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Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:36 pm

Converting my sandrail from swingaxle to irs. Just bought a set of reinforced stock trailing arms and Sway away 16 3/4 axles. I am also using a bus 3 rib transmission. When I look at sway away website it just says these are racing axles. Will this length work for this conversion? I have heard using 15 5/8 axles.

Also I dont have an irs bug laying around to make a jig for the conversion. So if anyone has a jig they want to sell please let me know.

Thanks for all the help.

Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:03 am

You mean 16-1/4"?
16-3/4" are too long and 15-5/8" are too short IMHO.
The best length I have found is 16" but those are impossible to find since Transform went out of business.
The aftermarket 16-1/4" IRS sedan axles work as long as they have the long splines for the CVs.
Stock VW sedan axles will bottom out on the shoulder when the suspension compresses.
The spline is only as long as the CV is wide on those.

Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:27 pm

No they are 16 3/4". They are made by sway away. They show them on there website but says for racing application and thats it. Says that 15 5/8 axles are for bus trans to bug chassis. Just wondering if these will work. The person I bought them from said thats what they are for.

Just found a set of arms and axles on ebay and I asked the guy how long the axles are and if they were for a 002 bus trans and he said they were 14 1/2" and stock trailing arms and 002 bus trans. So it sounds like you could use any size. Just depends where you put the trailing arms pivots? Dont know if this is right or not buts its just a guess.

Thanks

Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:31 am

That eBay guy doesn't have a clue.
Stock IRS axles are 16-1/4" long.
A bus tranny is about half an inch wider than a sedan at the CV joints.
You need a slightly shorter axle but not that short.
14-1/4" won't reach.

Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:44 pm

Well I am lost now. The guy I bought this set up from said the arms are stock and the axles measure 16 3/4 and it was for a bus 002 set up but he upgraded to 3x3s or something else. The axles are brand new sway away axles, never used. But everywhere else I read says that I need 15 5/8 axles with stock arms.

So now I wonder what the 16 3/4" axles are for? Maybe they are for one inch longer arms.

Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:04 pm

So how do you determine the correct axle length?

Is there a specific placement of the CV you look for? Maximum angle?

Also, do you guys run the retaining clips on the ends of the axles?

Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:31 pm

My axles are 16 3/4" with type 4 cvs and but havn't been bolted in yet. The PO of the axles said he had them in and it worked and seamed like a trustworthy guy. I think his name is Neanders here.

Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:53 pm

LSK wrote: My axles are 16 3/4" with type 4 cvs and but havn't been bolted in yet. The PO of the axles said he had them in and it worked and seamed like a trustworthy guy. I think his name is Neanders here.

ohh shoot that guy, your in trouble :lol:

Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:01 am

LSK wrote: My axles are 16 3/4" with type 4 cvs and but havn't been bolted in yet. The PO of the axles said he had them in and it worked and seamed like a trustworthy guy. I think his name is Neanders here.

I 'guarantee' you those axles work! I had them in my bug with a stock bug tranny and stock boxed trailing arms. Here's a pic:

Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:51 am

neanders wrote: I had them in my bug with a stock bug tranny
the bus transmissions are wider, making those axles too long.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:43 am

True, but my understanding is that LSK is gonna use them with T4 cv's on a bug tranny, not bus. Cee169 is inquiring about bus.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:16 am

neanders wrote: True, but my understanding is that LSK is gonna use them with T4 cv's on a bug tranny, not bus. Cee169 is inquiring about bus.
noted. too many posts, too many numbers. I started to get lost.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:16 pm

neanders wrote: True, but my understanding is that LSK is gonna use them with T4 cv's on a bug tranny, not bus. Cee169 is inquiring about bus.

I didn't see anything about a bug tranny from LSK.
The original post is 6 months old anyway.......... :wink:

Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:53 am

The 16 3/4 axles are too long with the bus transmission. I had to get them machined down. The guy who sold them to me said they would work becase bus trans sit one inch higher, in my case this did not work.

Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:24 pm

The 2 ways of determining axle length that I have gotten from experts is to set the drive flange and the axle flangh level measure to the inside of the depressions and subtract 1/4 inch and the other is to put it all together and go to maximum droop and you shuold have 3/8" play in the axle from spiral ring to spiral ring The 2nd one came from a guy at Kartec. SAW makes alot of differert lengths and will do custom lenght also. How a trans is mounted can vary so its better to measure where you are at to determine lenght needed. You must need something for your car so Call Kartec or Mckenzies buy what you need and ask a couple of questions. They are expert , and they are not that bad on price.