narrowing ford axle advice

[trikerdrew]

hi guys,

chopped reliant axles up to narrow them.

How hard is it to do a ford axle?

Want the trike about three foot wide from outside of tyres.

Any specific one best to start with?Please don't say rs or mexico cause they're silly money.

cheers

Drew

[v8_trike]

Hi Drew,

Fairly easy to do, just the usual case of going daft with the grinder and taking off the flanges, shorten tubes to suit, then weld back up!

what power will you be putting through it? if its for a bike engine or small bhp car motor trike you will be ok to cut the driveshafts, and sleeve them, for big power outputs its better to get the shafts re splined. (Ive got a pair of brackets to convert to discs if you need em)

[Mitch]

here y'are! :D


on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-CAPRI-ESCORT-REAR-AXLE_W0QQitemZ230224522068QQihZ013QQcategoryZ27377 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

[trikerdrew]

A couple of things.

First cheers for answering.

Maybe we have crossed wires Dave.I'm on about a rigid axle not one of them new fangle sierra jobbies.Like the ebay link Mitch provided(ta).

Wouldn't it be easier to cut tube portion,shorten then jig it and weld up?Have I missed the bleedin' obvious.

Seeing how you asked the power is being provided by a gsx1100G motor with gsxr cams/carbs.Extra weight of axle should come in handy :D

Drew

[johnzxr750]

have you thought about suzuki grand vitara they have supposedly good ratios and if its a suzuki trike youre still in keeping with genuine parts also honda have goood axles if youre checking the breakers the older accords are quite cheap tho i dont know what theyre like for shortening good luck

[v8_trike]

have you thought about suzuki grand vitara they have supposedly good ratios and if its a suzuki trike youre still in keeping with genuine parts also honda have goood axles if youre checking the breakers the older accords are quite cheap tho i dont know what theyre like for shortening good luck


Agree John, wife drives a grand vitara, good ratio axle for a trike (good top end too) and fat box alloys nice and cheap too..

Drew, its a lot easier grinding the flanges off than cutting the tubes, you guarantee a good weld when welding the flange back on, you should be ok to just sleeve the shafts using the 1100 motor too.

[Mitch]

All you need Drew mate, is a ford escort MkIII (probably something a bit newer, but still escort) axle and a pair of TVR wheels. Absolutely perfect gear ratio... :D

Propelled a CX500 trike at silly speeds back in the early 90s - belonged to an ex club-mate of mine.

Flippin'eck, that axle I posted about yesterday is still £31!! Get your skates on Drew!! :eek:

[trikerdrew]

mk1 an 2 escort rear wheel drive 3 on front wheel drive :o

Yeah,Dave chopping flanges sounds ok when you put it like that.

Hey John is the Grand vitara that metallic pink thing with wheels a foot wide. :eek: OMG want those wheels.

4x4 axles any tougher than standard to narrow?Trying to make my life as easy as poss by planning everything before lifting a grinder :D

cheers

Drew

[v8_trike]

Ive got a lada axle on the trike Drew, been 100% reliable for the last 9 years! (thats with 150hp from the V6 through it and some drag race starts too) so if your not bothered about choice of axle, I can recommend one, though theyre not as easy to find as they used to be...

[trikerdrew]

Yeah Dave Lada axles are tough as.Few folk put fiat 131 supermirrorfiori(SP?Super dooper twin cam 16 valve jobbies) engines in 'em and a couple put venerable rover v8 in to and kept axle stock :eek:

Volvo are used for some hot rods cuz of strength and price compared to yank 9" ones.

Think once I have front end and elecrics done at dry build stage start looking at scrapyards .Round here I am spoilt for choice must be twenty in ten miles.Never know what might jump out at me.End of day comes down to availability.

Solid axles are getting harder to source as most cars are fwd and/or have walter softy IRS.Yep,I can't be bothered making up arms :rolleyes:

cheers

Drew

[Blackjack]

So......

I take it you aint been reading Trike Torque then?

:D

[trikerdrew]

thankyou for your interest in my reading trike articles in 100%.I can assure you that I have been reading them and can confirm your axle thing was interesting,but not what I am trying to achieve here.

Solid axle narrowing as per original question, is what I was on about.

Oh aye,what about an article on knocking out some slab yokes.Proper slabs as you covered the tube type things a while back.

Can't blame a chap for asking,can you?

Drew

[devon-tony]

So......

I take it you aint been reading Trike Torque then?

:D

LOL Im still confused by that, a rigid rear end with IRS bits in it???

but they are easier to narrow, so perhaps it makes sense

[Blackjack]

LOL Im still confused by that, a rigid rear end with IRS bits in it???

but they are easier to narrow, so perhaps it makes sense


Easier to find too.

Plus the diff doesn't have to be at the same height as the hubs, which lowers the CofG a bit and means you can build a shorter trike, all other things being equal.

Drew,

An Escort axle, is an Escort axle. The only difference is diff ratio (think they range from 4.11 for an 1100 Mk 1 van, to around 2.5 for an RS 2000) and the brake size (8" or 9* drums) as far as I remember.

http://www.hauserracing.com/

Those guys would probably be able to tell you about narrowing them. :D

[Mitch]

Shame you didn't want the axle a year ago Drew, I had my old escort van sat outside the house after the cambelt snapped on the way home from work.

It went to that great scrappy in the sky after that... :(

[trikerdrew]

How do.

Hate scrapping vans they are just so bleedin' usefull for humping stuff about.Car is being used for a van at mo-full of firewood.Surprising how much will fit if you take seats out :D

Van scrapping should be illegal.Should get a green grant of gov to keep them runnin' :cool:

drew