School me on axle cs and gussets
03-14-2013, 01:14 PM
#11
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Axle reinforcement options
Good information in this thread. If I may add a little bit more. Axles can be reinforced in a number of ways...
Sleeving reinforcement can be done in two ways. Internal sleeves are inserted into the axle housing and increase the "thickness" of the housing between the housing and the axle. Some manufactures of internal sleeves are: Rock-Slide Engineering, Poly Performance, Tereflex, Iron Rock, EVO, and Nitro. I believe all but the Nitro require holes to be drilled in the housing then plug welding the sleeve to the axle tubes. The Nitro is pressed/(pounded) into place using friction of a precision fit. Nitro sleeves are preferred by some as they have a slightly larger I.D (resulting in a thinner wall thickness) that is just large enough to allow use of 35 spline axles.
An alternate method is to sleeve the outside of the housing. Rock Slide Engineering has an outer sleeve kit. This increases the "thickness" of the axle tube by adding material to the external or outside of the tubing.
Gusseting is installed at least on the upper sections of the "C" where the "C" is the weakest. However, gussets can be installed on the lower section as well . There are two options for these. Solid flat (and thick) gussets are available through Rock Slide, Terraflex, JKS, TMR, and Pure Jeep. The other option is thinner gauge metal that is formed into a "U" shape and is welded in place on both sides of the "U" channel of the gusset to the outer edges of the "C" section. This style can be obtained through, Poly Performance, Iron Rock, Nitro, and EVO.. Some users have stated that part of the "U" section can interfere with the speed sensor (when the wheels are fully turned to the steering stop) while others have not experienced (or expressed) this.
Trusses (reinforce the entire axle tube assembly and are welded to the "pumkin" and typically to each side of the housing) are available from Pure Jeep and Artec.
The topic of how much reinforcement is enough has been discussed numerous times with almost as many opinions. However, all agree that running larger tires should include at least some reinforcement and how "extreme" you wheel should be taken into consideration. Obviously, if you haven't bent your axle you are OK. However, if you have bent it, the reinforcement installed was not enough.
Larger tires is a bit like swinging a hammer using a longer handle.
My $.02 worth, ah what the heck, make it a nickle
KG6SLC aka Eugene
Sleeving reinforcement can be done in two ways. Internal sleeves are inserted into the axle housing and increase the "thickness" of the housing between the housing and the axle. Some manufactures of internal sleeves are: Rock-Slide Engineering, Poly Performance, Tereflex, Iron Rock, EVO, and Nitro. I believe all but the Nitro require holes to be drilled in the housing then plug welding the sleeve to the axle tubes. The Nitro is pressed/(pounded) into place using friction of a precision fit. Nitro sleeves are preferred by some as they have a slightly larger I.D (resulting in a thinner wall thickness) that is just large enough to allow use of 35 spline axles.
An alternate method is to sleeve the outside of the housing. Rock Slide Engineering has an outer sleeve kit. This increases the "thickness" of the axle tube by adding material to the external or outside of the tubing.
Gusseting is installed at least on the upper sections of the "C" where the "C" is the weakest. However, gussets can be installed on the lower section as well . There are two options for these. Solid flat (and thick) gussets are available through Rock Slide, Terraflex, JKS, TMR, and Pure Jeep. The other option is thinner gauge metal that is formed into a "U" shape and is welded in place on both sides of the "U" channel of the gusset to the outer edges of the "C" section. This style can be obtained through, Poly Performance, Iron Rock, Nitro, and EVO.. Some users have stated that part of the "U" section can interfere with the speed sensor (when the wheels are fully turned to the steering stop) while others have not experienced (or expressed) this.
Trusses (reinforce the entire axle tube assembly and are welded to the "pumkin" and typically to each side of the housing) are available from Pure Jeep and Artec.
The topic of how much reinforcement is enough has been discussed numerous times with almost as many opinions. However, all agree that running larger tires should include at least some reinforcement and how "extreme" you wheel should be taken into consideration. Obviously, if you haven't bent your axle you are OK. However, if you have bent it, the reinforcement installed was not enough.
Larger tires is a bit like swinging a hammer using a longer handle.
My $.02 worth, ah what the heck, make it a nickle
KG6SLC aka Eugene
Last edited by KG6SLC; 03-14-2013 at 01:17 PM. Reason: spelling
