making your own axle.....

[MassTrike]

since t3 axles are almost imposible to find, if i brought my stocker to a machine shop, do you think they could replicate it, but in a 2+2 form. Has anyone has this done before, would they use stainless steel?

[deathman53]

I know a guy that made a axle for his son's e-ton 50, it was +5 or something. I don't see why not, its gonna cost alot, also you gotta use the same stuff the stock one is made from, and they have to heat treat it too, so its gonna be hard and resist bending.

[Billy Golightly]

I've investigated this pretty extensively lately. I've came to the conclusion that:

If you want original splines for the wheel hubs and sprocket/brake hubs it will not be worth it do anything less then a 150 in production run. You will have to get a custom made spline broach to correctly cut these, and I'm 99.9% sure you would have to get a different one for the wheel and brake/sprocket hubs. These broaches would cost somewheres around $3500-$4000 a piece with a 14 week waiting time on one place I checked. So, I concluded if you want to use original metric splines where everything will fit right back on it...its not cost effective.

One other method I have been investigating is instead of using splines, use keyways. Due to the nature of them though, I'm not positive how this would effect the strength of the axle in areas where it would have to be notched out for one. Not to mention all the hubs would have to be totally custom made or modified to work.

I think Hagen can hook you up with some as he knows someone with the tooling, but it'll run you a pretty shiny penny.

[TTribaLL]

If they have a metal lathe(I don't know how they would make the splines), or one of those machines that makes rims and such...then yes, I'm sure.

But it'll cost ya $$$ ;)

[MTS]

why not just make the hubs with some big *** bolts going throgh them and the axel to hold it on? or there is reverse threding too....it dosnt seem to horribly complicated to me,...but i know a guy with a lath so im kida lucky lol, but you can make hubs and just use diffrent wider more standard hubs on it too, as long as the bolt spacin is correct, i dont see why you would have to go oem....the hardes part about makin the axel i would think would be makeing shure it is balanced properly so it dosnt shake like s SOB

[Billy Golightly]

Durablue uses a pin system in their X-33 line of axles, which is kind of what your talking about. That wont work with the sprocket and brake disc hubs though. I guess you could always weld them on :p

[MTS]

what am i misisng hear?? why wouldent it work with the sprocket and disc??? it should just slide over on the shaft like a normal bike, the way im thinking of it.....

[Billy Golightly]

Because unlike the wheel hub where you have 2 inches or so of open area where you can drill a hole and put a pin through, the sprocket and brake disc hubs have their mounts in the center of them with less then a half inch extruding on each side. I guess you COULD do it, but it wouldn't be held by much.

[Studytime]

I've investigated this pretty extensively lately. I've came to the conclusion that:

If you want original splines for the wheel hubs and sprocket/brake hubs it will not be worth it do anything less then a 150 in production run. You will have to get a custom made spline broach to correctly cut these, and I'm 99.9% sure you would have to get a different one for the wheel and brake/sprocket hubs. These broaches would cost somewheres around $3500-$4000 a piece with a 14 week waiting time on one place I checked. So, I concluded if you want to use original metric splines where everything will fit right back on it...its not cost effective.

One other method I have been investigating is instead of using splines, use keyways. Due to the nature of them though, I'm not positive how this would effect the strength of the axle in areas where it would have to be notched out for one. Not to mention all the hubs would have to be totally custom made or modified to work.

I think Hagen can hook you up with some as he knows someone with the tooling, but it'll run you a pretty shiny penny.

Well, I have a few comments, you could also mail your axle off to get the correct slines cut on it. I'm sure someone in the country already has the correct cutter to machine these splines. However, finding that person may be impossible. Do you know what the spline dimensions are?


I know a guy that made a axle for his son's e-ton 50, it was +5 or something. I don't see why not, its gonna cost alot, also you gotta use the same stuff the stock one is made from, and they have to heat treat it too, so its gonna be hard and resist bending.

Also, if you anneal/quench/age/etc. steel to improve hardness it WILL NOT make it tougher (resist "bending" or any other sort of deformation). I'm sure deathman knows this, but his post is a little confusing how it is currently worded. After all, we now have glasses that are harder than some steels, but you'd never want to make, say a car bumper out of it because it's not as "tough" (insert engineering definition of 'tough').

