Bender for axle?

[Chaser320]

I’m building a t-bucket from CCR plans. I want to try to build everything myself. From those of you that bent/made your own front axle, what bender did you use and any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Spanky]

Welcome Chaser! I admire your spunk in wanting to build your own front axle. The reality is it seems to make more sense to buy one of the aftermarket units with the proper camber and spindle considerations already engineered and done. The only axle bending I have witnessed was done in a friend's garage with a lot of heat and grunt from him (he's a big boy) to straighten out collision damage. I imagine the equipment to bend one to proper shape would be some sort of mandrel bender - pretty expensive. What do you think?

 

[409T]

If you want to save yourself some headache, I bought one custom bent to my specs from Okie Joe's Dropped Axles - Joe's Speed Shop The price was right as well.

 

[Spanky]

Also, Ron Pope (RPM Motorsports) who is one of our sponsors can build you one. He builds axles and front ends for a lot of the nostalgia gassers.

 

[Bill Pedersen]

Hi Chaser320, welcome to the site. I have built a couple of front tube axles for front engine dragsters which are a single bend per side axle somewhat similar to the axle in the CCR plans. I used a JD2 model 4 bender.



It’s a lot of work to only make one for yourself. Besides a bender, you will need access to a milling machine. You will need to build a jig to hold the axle so you can fish mouth the tubing at the proper angle for the kingpin boss. You will also need another fixture to hold the kingpin boss in place while you weld it. The camber is built into the axle and it is not adjustable.

I also like to build everything myself, but I decided to buy my front axle from CCR. (They are also a sponsor of this site.) I like the look of the “S” style bend on the axles which is where there are 2 very close bends per side. Most all of the home shop benders are a Rotary Draw design and you can’t get 2 bends this close together without using a mandrel bender. CCR tig welds their axles and I couldn’t be happier with the one I bought.

Bill

 

[RPM]

Also, Ron Pope (RPM Motorsports) who is one of our sponsors can build you one. He builds axles and front ends for a lot of the nostalgia gassers.

Yes I build a lot of axles for all kinds of T buckets, gassers, and land speed racing cars.

 

[fluidfloyd]

Hi Chaser320, welcome to the site. I have built a couple of front tube axles for front engine dragsters which are a single bend per side axle somewhat similar to the axle in the CCR plans. I used a JD2 model 4 bender.

View attachment 25564

It’s a lot of work to only make one for yourself. Besides a bender, you will need access to a milling machine. You will need to build a jig to hold the axle so you can fish mouth the tubing at the proper angle for the kingpin boss. You will also need another fixture to hold the kingpin boss in place while you weld it. The camber is built into the axle and it is not adjustable.

I also like to build everything myself, but I decided to buy my front axle from CCR. (They are also a sponsor of this site.) I like the look of the “S” style bend on the axles which is where there are 2 very close bends per side. Most all of the home shop benders are a Rotary Draw design and you can’t get 2 bends this close together without using a mandrel bender. CCR tig welds their axles and I couldn’t be happier with the one I bought.

Bill
View attachment 25565View attachment 25566View attachment 25567

 

[fluidfloyd]

That is very good advice Bill. Anyone that builds their on axle will be spending far more than money than you you can buy one from CCR. Just my thoughts on the subject.
George