[Tigers] Tigers Digest, Vol 12, Issue 14

[Tom Hall]

On 2/13/2020 11:50 AM, Joe Brown via Tigers wrote:
> Has anyone ever replaced their two-piece rear axles with one-piece 
> axles?  The guy at the axle shop I am working with says he thinks he 
> can get one-piece axles made to replace what I have.  I was just 
> wondering if anybody has ever gone down this route.
>
> Thanks,
> Joe Brown
>
Dear Joe,

The problem with your potential solution is that the Tiger 
(Salisbury-Dana 44) uses tapered axle bearings and these bearing are 
supposed to be "set up" with shims which control the "end clearance" 
from axle to axle.  One piece axles normally use ball bearings which do 
not need "shimming" because the ball style bearings don't need or use 
shims.  Since the bearing assembly would have to be put on the axle from 
the center, a method of retaining the bearing on the inside would be 
required.  A retainer groove would certainly reduce axle strength in a 
critical area, so a press-on retainer would be the other obvious way to 
hold the axle from sliding out under side loads.  Sounds like a lot of 
set up time and very unsafe to me.  You can always switch to a different 
axle/housing system such as a narrowed 9" Ford.  Others have done that, 
but your looking at a lot more work than replacing hubs and axles.

I'd recommend you stick with the OEM system.

-- 
Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
5712 San Luis Court
Pleasanton, CA 94566
modtiger at comcast.net
(925)462-3876
www.tigerengineering.net