redrilling axles

[mshred]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anybody has ever redrilled their axles. I have a small bolt pattern 8-3/4 a-body housing available to me and it has the small bolt pattern axles. The wheels i want dont come in that size, so i was wondering if i could redrill the stock axles. Has anybody ever done this before? What is involved in the process and does everything stay concentric after? pics would be good too.

[Jim_Lusk]

Yes, it has been done and will probably last, BUT anytime you may need to replace drums they will need to be drilled out and the drums are difficult to find. Either go with aftermarket axles or shortened/resplined c-body axles and big bolt brakes.

[bOb shingler]

take them to a machine shop, not an automotive one.

[mshred]

so i wouldn't be able to do this myself?

[Jim_Lusk]

No, you'd never get the holes in the right place without a good mill.

[Nitrous340dart]

Just remember though, new axles (my 35 spline axles from strang with bearing and wheel studs, $396) are around 350-400 bucks.  If the machine shop qoutes something close to that I'd say just get new axles.

[383man]

We had the axles drilled in my sons Dart to the larger bolt pattern.   Its a street car he drives and he races it 2 or 3 times a year.  The axles have been in there since 1997 and the car runs mid 11's.  So far they are holding up fine.   Ron

[440Ken]

I sent mine to a place in Indiana....they did both axles and drums.......that was back in 1985. Sorry I don't remember the name of the place

[abqdart]

I have some C-body axles you could use. If you send them off to Mosier they would know what to do with some basic info. You can find complete brake setups for these ALL DAY LONG in the junk yard. If you didnt have access to one, I could also grab a complete brake setup for you for a small fee. Let me know

[PureGTS]

Problem: by up grading to the newer large bolt circle axles and brakes, the whole braking system has to be changed: backing plate, shoes, wheel cylinders, hardwares, etc. The other problem is they widen the overall width of the axle flange to flange. So if you have a tight fitting set of wheels this could be a problem.
  In redrilling the axles to the larger bolt circle you'll run into another problem: the axle flange becomes thin where the new bolt holes are. Currie did mine a number of years ago and they redrilled them AND added a ring around the outside of the axle flange to reinforce this problem and stop it from becoming a bigger one. They also redrilled the OEM drums too.
  One other issue about redrilling, the center wheel register no longer works. The A body uses a small register (2.320" dia.) instead of the larger (2.825") 5 on 4 1/2" style register. This means the wheel is putting all the weight directly on the wheel studs. If you change over to a disc brake system you can machine up some rings to fill this area and make them work by welding them in over the existing register. I can't say that I've had a problem without this ring but I am changing over to discs for the rear and had to have a set made up just for this problem as the discs need to register off of the center hub also. But that's just my situation. I can't say that there has been any issue without teh rings that I have had over the years so you should be OK. Altough I never used slicks...

[Jim_Lusk]

Considering swapping to big bolt pattern requires replacing the wheels anyway, the added width should not cause a problem.

[DRHEMI]

It has been mentioned that the drilling the new larger circle places the new studs very close to the edge of the axle flange. When I had my axes drilled, I had them drilled for some Chevy 7/16" Dorman studs, which is smaller than the factory 1/2" studs, and leaves enough extra metal from the new hole to the flange's edge. I also spot welded the original (4" circle) studs back in their original location which were then cut and ground back flush with the axle flange surface. The reason for this is that because of the large hole for accessing the axle retention bolts-this hole means that the 5 new holes are drilled in close proximity to the original holes. By filling the original holes with the cut down original studs, strength is regained in this critically close area. I have made close to a 1000 11 second passes with these axles, and they have served me well. My car was never a good 60'er, though, so I did not place as much stress as a harder leaving 11 second car would.  -Andy

[CA Duster 383]

I'm sure there are more places that can do the axle upgrade, but the two places
I know of are Moser in the Mid West and Sutton Engineering here in City of Industry.

Cost to redrill two axels and two brake drums should runs about $130 - $140 plus any shipping.

You may want to upgrade to new axle bearings at the same time.