Finally got my axles and spool done.

[dmaxlover]

After many months of screwing around, finally got all the parts together.

 

[JoshH]

Did you make these yourself like you were talking about doing? What are the specs on the stuff?

 

[dmaxlover]

I did all the everything but the splining. The axles are made out of 4340 with 36 splines, the spool and drive flanges are made from 4140.

 

[TNRGreene]

Looks good

 

[RENODMAX]

you guys are nuts. i wish i could CNC stuff those look great

 

[bullfrogjohnson]

Whats the diameter of the shafts?

 

[dmaxlover]

A little bigger than stock. To go any bigger, the spindles have to be reamed out.

 

[bullfrogjohnson]

They look great John, are these going into production or are these a one off peice for your truck

 

[dmaxlover]

These are one off parts. The axles could be made at a reasonable rate, but the cost of the full spool is just ridiculous. The material for the spool started out at 225 lbs, it's now about 75. I have over 1k invested in this project, and that is not counting any of my design or machine time, just material cost, splining, heat treat, and shot peen.

 

[bullfrogjohnson]

You are a lucky man to have all that tooling at your disposal

 

[ecc_33]

nice looks good

 

[dmaxlover]

The material for the spool started out at 225 lbs, it's now about 75.

I lied. The spool, ring gear, ring gear bolts, and both bearings weigh in at 60 lbs.

I must be getting week if the spool itself felt like 75 lbs.:rofl:

 

[JOHNBOY]

Looks good John.

I have the steel just need the lathe time to do mine.

How did you spline the spool? Broach or Wire EDM.

 

[dmaxlover]

Looks good John.

I have the steel just need the lathe time to do mine.

How did you spline the spool? Broach or Wire EDM.

It was done with a single point broach. The spline was too deep to use a conventional broach, and wiring it out was way too expensive.

 

[The Neens]

Looks great, nice work...

 

[nar]

Nice...

 

[SmokeShow]

You are a talented machinist! Nice work John. Anxious to see how they hold up.

C-ya

 

[05smoker]

Looks real good John. Good luck with them.

 

[RENODMAX]

You are a talented machinist! Nice work John. Anxious to see how they hold up.

C-ya

I definately agree. I am really impressed as I will probably never have the tools or capability to do that kind of stuff. Very impressive I cant say that enough you should be very pleased with yourself.

 

[dmaxlover]

Well back to the drawing board, the axles didn't hold up like I thought they would. After one pull the passenger side yielded about 90 degs, and the driver side yielded 360 degs before it snapped clean, about 3" from the outer end. I will post a couple of pics later.

I have some idea's floating around in my head, but it's going to have to wait until the season is over. "Stock" size shafts aren't going to cut it, and the spindles can't be enlarged enough to accommodate a shaft that will go the distance. This project has become a learning process, and the next step is going to be a whole lot of work.