Hey Nolen, what is this rear axle?

[wngrog]

The seats suck, but the chassis is designed around them. No suspension seats will fit, we have tried. Jim sits on a 8'' thick foam pad that helps his ass and back survive.

The history on the axles is cool. Tom at Sunay was the first to design a 1550 U-Joint. He built it to make a 609 survive in a rear steer application. At the time, there were no CTMs and the Spicer 1550 was the answer.

He started putting these in the fronts of rigs (I had one) and then the design of Jims rig began. At first it was front steer only, designed around WEROCK promod rules (2005)

He wanted tight steering that would survive. Tom fond that the 1610 joint was as strong at 45* as a Spricer D60 was straight-on.

By the time 2006 comp season rolled in most everyone was machining/grinding their knuckles to get 45* and CTMs were making standard D60 stuff survive in rear steer applications.

Lots of stuff happened in 06 and 07 that, in my opinion, made these axles, (due to price and availability) obsolete unless you had set already.

There are 2 TC buggies (both with Mini hoods) that have them front and rear, but I think that is all that exist.

 

[BamaTJ]

That is a good history lesson Nolen. I would think that the price and added weight of the axles hurt them also. I am sure Spidertrax building the Hi-9 and it becoming so popular also helped push this axle into extinction.

 

[wngrog]

I guess extinct is a bit harsh.....there are 6-8 of them still alive

The premanufactured housing made the way Sunray did it too old school for most and instead of retooling to compete 70+ yr old owner just decided to hang it up.

jim's axle is very weight comparable to what is available now, mainly due to all of the bling and extra work put into it.

The cost though is comparable to a Spider/Mega9 with 1550 CTM stuff (60* axle)