Thread: dropped front axle, where to buy?

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OK bear with me,please. Where have you bought your front axle and why ? Thanks to all who can help.

Any reputable hotrod parts shop will offer a number of aftermarket dropped axles. I have always used the Super Bell dropped I-beam axle, although there are equally good axles offered from other aftermarket suppliers.
Tube axles work equally as well, and its more a matter of personal taste than tube axles performing better or worse than I-beam types.
One word of caution---If you are going to run front fenders on the car, do not get anything greater than a 4" maximum drop, or your asking for tire/fender clearance issues.
If you are running a hi-boy style car without fenders, you can go to a 5" drop safely.
The primary reason to run a dropped axle is to get the car setting lower in the front end. The original axles were made with very little drop to them, as the car designers wanted the cars to set up higher off the rutted gravel roads in the 1930's and 1940's.

If you use a tube axle you will need to use a 4 bar front suspension. If you go with split wishbones or hairpin radius rods use an I- beam axle. The I-beam was designed to twist as the suspension moved up and down. The tube axle is stiff and won't twist like it needs to when using split bones or radius rods.

Allen---thats an urban legend. Many tests have been made using hairpins and old style radius rods on tube axles, and it doesn't make a bit of difference. There is enough flex in the mounting points of the hairpins and radius rods to compensate for the lack of flexability in a tube axle.

Allen---thats an urban legend.

. . . probably promulgated by the folks who make four-bars. A typical street rod doesn't have enough travel to cause problems.

When you choose an axle drop, make sure you consider everything that goes with it: tire/wheel diameter, spring height and attachment point to the frame. Picking the wrong parts leads to either a nose-up attitude - or worse, sparks created by your oil pan.

Take a look at this photo, and you'll understand what I mean

http://members.cox.net/otb_vigilante...9_26/front.jpg

Super Bell makes great axles. They have tube and I-beam.

http://www.peteandjakes.com

I certainly appreciate all the info! Thank You!
I have read that about the tube vs. I beam. I agree that there is ALOT of flex in the entire front end that a tube prolly won't break. However I want a I beam for the nostalgia look . I was hoping that there were some non big names out there. . Thanks Again!!