Axles strengthening

[Jordi]

Axles strengthening has been mentioned a couple of times recently. Sleeveing and truss'. I was just wondering if some of you in the know would be able to make a stickie up with advice on when its recommended to be done. Ie if you run massive tyres or lots of power or are just reckless, lol.

Best ways to do it and some photos.

Is this something you don't even need to think about until you have a highly modded competition truck? Or is it something "medium" modded trucks should consider but just haven't thought about?

I have no idea about it. Just like the thoughts of some of the more experienced.

Cheers
Jordi

[ScottieJ]

it's something worth doing if you are hard on your SJ and like to give it a bit of abuse at pay and plays/comps etc and run large tyres. They do stand up to a lot of abuse in standard form but if you want a bit of security knowing that there's less/no chance of them bending then its worth doing.

Bare in mind though it you get carried away with the welding you could bend the axle welding the truss on so you need to be careful.

If you've never bent an axle I wouldn't be too concerned about doing it in a hurry.

[Darrell]

Just a bit of info
https://workspaces.acrobat.com/app.html ... PvCTZ1tbPA

[Jordi]

I've never bent an axle or even done a half shaft luckily. I can be very hard on it and do have a habit, usually at pay and play of the following.

You know when you all gather round a rarely used obstacle and everyone goes 'you going through then" i always go "i'm gonna give it a go".

Ultimately i do try and be sensible. Regardless of how bomb proof your truck is. None of us want to knacker them while we're out. We don't look to break things only to have to spend time and money repairing things.

I was paranoid for the first bit of greenlaning. For all i'd checked all i could before i went out oil, water, screen wash, wheel nut, fuel lines, axle breathers etc.... If you break down or break sommit you may be miles from anywhere. I like the idea of it being as solid as possible.

I've looked at difflocks before, cost aside i've always decided not to. The additional strain it puts on props and half shafts espcially when your really bogged in well is asking to snap something. I don't do competitions and would rather get a pull if i'm stuck. As sensible off roaders, we are never more than a shout off another off roader whether it be pay n play or laning.

I like the idea of the axle strenghtening just for peace of mind. But surely running over size tyres and wheel spacers i'd probably snap the studs first?

Again as mentioned although axles casings are fairly thick it doesn't take much to over cook em' and end up with a warped axle.

I don't think its some i personally need to consider yet. But if i have time and money later on it may be something i'd get done professionally just for peace of mind.

Cheers for the input. Be nice to see what some others have to say. I'm hoping mike harris responds. From reading his build his truck is going down the bomb proof route and i hope he doesn't take it the wrong way but i imagine him to give his Zuk some hammer.

Thanks
Jordi

[felstmiester]

As you know this was brought up in another post I started. I suppose at the end of the day strengthening your axles ain't gonna hurt, but there's a few things I would question about how it's done.

Firstly, do the trusses that run the length of the axle have to be continuously welded?? Surly if you welded a few inches and missed a few and so on it wouldn't make a lot of difference and would help with getting it to hot and risk warping.
Secondly, is a Zuke really heavy enough to bend axles that often and surly you've got more chance bending an axle if you NOT running spoa because the axle gotta only bend if you bottom out??

Thirdly, if there's anyone out there that's gonna bend an axle it's me!! So how many have you known to bend lol.

[Ricky-410]

I used to have a 413 that was completely standard for off-road use only. It took some cruel abuse (including 4-5 foot of air onto flat a couple of times) but i never had any problems what so ever with the axles, just my back!. At the farm where i kept it there's 2 coiled sammy's one with a 1.7 td and one with a 1.5 td that are very capable trucks in competitions that have never had problems. Also a sammy SPOA with a 1.5 diesel thats never had any problems apart from snapping springs and a 413 with a 1.7 td on standard set up, not having any problems! So personally it's not something i would bother with.

My advice would be to keep your eye out for some cheap axle's, then if you do ever have problems you have spares.

[ScottieJ]

I know a few people who have bent them, if the axle is only slightly bent it's hard to tell by eye, my front axle I'm running at the moment is a bit bent but its getting swapped soon for my strengthened ones.

The main times they bend are if you are running a lot of offset + large tyres as this puts more leverage on the ends and the axle usually bends at the knuckles or outside of the spring perches, doesn't really make much of a difference if you are spua or spoa

Tim pink is a guy who knows all about bending sj axles but then he does race comp safari
http://forum.suzukiclubuk.co.uk/vi ... 22/t,3620/

And yes stitch welding will probably be as effective, however if you don't allow enough time for the axle to cool between each stitch you can still easily warp the axle welding it, I'd rather take my time and fully weld it though.

[Ricky-410]

Tim pink is a guy who knows all about bending sj axles but then he does race comp safari
http://forum.suzukiclubuk.co.uk/vi ... 22/t,3620/

That looks like fun! and a lot of it

[Jordi]

Next time i'm down gary's scrap yard i'll try and get a photo of his comp safari.

All i know is independant suspension. M3 engine.

[felstmiester]

Well I gotta sort out this axle wrap prob before I do anything. Then ill keep my eye out for something to use to gusset my axles. To think I only brought my sj a couple of years ago to have a bit of fun in the snow! The only original part of it now is the shell lol.