Ok so my car has 397whp/369wtq. Last time I went to the track I was coming out of the hole off limiter with et streets. I was only pulling 1.8 60's all day at best. When I was changing back to my street wheels I noticed all my 1/2" studs on both sides were bent. So I pulled out the axles replaced all the studs with ARP hardware and of course new bearings and thought I was good to go. The other day I was driving (about 1k miles since I replaced everything) and the brand new wheel bearing on the passenger side rear took a ****. So thinking it was a little wierd and hoping I just got a bum bearing I jacked up the car and let the clutch out and found this...

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The passenger side is way worse than the drivers side. But Im pissed because I spent $3k on this rear because I wanted a bulletproof rear that I didnt have to worry about. I bent the axles with not even 400whp and the worst part is Ive only been to the track once with this rear. And now I have to shell out $500 for new axles plus labor and money is super tight now because I just bought a house. What are the odds of strange helping me out? I assume not too great because its a racing part. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

I'm surprised that 1.8s with those tires would do that to your axles. I have read of people having the bent stud issue though. At this point do you know if its the axle flange or the axle shaft that is not true? Could've the place where you took the axles for the bearing/stud replacement somehow bent them? There could be a issue with the heat treating on the axles. I'd give Strange a call. Carl at CRP is also VERY knowledgeable on these rears, even if you didn't buy it from him I'm sure he could help steer you in the right direction.

 

I actually got it from carl and yes he's very knowledgable about the rears. My buddy did the work for me and he's an excellent mechanic and has a ton of experience in the field. If I had to guess they bent at the axle and now the hub flange is no longer true. I already spoke with carl about sending them back to strange so they could test them. Anyone know how much it costs to ship axles? They're heavy and long Idk if I should lay out the money for shipping because that's money I could put towards a new set if they don't warranty them.

 

Ok I spoke with strange directly and they want me to ship the axles back to test them. The guy I spoke with was very nice and helpful. I just have to see if it's even worth it with shipping costs

 

i can tell you from experience shipping the axle back with the backing plate and dust shield still on is a pain in the ***. unless you have a press/puller where you can remove the pressed on axle bearing you're gonna need to find a long enough box then build a support in there so the axle doesn't lay on the dust shield and bend it all to hell. I ended up using a golf bag box from UPS store which is something like 2x2x4 feet and used plywood to build a support structure inside. fortunately when i had to go through that i wasn't paying for shipping, so i can't tell you what that costs. hopefully you can find a smaller box that works.

 

You could easily test this axle for hardness. Go to any machine shop and they can easily do a Rockwell test. The problem would be finding out actually how hard the axle was supposed to be in the first place. If I had to guess, I would say 45-48 Rc? I would probably do this even before I sent them back.

 

Thanks for the reply. I didnt know this could be done at a machine shop. Its something any machine shop could do? Whats the process like? Does it hurt the axle at all? I would have to call strange and see if that would be a possibility.

 

Very easy. Takes about 5 minutes if you are lucky. It will put a very small mark in the axle about the size of a small punch if you were making a mark to start a drill. There is a ball drop style also, but they are not very accurate.

Most shops have them, but not all. Here is a random place off Google. They claim to be a die shop. They would probably have one. I have not seen too many in shop that machine blocks etc.

594 Horsepound Rd Carmel, NY 10512‎
(845) 228-0242

Hardness should be 45-48 on 4340 material for an axle.

 

Pretty rare to see a S60 axle bend.

 

Update...Strange made good on the axles! I honestly thought i was SOL just due to the nature of the part. They checked the runout on the hubs and said they were WAAAYYY out so they sent me a new pair, bearings and all no questions asked!

Ive had bad experiences with a lot of aftermarket parts companies in the past so I was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised!

If anyone is teetering on going with strange and/or a dana 60 teeter towards strange. I couldnt be more happy with them!