How strong are Buick axles? anything, around, garage, racing, really

tom

I have the stock '71 rear, narrowed 14" and had the axles resplined at the time to save some bucks. The guys at Dutchman were all over me about how weak the axles were trying to get me to buy a set of their racing axles. They basically said that if I did anything other than roll the car around the garage that I would be risking my life. Are they really that bad? If so, what is a good axle to use that isn't high dollar? BTW the car is fairly light and has a lot of gear (under 3000#'s and 4.56 rear). It does however have huge, heavy tires (32x17.5 Mickey Thompson ET Street).

Seriously, anyone?

I have been low 12's with a 1.75 60' on weak 8.2 axles and that was in a 4000 lb car. the 8.5 axles are stronger and should hold up fairly well.. they have bolt in axles so even if you do break one it wont be catastrophic. I'd run them uintil they break or you are ready to pony up for new ones. I plan on running my stock 3.42 rear with a 500 hp big block..

Mosers can be had for about 300 bucks.They can make them to length as well..Why take a chance??I have too much time invested to have the worry of stock axles in my car, If I decide to really drag my 73 car...I'll get Mosers for it as well. Contact Monzaz on here and ask him for a price. He did extremely well by me.

Hmm, 2 totally opposite views. Anyone else wanna chime in? I will admit that I'm mostly just wanting to do some street driving before the cold comes, but I'm afraid of popping an axle in parking lots because of no differentiation (locked rear) and the certain traction of the giant Mickeys. I won't run it hard down the track until next year when I can get the axles.

you didnt mention the locked rear in your first post.. if you have a spool or welded spiders then your gonna break an axle at some point when turning tight corners.. even with aftermarket axles i wouldnt run a spool on street and would never run a welded rear

Yah well ... Here comes some more opinions...lol.  

I am one of those guys that loves to test STOCK stuff.  I have a race car MONZA that has a stock 10 bolt 8.5 2wd s-10 rear under it .  it has spool and c-clip eliminators and the stock factory axles 30 spline.   I pull the front tires with this rear.  

This is one of those if your willing to take the on the responsablity and hard ships that come with a problem then it is on you.  Any axle can break at anytime.

NOw another opinion too to look at is .... You have a responsability at the track to be careful enough not to cause an accident and take out another person because you desided to go so cheap on some parts that you could have bought for the punishment you know you were going to dish out to your car.

So if you have a light car like a monza or a s-10 short bed truck they may be just fine for a while.  All depends on what your using to launch, what you  are launching at,  the power your car has off the line etc.  

One last opinion... If you are going to buy new axles I hope you will upgrade to at least 30 spline... that will greatly increase the rear strength.  Jim

What size wheel studs are you using? Big tires/locked rearends are really hard on them. You might not spit out an axle (if there bolt in) but if you shear the wheel studs off (and I have seen it happen on a combo like yours) the wheel/tire will do alot of damage in a hurry. Just a thought   

Justa run it and see what happens. No seriously get the MOSER axles and go to a 373 gear and you will solve your traction issues! The torque is blowing away huge drag tires so put some longer legs in it!

Okay, I guess my statement was misleading, or perhaps incomplete. My rear has a locker (Powertrax No Slip Traction System) so it's not fully locked like a spool or welded spiders. When I had street Mickeys (why it blew the tires loose so hard) they would squeal and the car would lurch when parking. That system locks when you give it gas which is why I'm mostly concerned about parking.

I'm not going to give up my gears just yet. The ratio puts me at my target speed through the traps at my target RPM, and my turbo torque with the massive stickies should give me hellacious launches. I'm shooting for 1.7's in the 60'.

I can avoid sharp turns in parking lot situations. There's no way I'm going to risk the safety of myself or others by running it at thr track without stepping up my axles first. I just want to know if it will be safe for some street cruising before I have to put the car away.

Monzaz, do you do any street driving with that S-10 rear with sticky tires. If so, how does it park? That's really all I'm trying to figure out.

Thanks!

They are pretty strong..............I ran 10.60s in 3700 GS with stock 8.5 axles (28 spline) about 100 passes driver side spline twisted bad. Replaced it with a Moser. The pass side survived 500 passes and is still OK with slightly twisted splines.

I guess a better question would be, has anyone ever broken or heard of someone breaking a stock axle by turning sharp with sticky tires? I'm not talking about read it in a magazine once, I mean 1st or 2nd hand experience.


Originally Posted by Justa350I guess a better question would be, has anyone ever broken or heard of someone breaking a stock axle by turning sharp with sticky tires? I'm not talking about read it in a magazine once, I mean 1st or 2nd hand experience.

I would think the tires would slip before the axle broke, especially on the street in a relatively low speed turn.  never heard of broken axles on the street.

Even with jumbo slicks and a Powertrax locker? I have this feeling in my gut that everything would be fine. It's not like I have a full spool or anything. I just remember that the car tends to drag one tire when manuvering in parking lots.

It's embarrassing  when all I'm trying to do is park, but everyone's necks snap as they turn to see who's the moron squealing his tires at a grocery store!  The thought of popping an axle while everyone is staring has me especially concerned!

I'm hoping to sneak the car out for a couple parking lot cruises we have before winter and would be devastated if that happened in front of a bunch of enthusiasts!

Thanks for the input guys. I hope I don't sound like a know nothing, but you know the "I knew this guy that knew this guy that had a cousin that ran slicks on the street with a locker and..." stories.


Originally Posted by Justa350Even with jumbo slicks and a Powertrax locker? I have this feeling in my gut that everything would be fine. It's not like I have a full spool or anything. I just remember that the car tends to drag one tire when manuvering in parking lots.

It's embarrassing  when all I'm trying to do is park, but everyone's necks snap as they turn to see who's the moron squealing his tires at a grocery store!  The thought of popping an axle while everyone is staring has me especially concerned!

I'm hoping to sneak the car out for a couple parking lot cruises we have before winter and would be devastated if that happened in front of a bunch of enthusiasts!

Thanks for the input guys. I hope I don't sound like a know nothing, but you know the "I knew this guy that knew this guy that had a cousin that ran slicks on the street with a locker and..." stories.

I understand , but think about the stress an axle undergoes when you launch the car with good traction at the drag strip.  I'd have a hard time believing some low speed turns in a lot would snap an axle, not unless it was just ready to go anyway.  That's my reasoning, I could be wrong

That's how I feel too. I'll just do it. If it breaks an axle I'll just chalk it up to a gambling loss (I don't normally gamble) and tow it. I just finished building a tow dolly for my father in law. I know he would have no reservations about dragging me home.

I've run a spool with stock axles and slicks. Going around corners in the pits didn't break an axle.....

A tip I've learned is that if you don't screw slicks to the rims then on a hard hit the tire will slip slightly on the rim, preventing a broken axle. Acts as a cushion. Works for me.....
I never broke an axle until I screwed the slicks......