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  • 2 speed axles

    Has anyone ever found a 2 speed rear axle suitable for use in a typical CarJunkie vehicle?
    The commercial truck ones I have seen are physically too large and the European sports car ones are obviously too weak.

    just curious..

  • #2
    Re: 2 speed axles

    No. The passenger car two-speed axles were Model T technology and just won't handle any torque, especially with tires wider than three inches. The Borg-Warner T85 three-speed-with-overdrive is the only old-school overdrive I can recommend. It was the progenitor of the T-10 four-speed, is hell for stout and has a .28 overdrive.

    Today, two-speed axles, auxilliary transmissions and add-on overdrives are pretty nostalgia pieces for the hair-shirt, hard-core nostalgia builder. Readily available modern five and six-speed overdrive standards and automatics have made them redundant for most swaps.

    I was just in a well-known old-school rod shop. They were very proud of their look and refuse to build anything after 1966. However, under every rod, behind ever old-school pre-66 engine, was a modern transmission. Their philosophy, for better-or-for-worse is, if you can't see anything modern as you walk by, then it is still an old-school rod.

    thnx, jack vines

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    • #3
      Re: 2 speed axles

      One thing to be said about these things is that they keep driveshaft speed down which is a good thing on the larger sized vehicles that you find in the 60's and 70's. Ford Panther cop cars use the longer Lincoln Town Car tailhousing to keep driveshaft whip down for this very reason. Would be nice if they built a GVOD (gear vendors overdrive) in a 9in centersection.
      Central TEXAS Sleeper
      USAF Physicist

      ROA# 9790

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 2 speed axles

        I haven't seen a compact, stout 2 speed axle. However, "back in the day" (sounding like an official old fart) we often used a Ford 3 speed with OD. They were stout and, back then, cheap. The trans case was used in Jeeps and other stuff, too, so there used to be TONS of 'em lying around the salvage yards. Back then, 4 speeds were rare and expensive, and they lacked overdrive anyway. This trans had a bolt-on top case cover and a solenoid for the OD, so they were fairly easy to identify.

        These may be scarce now-a-days, too.

        Have fun
        Dan

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        • #5
          Re: 2 speed axles

          I realize these are not a "2-speed" rear end, but they are easily serviceable and can change your car from a digger to a cruiser in a matter of minutes:




          Check 'em out!

          Ron
          It's really no different than trying to glue them back on after she has her way.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 2 speed axles

            Originally posted by NMCA_Ron
            I realize these are not a "2-speed" rear end, but they are easily serviceable and can change your car from a digger to a cruiser in a matter of minutes: http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/PS-Winters.html
            Yes, I know about the quick changes. I just haven't seen anyone putting big power through sticky tires to pavement with a quick change. Makes me wonder about the strength.

            Anyone know if these can take real drag strip abuse?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 2 speed axles

              Keith's Camaro has a Winters and he doesn't baby it. Remember, it launches on concrete at Maxton. Now, if it would hold up actual drag strip use I can't say.

              Dan

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              • #8
                Re: 2 speed axles

                The guy with the mustache and the AMX they showed from Drag Week last year (DW2006) had one and he was going nose up with his. I don't think he was slow either.
                Central TEXAS Sleeper
                USAF Physicist

                ROA# 9790

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 2 speed axles

                  I dont think it was that fast, but it was period cool!!!! He even had the pants.
                  2007 SBN/A Drag Week Winner & First only SBN/A Car in the 9's Till 2012
                  First to run in the .90s .80s and .70's in SBN/A
                  2012 SSBN/A Drag Week Winner First in the 9.60's/ 9.67 @ 139 1.42 60'
                  2013 SSBN/A Drag Week, Lets quit sand bagging, and let it rip!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 2 speed axles

                    Originally posted by CTX-SLPR
                    The guy with the mustache and the AMX they showed from Drag Week last year (DW2006) had one and he was going nose up with his. I don't think he was slow either.
                    Biker Bob, but he told me he had a gear vendors in the car one day shooting the sh*t. ??? The AMC pants were made by his sister or wife, I can't quite remember :D

                    One thing I was thinking of wold be a modified m-21ish style 4 speed with a quickchange rear for top speed challenges.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 2 speed axles

                      I asked A local engine builder /racer what he thought about using an old style halibrand on the street (i wuz a little younger) and he replied that a modern version is used on dirt tracks all over the USA and those guys break em all the time. DOH! I gave up on that idea.
                      For a cheap OD trans you might consider the manual Dodge used in the 80s, a lot came in 6 cyl half ton trucks, Aluminum case & tail housing, Dont remember model number but it's almost identical in appearance to the 833 that was used in muscle cars. Dont discount this trans just cuz the factory installed it with a 6 popper, It will easily handle a big block if you drive sanely, or have really skinny tires, some pass cars used it as as well and IIRC it came stock with a hurst shifter. Any good machine shop worth thier weight in dirt can do the required machine work to make it work with your cruzer.

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                      • #12
                        Re: 2 speed axles

                        Suggest anyone drive one of those Mopar OD-4-speeds before spending the bucks to install it. Most say they shift with great difficulty, even with the factory Hurst shifter. They have two virtues:
                        1. Probably the least-expensive 4-speed OD
                        2. They are relatively stout.

                        thnx, jack vines

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 2 speed axles

                          I know a guy with a Frankland quick change from a sprint car that he'll sell somewhat cheaply. These suckers are WAY stout. If interested, I'll get the contact info. That rear no longer is legal for his class, so he has to lose it and go to a 9". If you're interested, I'll get the contact info.

                          Later
                          Dan

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 2 speed axles

                            FWIW, most any quick-change with straight-cut gears in an aluminum housing is way-loud for highway use. Some of them sound like being chased by the police with a siren on. Some quick-changes have bevel-cut highway gearsets available.

                            thnx, jack vines.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 2 speed axles

                              Who remembers the "Hone-O-Drives"

                              installed as an option in the

                              Baldwin-Motion cars?


                              Had a little lever on the trans-tunnel.


                              What became of that OD company? ???
                              ------------------------------------------------

                              (We're going w/a Red-Stripe 833/GV OD combo in a BB Duster)

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