) and keep from loading either end too much. I have never tried it but it sounds interesting.
 
I'm curious, if you go with the double bearing kit and afermarket axle shafts, it would seem the ring/pinion or spider gears would now be the weak link. I know I've seen blown spider gears and ring gears on this site. Wouldn't it be more worth while to adapt another axle back there with stronger 1-piece shafts and a larger ring gear? I figure $50-$100 will buy you most domestic rear axles out there at a junk yard (at least locally). How much could it cost to narrow the housing, respline the axle shafts (when they're narrowed) and convert them to 4 on 4" bolt pattern? Can't be more than around $300 so it would seem for under $500 we could rebuild a better axle and stick it under there. There would also be an increased number of limited-slip options out there for more reasonable prices too if we go for something common.

Is there a reason not to do this? I figure unsprung weight is about the only thing I can think of. Is it really that big of a deal with the rear end?

I'm comming at this with my 4x4 experience so maybe I'm missing something since swapping axles is common practice in that community.

thoughts & comments appreciated.
 
Rob, those of us, such as Nial and myself, that are racing, are restricted to the original rear axle housing by the rules. It's been my experience that the center sections aren't as weak as you might think. However, the stock axles have a tendency to snap, and the double bearing rear hubs help a lot in lessening the stresses put on the axle shafts caused by the cornering forces generated by the use of wider, stickier tires.
Jeff
 
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