shortining axle how 2 measure b4 sending axle 2 machinist

it is a 3/4 ton silverado 8 lug with 22 x 9.5 10 inch wide wheels i am wondering how i should measure it 2 get final measurement b4 shortinig the axles and housing? also how should i weld my axle into place b 4 making my 4 link like centering the axle i got the truk wit no leaf springs on it so i wanna make sure it is true 2 thaa truk b4 i start does ne one have ne answers at all thank u 4 tha help people

usually if you measure from the splines inward towards the hub there will be a line or a ridge that you can use as a reference point. Then you would just tell the machinist to cut the shaft down ie: 3 inches (equal to half of whatever you are narrowing the rear end, remember if you narrow it 3" overall each axle will only need to be cut down 1 1/2"s )and re-spline the shaft and cut the slot fo the C-clip retainer (if you have one on yours)

i also mean the housing should i but a straight edge down from the side of fender measure from there ?

Edited: 4/25/2006 6:36:56 PM by BIGRIGZ

OH, i would probably take the axle out or take the rear wheels off and lay the truck out with no rear end or no rear wheels so that you have room and measure the height of the tires and then measure the width between the rear fenders at the height of the rear tires. Oh, and BTW don't try to get it to the exact inch. you'll prolly want to leave about at least 1" clearance from the top outside of the tire to the bedside on each side so that in the future if you run different tires/rims etc. you'll still have room.....

measure the side to side width of the wheels mounted on the axle(the absolute widest point including any tire hangover). than figure out how high its gonna go into the wheel well and measure the side to side where it needs to travel to in the wheel wells/quarters. than just just shorten it to fit in between. for example my wheels installed in the axle were 66" wide and the quarter curved in to 63" where they would finally rest laid out. so i took two inches off each side for a total width of 62 which gave me enough room to fit my tubs against the quarters. shortening your axle an extra 1/2" or so on each side isnt a bad idea just to be sure everything is gonna fit perfect and give you more room for wider widths in the future if necessary. i did it this way on my cutlass and got it perfect. also sometimes depending on the style of the axle they cant machine them down. mine were the this way so i just bought moser axles (super beef cake and any length you need) they ran me 360 for both sides. C-clips suck (can fail with very bad results) so if you end up having to switch out axles also have them weld a new ends on the axle to eliminate the c-clips (not very expensive). i paid 1050 for new moser axles,ford 9 inch style axle ends (eliminates c-clips and has supper beefy bearings), wilwood four piston rear discs, and all the labor. also if the place your getting your axle done at offers a c-clip eliminator kit dont get it because they are infamous for leaking on frequently driven vehicle (this is why i did the ford axle ends instead) hope any of that helps.

thanx people u guys r da shit ne more help is appreciated

if i plan on body droppin at a lter time should i shortin tha axthe most i need 2 i would hate 2 do this twice

i just dont want the wheel 2 far into the wheel well