No offense,
Studytime

[MTS]

ahh i see what you mean, you could use a key way with one of them hubs that slides over the axel and then bolts to the sproket...........i think....if i get what you are sayin,....excuse me if im wrong, im a little slow tonight,,lol

[Studytime]

The factory setup has a lot of surface area in contact between the hub and axle. If you just slide the hub on and pin it in place, then all you have to do is shear the pin and you're done for the day.

Also, you could calculate if four or five keyways would be as tough as the splines, but I doubt it. You'd also have to worry about 10 keyways trying to fall out.

If I was in a pinch, I'm machine an axle to where they fit on splines that were readily available. You would also have to get your hub made to for this to work- or find a spline/hub arrangement you could use aftermarket hubs on and you could get splines cut for. The machince shop would just have to have a broach to cut the threads on the inside of the hubs and also a cutter that would make the matching threads on your new axle.

Hmmm...

Studytime

[MTS]

......yes i see what your mean about shearin....on the hubs....just get a bigger bolt!...lol also, both sides wouldent have to have a pin, just one, and if was like a high strength steel, like the durablue axels i dont see why it wouldent work, if all elses falis, break out the welder..lol j/k

[Billy Golightly]

Well, I have a few comments, you could also mail your axle off to get the correct slines cut on it. I'm sure someone in the country already has the correct cutter to machine these splines. However, finding that person may be impossible. Do you know what the spline dimensions are?



Also, if you anneal/quench/age/etc. steel to improve hardness it WILL NOT make it tougher (resist "bending" or any other sort of deformation). I'm sure deathman knows this, but his post is a little confusing how it is currently worded. After all, we now have glasses that are harder than some steels, but you'd never want to make, say a car bumper out of it because it's not as "tough" (insert engineering definition of 'tough').

No offense,
Studytime

Yup, if someone already has that spline broach you could. http://www.ashgear.com/ is where I got most of my information. I never called anyone and talked to them because I know custom tooling is insanely expensive and I wouldnt be doing anything but wasting their time since I cannot afford to buy it. I do not know the spline measurements, but is something that would have to be found out. Honestly if it came down to it I'd just cut the end off of an old bent axle and send it to them and tell them this is what I want to cut.

Another option for the splines would be an endmill the same size as the space inbetween each spline (Which I can assure is VERY VERY small) and a rotary table on a milling machine. That would probably be more trouble then its worth. I think keyways are the best way to go and maybe pins for the wheel hubs.

[MassTrike]

LOL now that i know how much those broaches are i think ill just wait till an axle comes my way. Thanks for the input guys, i would have made a donkey out of myself if i just went to a shop and said "here make this" i think the sound of 4g's kicked my patients level up a few notches.

[Billy Golightly]

LOL now that i know how much those broaches are i think ill just wait till an axle comes my way. Thanks for the input guys, i would have made a donkey out of myself if i just went to a shop and said "here make this" i think the sound of 4g's kicked my patients level up a few notches.

I got that figure from a few people on a machinest forum where I posted a similar topic a few weeks ago-so it might be inaccurate, its just what I was told. If your really interested count up the number of splines on your axle and get the diameter, give ash gear a call and see what they say.

[Howdy]

You could Hob the splines on also. We have 5 or 6 gear hobs at my job. I can't use them for personal use though. I was looking at getting some axles made and ask one of the guys that runs the gear hobs ( that is what we call them ). He told me with the correct gear cutter you could cut splines on a axle without any problems.
Howdy

[Curtis-Tecate3]

Someone has a stockpile of axles for the Tecate. I talked to someone a few years ago and need to remember who it was that bought a bunch of old inventory of axles that used to have a lifetime warranty. Maybe Axcaliber. Anyway that is not he question.
Someone asked about building an axle. If memory serves I am sure that Hagen in Germany has built his own for the 2nd Gen Tecate. I dont remember if he posted it on this board or if it was a personal email but he has done it.

Curtis.

[Blown 331]

I have an axle from a 1984 Tecate. I could lengthen it. Mite cost like $100 to $150 though.