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Thread: Measuring axle length

  1. #11
    Registered Member chasracer's Avatar
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    Tony - sounds good and glad to hear you got it squared away. Three pieces of advice but one I understand you might not want to do one now with it all together. Painting a line on the axles from the bearing surface to where the splines start is a good way of monitoring the axles. We just mask off a 1/4" wide line and shoot some rattle can white color. When the axles start twisting, it's easy to see it. Lucas H-D Gear Oils - the stuff flat works. I mix one bottle of their stuff with my regular synthetic gear oil, a lot of noise goes away on the street stuff, but I use it on the race cars too. And last, put the part number, measurements or order ticket from those axles in a safe place you will remember. Worth it when you have to order a new set years from now. Have fun!
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  2. #12
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    Thanks. I thought I was going to be on the road a lot sooner that day and thought the paint may come off in the oil, so the first one I sprayed with contact cement and put a pinstripe on it. Then for the important (left) one, I forgot all about it. I figure that after going to the track I'll pull it to look for any twisting and then paint a line on it. These axles are almost as narrow toward the end of the shaft, but measuring in the splines across two gaps shows that the splined part is slightly more narrow. Although the taller part of the spline does stand up higher than the most narrow part of the shaft. So I don't know if like the old ones that any twist will be easy to see since it will twist at the spline? If that random garbage I just wrote makes any sense?

    BTW, these are not C-clip eliminators, they are big F*rd ends with the tapered Timkin "set 20" bearings. Everyone wanted to sell me the ball bearing set but I insisted on the tapered ones. I am saving the bill and making a copy of it too. I also measured and wrote down all the dimensions. I did happen to use the heavy Lucas lube, and even though it says it's good for posi clutches, I added that special stuff to it also but it wasn't the GM brand. So far no chattering around sharp turns.
    Tony

    1955 Bel Air Sport Coupe

  3. #13
    Registered Member chasracer's Avatar
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    All sounds good. On our last set of Moser axles the twist was just about the entire length of the axle. Once they reached a 25% twist, we replaced them. And in our case we run a spool so both axles were pretty close in the amount of twist they had suffered. One thing I learned is that the shorter the axle the harder it is to see the twist with out some kind of indicator. Occasionally I have seen them twist just at the spline area but that was usually stocker type stuff, not the aftermarket pieces. Last season we had a guy bring out a mid-60's Poncho with I guess a Pontiac 455+ in it. Second time shot the right axle said goodbye and the car went one way and the slick the other. The funny part was he was back out there the following week, made it to first round of eliminations before the axle signed off for the day again. I'm not sure but I would imagine that aftermarket axles were in his future after that one.
    Remember the "13"


  4. #14
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    Well you guessed where I got the axles from whether you tried or not. They look a lot better than the first unknown set, but definitely not as good as the ones from Tom's, too bad those didn't fit. With my limited knowledge, Tom's looked better and considerably less expensive. Anyway these survived five passes during test and tune. Don't know if I should write about that in this thread, one of my old threads, or start a new one. Issues with traction, and considerable loss of power when hot, very considerable.
    Tony

    1955 Bel Air Sport Coupe

  5. #15
    Registered Member chasracer's Avatar
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    Might be interesting to start a new thread with the performance information. I would like to hear more about it.

  6. #16
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    BTW, these are not C-clip eliminators, they are big F*rd ends with the tapered Timkin "set 20" bearings. Everyone wanted to sell me the ball bearing set but I insisted on the tapered ones. I am saving the bill and making a copy of it too. I also measured and wrote down all the dimensions. I did happen to use the heavy Lucas lube, and even though it says it's good for posi clutches, I added that special stuff to it also but it wasn't the GM brand. So far no chattering around sharp turns.

    Why did you want tapered roller bearings. These cars came with ball and so did many others in the 50s and 60s.

  7. #17
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    Yep, back in the 50's and 60's they were common, there is a reason they aren't used in new cars now. Tapered roller bearings are superior to ball bearings. Much more surface area, like about 85% more? Plus the taper is much better for lateral forces.
    Tony

    1955 Bel Air Sport Coupe

  8. #18
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 55 Tony View Post
    Yep, back in the 50's and 60's they were common, there is a reason they aren't used in new cars now. Tapered roller bearings are superior to ball bearings. Much more surface area, like about 85% more? Plus the taper is much better for lateral forces.
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  9. #19
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    A single tapered roller bearing takes thrust only in one direction. One way to get thrust control in both directions is to use a pair of them in opposing directions, as is done on the front end of many cars. So how do you get thrust control in both directions on a rear axle?

    On the other hand many but not all single ball bearings can take thrust in both directions. Neither one has much moment (bending) capability.

    I don't know how you can say either one is better. Depends on what you need to do. Besides the thrust issue, tapered rollers generally have more capacity and longer life for a given size. But ball bearings have less rolling resistance. That's why they have come back into favor in recent years.
    Last edited by Rick_L; 06-11-2018 at 09:21 AM.

  10. #20
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    Falls under the topic of if its not broke, don't fix it, either is better than c-clips.

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