rear axles

Wilkinson had billet axles made and was selling them on special at way under (like half price) the rest of the vendors for a while.

I haven't seen any feedback on quality nor am I sure what they currently sell for, but here is an old thread discussing them.

http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9550045562...420024245#2420024245

Julian

I was just in touch with Wilkinson and the axles are going on sale around Feb 1. I think they are a great buy

I checked out Wilkinson and there on offer at excellent $387 a pair complete with nuts. What I am not sure is there strength as they are hollow and call me old school I just cant see them been as strong as a solid forged unit, so its kind of putting me off and leaning towards paying big bucks from Williams at around high $770. At the end of the day if these break your going to shred a wheel big style and thats serious any comments?,John (Panterauk).
The shafts I have are fitted wrong anyway it looks as if there both the same and one should be a left hand thread for the passenger side if thats correct? both are L/h units although the nuts took a good 550lbs before they moved!!!.

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both the same

As you noted, with the high torque needed, the left hand/right hand thread issue is truly not an issue.

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What I am not sure is there strength as they are hollow and call me old school I just cant see them been as strong as a solid forged unit

Actually, I've been told the hollow are stronger in torsional strength. As for snapping them off at the hub, perhaps solid would give more strength. But while some of the stock hollow units have snapped in this fashion, the Wilkinson units, being 35 years newer are sure going to be a lot stronger than what you currently have.

Larry

Thats good advice Larry although the ones I have just pulled are solid so its obviously had some axles changed during its life, however dont know if there billet or forged no markings at all on either. I did intend to have the bad one metal sprayed and then re-ground someone said its a good way to repair a shaft if its just marginal wear?, John.

Hello John,
All this depends on how you will drive the car,

I have a original set in the car and they have lasted fine for all these years but,

I'm gearing the car up for some serious HP & Open road Racing so I am sliding to the Other end of the spectrum of obtaining the best availible, in my opinion that would be the Mark Williams Enterprise's Axle's. At 180mph you don't want any surprises. Many of the vendors acquire there Parts from suspicious sourse's,
Some in Mexico, and this leads one to wonder about the make up of the metal you are depending on! So with this in mind the one source you can assure you self with is the Williams axle's, http://www.markwilliams.com/

Mark

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Many of the vendors acquire there Parts from suspicious source's,

In all candor, since Wilkinson hasn't divulged where his new stub axles are coming from, it is quite a stretch to apply that thinking to his axles.

And when good old USA firms can ship off peanut butter that has tested positive for potentially fatal salmonella, I'm sadly not sure ANY vendor's source can be fully trusted.

That said, the MWE axles are known to have a great prior history of being quality parts.

Any one care to speculate about how the quality of the ORIGINAL, now thirty years-old, sourced from who-knows-where, De Tomaso axles compares to the current, brand new, sourced from who-knows-where, Wilkinson axles?

Larry

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I did intend to have the bad one metal sprayed and then re-ground someone said its a good way to repair a shaft if its just marginal wear?,

Jack De Ryke has often mentioned this option as being acceptable.

How much will that cost you? How much vs. new axles from Wilkinson? 30 years old axles vs. brand new axles?

And of course, the other vendors also have their axle offerings. You might call them, too.

I'm not sure there is THE correct answer to this topic.

Just be well-informed and feel secure with the solution you choose.

Larry

AS someone mentioned, how you intend to drive will dictate the stub axle best for you. A PROPERLY welded. metal-sprayed or hard-chromed and reground axle will be as strong as a stocker and fit its bearings properly. A Wilkinson EN-19 replacement axle will be stronger, and a billet 4130-axle will be strongest- if you really need that much strength. In my experience, the only stub axles that break are those on cars where gigantic sticky rear tires are mounted, then driven hard at track events for long periods. Gumball racing tires will also break stock axles fairly quickly. And what separates is the axle flange from the shaft. Billet axles have triple-thickness flanges with a bigger radius, so pro-racers successfully use these. They have solid shafts, as someone mentioned, and are quite a bit heavier than stock but do accept stock bearings. If you're not racing weekly, a stock or especially a current replacement axle will work just fine, as long as its a press-fit into the bearings! Most original axles were loose fits into their bearings, which allowed the hard bearing races to work on the softer steel shafts. Finally, if you were curious, tapered bearings do not need a press-fit on the axle; in fact, its detrimental to the ease of working on them. Sealing issues, successfully locking the axle nut to the shaft at only 5-15 ft-lbs of torque needed by tapered bearings is problematic, and the auxilliary parts necessary to successfully run such bearings make these a poor choice for most Panteras. They eat a little more horsepower, and need periodic regreasing, too- just like front wheel bearings.

Well in all cases I ordered a set off Wilkinson which are on there way over here at some point in time. Also I have just had my axles returned from metal spraying and I have to say look just as new, well impressed.
Couple this to the wider bearings fitted and were back to the road. Total price to do the job of metal spraying and re-grinding £80 or around $140 now thats not bad at all, John(panterauk).

Can you elaborate on the metal spray solution? It looks like my axles have some damage where the outer bearing contacts the axle. I am thinking it is the cause of some minor play in the assembly after new bearings were installed. If that is the case, then metal spray and grind is a more practical solution than new axles. Thanks.

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Can you elaborate on the metal spray solution?

Heard of it, never used it.

I imagine you'll just have to start making some phone calls. Somewhere in the Tustin area is a machine shop that either does it or knows who does.

You might start with an engine rebuilder or a driveline shop??

Larry

A quick Google of 'metal spraying' will bring up pages with technical content on how it is done. There are various methods of heating and spraying the metal.

Add 'Tustin' to the search and quite an extensive list of shops with metal spraying in your area is available.

I have been able to find at least one shop in my area that does this type of work. Thank you for your suggestions.

I am hoping to hear from John about the intricacies of getting the work done such as finished size of the axles or materials used in the process.

Thanks, Steve

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Originally posted by SteveBuchanan:
Can you elaborate on the metal spray solution? It looks like my axles have some damage where the outer bearing contacts the axle. I am thinking it is the cause of some minor play in the assembly after new bearings were installed. If that is the case, then metal spray and grind is a more practical solution than new axles. Thanks.

Well Steve my axles were badly worn the inner race had spun on the inner bearing. As far as I can make out they spin the shaft between centres on a special machine and spray or fire white hot in my case stainless steel sparks onto the area until its built up to a good base then simply re grind it back on a grinder to fit the 40 mm bearing either way it looks as if its new and its a great way to save your shafts at a sensible price dont you think, regards John(panterauk).