Kent McMillan, post: 432108, member: 3 wrote: .. I wonder what a WWII-vintage Jeep rear axle looks like. Right now, my working assumption is that when I track down the (private) record of the survey. it will turn out to date from the 1950s.
Willys vintage (and later) Jeeps utilized a Dana 25 assembly for the front and a Dana 41 for the rear. Both used axles with 10 spline. btw - The same axle fits approximately 1941 through 1971 manufacture. Also, axles for these assemblies have a noticeable (approx. 3" length) "bulge" of an eighth to a quarter inch in diameter about six inches from the splines. This would have been noticeable in your photo, which appear smooth (constant diameter). I'm thinking you're looking at some Detroit steel.
Kent McMillan, post: 432108, member: 3 wrote: I'm fairly sure that there were 20 splines on the axles. The diameter could have been 1.30" instead of 1.25", though. I wonder what a WWII-vintage Jeep rear axle looks like. Right now, my working assumption is that when I track down the (private) record of the survey. it will turn out to date from the 1950s.
Many of the old Willys Jeep axles had 10 splines. The axle close-up photo shows an oddity. For most axles the groove for the axle clip is near the end of the shaft. Your axle has the groove to the interior of the splines.
Edit: Ninja'd by paden
After downloading Kent's photo and taking a close look, there is no groove for a "c" clip anywhere on the shaft. It may be a tractor PTO shaft. Some old Ford/New Holland tractors had a PTO shaft with 20 splines.
Nope. Definitely not a PTO shaft. See the pic provided by Eddycreek above. Must have the groove between the two spline areas for the keeper pin to lock it on. Many had a hole all the way through so a bolt or 60d nail could be used as the keeper. Don't ask me how I know this.
Gene Kooper, post: 432113, member: 9850 wrote: After downloading Kent's photo and taking a close look, there is no groove for a "c" clip anywhere on the shaft. It may be a tractor PTO shaft. Some old Ford/New Holland tractors had a PTO shaft with 20 splines.
I'm thinking that the groove seen below the splines was machined for some purpose.
I think that groove is consistent with where the face of whatever the shaft is inserted into should be found. If that groove is hidden or out too far, you have the wrong shaft for the application.
paden cash, post: 432092, member: 20 wrote: I can't find a mfg. that actually cast any numbers on their axles either.
Picking nits here, but I'd be surprised if any axle shafts were ever cast. I'd expect all of them to be forged, even back in the wrought iron days.
Input shaft out of a C4.
I'm interested to know why you're shooting the top center of the leaning monument, and not plumbing it up or shooting at the base? Or do you shoot both?
Kind of looks like the main shaft out of a 70s Honda CB. Is it set in concrete? Any idea on total length?
Allen Wrench, post: 432220, member: 6172 wrote: I'm interested to know why you're shooting the top center of the leaning monument, and not plumbing it up or shooting at the base? Or do you shoot both?
That axle was most likely set exactly in that position. It's in rock and is very firmly set, probably lodged in a natural fissure. The axle was set in the center of a rock mound that was evidently found in place, so it basically just perpetuates where the surveyor who set the axle thought the center to be of what probably was a 3 ft. dia mound built of the 20 rocks that remain, somewhat scattered near the axle.
Possibly it replaced a cedar stake or hub in the mound, but I didn't find a record of that. The axle basically is evidence of where a line was run by surveyors in 1951 and before, but isn't an original corner.
The 1951 surveyor found this point to be at a distance of 184.6 varas from the rock mound at the original land grant corner where he also set an axle in the center of the mound. My modern measurements find the actual distance to be 183.407 varas between the axles, but the line between is very steep and would have been a challenge to chain by the methods they used. In other words, there really is no basis other than an abstract aesthetic one that insists that the axle was ever plumb. If this were a much different soil condition, my views would probably be different.
back-chain, post: 432221, member: 7900 wrote: Kind of looks like the main shaft out of a 70s Honda CB. Is it set in concrete? Any idea on total length?
It turns out that the axle was set by the 1951 surveyor in a rock mound he found in place, The 1951 surveyor prepared a map of his work that was revised in 1964 to add some other details and what was apparently noted as "R.M. Found" on the original state of the map was revised to read "Axle & R.M. Found" on the 1964 state of the map. I'm still examining the 1951 surveyor's field books to see what can be deduced from them. Either way, the axles are whatever scrap yards had plenty of to sell at some time before 1964.
The location where the axle was set is basically limestone with about a 3 to 4 in. skim of top soil. The limestone is fissured and wherever a tuft of native grass is growing, you can usually drive an 8-inch spike, but not much more. I would expect that the axle was half the length of the rear axle of a car or truck, cut with a cutting torch and probably shaped to a point of sorts on the end in the ground. Here's another photo of the setting that shows weathered limestone at the surface.
Just had the front differential of my Jeep apart a couple weeks ago (Dana 30) and there are no clips holding the shaft in, it's bolted through the hub on the outside, at the wheel.