[Tigers] Tiger D44 Rear Axle

[Tom Witt]

Being that I have a Studebaker side to my car life I am somewhat familiar 
with the Studebaker offerings.  From what I understand the Dana 44 was only 
offered with the one piece axle in the 1965 and 1966 "Lark types". The bolt 
pattern was 5 X 4-1/2". This was the only car Studebaker offered in those 
years and they were all made in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  Studebaker last 
sold cars in 1966 and the '65-'66 cars were somewhat limited in production 
numbers.

Tom

-----Original Message----- 
From: Buck Trippel
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:20 AM
To: Sandy ; tigers at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger D44 Rear Axle

Sandy,

You've brought up an area that was possibly addressed in 1965.

I have a few questions that have been nagging me for years: Has anyone ever
seen the LAT 43 rear safety hubs?  Were they ever built? My guess is that
they werenbt but I really don't know.

Aside from supposedly widening the track 1 1/2", they seem to be a bolt on
piece for the Dana 44 that mimic the Doane Spencer Dana 23 that was
homologated and used in the HSC and SCF Tigers.

Doane welded the ends off an AH 3000 onto a Dana 23 housing from a
Studebaker. The result was a full floating axle with a one piece axle. I had
a pair of axles made for it over 12 years ago and those are still running
great with many thousands of high G racing miles. The advantage of the full
floating design is that if the axle were to fail the wheel would not
separate from the car. The LAT 43 piece looks like it would bolt onto the
Dana 44 Tiger housing but take the outer pieces (bearings, seals) from the
AH.

Aside from never having seen any LAT 43s, I'm surprised (as far as I know)
that some machinists haven't built their own. Any volunteers?

The stock Tiger rear end axle design has "bugged" racers since inception.
Last Saturday Ted Sutton stopped by the Tiger pits at Willow. (For those not
familiar with Ted, he was the crew chief on the Shelby American race Tiger.
He also built the first 427 Cobra.) His first question was, "Are these
Tigers still using that silly two piece axle design with a key way?" We told
him most are. He just shook his head.

bt




-----Original Message----- 
From: Sandy
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 11:15 PM
To: tigers at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Tiger D44 Rear Axle

Didn't make it back to the list when I copied Tom...

On 5/13/2014 9:46 AM, Sandy wrote:
> Thanks for the info Tom -
>
> No matter what in my grand scheme I will have to make some axles, so I'm 
> taking that out of the equation ;)
>
> I have a few options that I was tossing around -
>
> 1. Swap axles and bearings to make a regular D44 and use a brake adapter 
> for rear discs (Studebaker fellow makes some)
> 2. Remove the axle ends and replace with Ford 9" (common jeep trick) so 
> any common 9" rear brake kit can be used
> 3. Dump the D44 and toss in a 9", I have potentially a connection with one 
> that was cut to size for a tiger.
>
> Option 1 seems off the table as it will require new housing ends anyway
> Option 2 seems better as I have a rear late model Cobra kit that will work 
> with 9" small bearing housing
> Option 3 seems good as the 9" is stronger and lighter but will have to 
> follow up on this to see what it really is.
>
> For the D44, rebuild kit trutrac (torsen style) gear etc
> For the 9" have gear, rebuild kit, aluminum drop out, no carrier
>
> For the axles I will be switching them to a 5 bolt ford pattern to match 
> the front end.
>
> Sandy
>
> On 5/13/2014 12:25 AM, Tom Hall wrote:
>> On 5/12/2014 2:50 PM, Sandy wrote:
>>> Quick question on the axles in the tiger. Can the 2 piece axles be 
>>> replaced with single piece? Are the housing and bearings in the ends 
>>> conventional D44 sized parts?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Sandy
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> tigers at autox.team.net
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>> I think what you are asking is: Can you install flanged axles (like a 
>> Ford 9") in a Dana 44 Housing.  The answer is yes, but you will need to 
>> change the outer portion of the axle housing to the same ball bearing 
>> style, with the retainers and brakes, or the retainers and some rear disk 
>> kit.  The ball bearings will negate the need ( and require removal) for 
>> the two mushroom spacers in the center of the carrier used with taper 
>> bearings. I don't know if a ball bearing size exists that will fit into 
>> the taper bearing hole.  Most Dana 44 ball bearing housings have 
>> different length axles, and most are a lot longer than the Tiger axles. 
>> This likely means custom forged axles will be required. Sounds like a lot 
>> of work and expense for very little gain.  I also don't know of a flanged 
>> axle with the 4 on 4.25 bolt pattern for a Dana 44. Never explored this 
>> path.