I picked up a used set of axles with green bearings awhile back, and have been running them with my 3.23 sure grip in the Dart. Today I swapped the center section for a 2.76 open in preparation for my upcoming road trip... Bolted in one axle, great. Went to the other side, and the axle won't slide in far enough to put the nuts on. Has anyone run into this before? I'm wondering if the axles were cut down, and not quite short enough?

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Green bearings usually make the axles sit slightly inboard of stock, and they but against the adjuster block in the middle of the center section. Only fixes are to take diff apart to get that block out, OR put washers or spacers under the axle bearing flanges to space the axles outboard. This is the main reason why green bearings have a bad rep and fail - people bolt in and put outward stress on bearings w/o paying attention to axles butting against center block.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Is there enough length to shave an 1/8" off of the end of each axle?
A cut off saw or a steady hand and thin wheel on a grinder?
Seems better than spacers or washers.

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Mattelderca
78 NYB (gone now), two S series, three old Snow Cruisers and a Doo.

The heat that a cut-off wheel will put into the splined part of the axle would concern me. The axle is a hardened part, and could be weakened by such an evolution. In the area of the spline, it could result in an axle failure. There's a lot of torque on an axle, and the machined area is a weak point.
Better to have it shortened by an axle shop, They may be able to chuck it up in a lathe, part the end off, and put a bevel on it if there is enough spline available. You'd have to see if they would be willing to do it that way. A sharp edge created by cutting the axle may result in excessive noise.
If they aren't willing to do that for liability reasons, then your back to having it shortened conventionally.

While I have a lathe, I wouldn't try shortening at the spline unless the practice could be proven not to create a faulty/dangerous part.

2¢

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

CJ has a point with grinding, but I think you could do it slowly and not overheat the spline/axle material at all. I might think to spend 1-2 hrs with a grinder to grind off 1/16-1/8" per side and dress the end face and splines.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Hm... I would need to remove 1/4"-3/8" per axle. I have a vertical band saw (and plenty of patience), so I could make the cut without much heat at all. Then a quick pass with a grinder to put a bevel back on the edge to keep it quiet. Thoughts?
I'm not sure I'd be comfortable shimming the axles out that far with washers. I'll consider making spacers out of some flat steel...have to see what I have laying around.

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That could work. I'd still want to put the bevel back on and face the axle with a lathe. Just me though.

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Wow, those axles are really long. I would be fine with your procedure, zorg, but everyone is different.

Note that the axles should not butt up against the center block, and so I would say they don't need to be uber smooth or machined. I would say making some smoothness with sandpaper would ensure you don't generate metal dust as the block bumps on the axle ends.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988