Model A & B
Ford Garage
Reproduction Rear Axle Shaft
Pictured above is the currently available reproduction rear axle shaft recently reported by John Cannon.
Original Ford axle shafts were machined from a one piece steel forging. Apparently some supplier thought a knock-off reproduction made from two pieces and welded together would be okay. Not!
The repro above is made of two pieces pressed together and kinda-sorta welded together on the end into one piece. After you drive on it for a little while though, it is no longer kinda-sorta welded, and is no longer one piece. Then you can look for your wheel, tire, brake drum and shaft somewhere on the side of the road!
It should have been possible to engineer a reliable two-piece axle shaft assembly, but this one does not meet the reliability requirement!
Moral of the story: Spend your time and money looking for a good original axle shaft. Even NOS Ford axles can still be found typically for $150 - $200 each if you ask around.
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June 2008