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Ask A Pro \  Shortening CV axles?

Shortening CV axles?

Ask A Pro Q & A
views 10048
replies 16
following 9
 
selfbuiltrods   +1y
Do you happen to know the proper way to shorten a cv axle for an irs? Thanks in advance.
bdydrppup   +1y
i know you can have new axles made. curious bout shortening too
BioMax   +1y
On a rarely used, low horsepower vehicle, you can cut and shorten the axles at home, but if you plan on driving the vehicle for any length of time you really should have axles made. RCVperformance.com can make you new axles for a very fair price, cheap enough that it's not worth trying to shorten your own.
selfbuiltrods   +1y
Thank you, sir.
bodydropped85   +1y
i think a drive shaft shop should be able to do it also...
20runner   +1y
I paid $750 to have my Lincoln Mark VIII (thunderbird) axles lengthened 3 inches. That includes new STOCK cv's, boots, etc. The Driveshaft Shop made them for me, There was no core charge. Did I get ripped off??
Originally, I had Phoenix Rack and Axle out here in Arizona lengthen them by sleeving them and they broke with 200 miles on them under a 230 hp car. After seeing what they did, I could have saved the $270 they charged me, the $200 for the reman. axles I purchased so they wouldn't have to work with dirty parts, etc., and done it myself!!! All they did was mill down the 1 1/8" axles to about 3/4" for only about 1/2" each way and pressed, (loosely) a piece of DOM over it and ran a bead all the way around, eventhough they said they were also going to plug weld it. When it broke, the weld stuck to the solid axle but broke cleanly off the tube, like it never penetrated it. I called and bitched and they wouldn't even look at it cuz it was a custom application and not warrantied. I told them there craftsmanship is what failed, and they told me to fuck off and hung up the phone, a55holes.

So ultimately I tried to save $200 and get it down locally for about $500 with everything, and then had to spend the $750 to get them done right. I STRONGLY recommend checking out the companies craftsmanship and search them out on internet.

Anyways, now I have some axles at home that would be the perfect canidates to practice on, if anyone is interested.....
2lowtoy   +1y
When my buddie did the supra IRS in his taco he had a machine shop make some for him just gave them the old shafts and said make this 2" shorter. I think he paid them 700.00 bux that was 3 yrs ago
20runner   +1y
I think shortening them would be easier, stronger, and safer since you wouldn't have a hollow tube and gap between the 2 pieces like mine did from lengthening them. Then when you sleeve them, you can plug weld them a bunch of times and run a bead on the edges... I might take my axles and shorten them to fit under the Blazer, which I think I'd have to shorten 3 inches from stock. I'm just afraid of them binding up from them angle change during suspension travel and also on a T-bird irs, the arms would then be longer than the axles, which might also cause problems. Cutting 3 out of a t-bird axle looks pretty Short to me. We'll see..........................
AVTekk   +1y
I shortened mine for my Mark VIII rear, but mainly just for mock up to see what the stroke and limit was. I did them on a lathe, and sleeved it with DOM and TIGed the hell out of em. Not sure about driving on them tho, I always planned to get new ones made when the time came, so thanks for the link.

20runner   +1y
AVTEKK, how much did you shorten them and how much articulation (how much lift from binding up) did you get from them? I just went in garage and it looks like if I shortened them 3 inches, there would only be about 2-3 inches of shaft between boots. Are you using the Mark VIII suspension geometry, or making new arms, etc., etc.??