31 spline 9" "take a look at it"

Take a gander at this pic and let me know how awesome y'all think this was!

523 making some ponies now!

Big power!!

No picture of the quarter panels lol!! Hope it didn't damage too much stuff!!

Bill

Oh Dear ... Not Good . Those axles ever been heated or tacks of weld on the bearing retainers ?? Sort of odd they both broke exactly the same

I had new wheel bearings installed a few years ago, and I'm almost certain the guy cut the old bearings off with a torch..... I was pretty upset at the time. They said everything would be fine and that's how "they always do it".

Axle on the left broke about a year ago in a mud drag pit. Truck ended up on its roof....

After many gremlins, I finally got the truck back going and decided to ride to the local 1/8 mile drag strip. 1st pass, when I shifted to second gear, the engine ran away and the truck immediately went in a spin to the right. Truck did 2 360's before slamming into the guard rail... Luckily with the rear bumper.

The right rear quarter panel got folded under the truck before the tire was ejected. The tire kept going down the track and went through the traps about 80mph!!!!!

----what kind of axles do I need?
523" -SCJ heads ~600-650hp with occasional 2-300 shot.
Truck weighs 4800lbs, 4.56 gears and 37" tires.

I like Strange axles. Call them and they'll set you up with a good recommendation.

But any of the aftermarket stuff should be good. I'm sure there is a axle manufacturer out there that is familiar with the 4x4 and off road stuff and what it takes to stand up to the abuse...

Anybody seen factory 9" axles broken like this before??

Factory stuff....sure. Smack a lot of power to sticky track with big slicks...or a lot of power through giant heavy  mud tires...expect no less, no matter if the axles were heated or not.  Good aftermerket axles are a bargain for anybody making power, not to mention the safety factor.  My wimpy Maverick has 40 spline Strange stuff in it because I've broken driveline parts before, and you NEVER break just ONE part.

I broke the input shaft off a 9" pinion gear once. It tore up everything from the carrier to the planetaries. $$$$$.

In your case, $500 for a pair of axles would go a long way toward peace of mind.

maverick wrote:Factory stuff....sure. Smack a lot of power to sticky track with big slicks...or a lot of power through giant heavy  mud tires...expect no less, no matter if the axles were heated or not.  Good aftermerket axles are a bargain for anybody making power, not to mention the safety factor.  My wimpy Maverick has 40 spline Strange stuff in it because I've broken driveline parts before, and you NEVER break just ONE part.

I broke the input shaft off a 9" pinion gear once.  It tore up everything from the carrier to the planetaries.  $$$$$.

In your case, $500  for a pair of axles would go a long way toward peace of mind.

^^^^^^^^^^^ Same, except for the wimpy Maverick part... Fords answer for the baddest of the time 429 SCJ etc. they held up well but when you increase the HP, add NOS. double + the wheel weight , or generally hook it with more power and they break.

Maverick- do you have your 40 splines in a 3.25" case?

I run 35 spline Yukons in mine

460bronco wrote:Maverick-  do you have your 40 splines in a 3.25" case?

It's a big bearing Strange aluminum carrier.

Thanks for the responses guys!  I'm probably going to go the 35 spline route.  I sent Strange a message and they recommended the street/strip 35 spline for the application.

I have never seen one break in the biggest diameter part of the axel like that unless it hit something. I always see them twist of right at the spool or within a ft of it.

I had to replace my Strange 35s due to my housing was flexing. We stiffened it up and for the piece of mind I went back with the gundrilled 40s. Overkill on my car but worth it.

IDT-572 wrote:I have never seen one break in the biggest diameter part of the axel like that unless it hit something. I always see them twist of right at the spool or within a ft of it.

I think it's an odd spot too Blake...  Since both of my axles broke in the same spot (and a weird one at that), I'm gonna have to say it probably stemmed from an error in wheel bearing installation..... Or the fact that these axles are about 38 years old.

460bronco wrote:

IDT-572 wrote:I have never seen one break in the biggest diameter part of the axel like that unless it hit something. I always see them twist of right at the spool or within a ft of it.

I think it's an odd spot too Blake...  Since both of my axles broke in the same spot (and a weird one at that), I'm gonna have to say it probably stemmed from an error in wheel bearing installation..... Or the fact that these axles are about 38 years old.

I agree with Blake that with a spool and slicks on a mostly level surface the axles usually snip the splines off or are within a foot, but with the heavier big tire big power trucks, many are not spooled, and due to wheeling on uneven surfaces, side hooking the outside of tires on rocks/roots (TSL bogger example) often tend to break closer to the flanges many times studs ripped off too. Other things I have seen is trucks that were seemingly bulletproof moved from 35"-37", 37"-40", 40"-44" etc and became grenades constantly breaking parts. Many 40" and over are running 1-3 Ton stuff that is cyro'd or Rockwells and usually spit the stub shafts, and hubs. I am not saying that a bearing installation couldn't have contributed, but many years of hard service definitely did, I have drawn a straight line down stock axles with a paint marker and you would be surprised at how much twist some hard service can create.