Thread: heat treating stock axles

Just take a packet of kraft singles to him and he can check the ingrediants list directly

I suspect a range of steels were used over the years - which particular axles???

1541H is commonly used by manufacturers, but NFI what LR used.

It has been shown that 24 spline LR axles, are not really any stronger than 10 spline axles. Not sure if that is down to metallurgy or heat treatment.

Personally I would probably just buy new axles. Heat treating can't change lr axles into 4340.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

I suspect a range of steels were used over the years - which particular axles???

1541H is commonly used by manufacturers, but NFI what LR used.

It has been shown that 24 spline LR axles, are not really any stronger than 10 spline axles. Not sure if that is down to metallurgy or heat treatment.

Personally I would probably just buy new axles. Heat treating can't change lr axles into 4340.

new axles like maxi drive ones costs just under 1k from a retailer, I am talking about $160. If the metal is of the right type (mine is an 87 RRC) then they can be strengthened. The only issue would be if there is simply not enough material to start with. I work on my car a lot but I have never broken an axle so dont really know my axles diameter.

If it makes them stronger, i'm keen to get mine done
I'm with you, i just simply can't afford to pay $900 or so for Maxi's
You never know dad might be interested in getting the front of the County's done aswell (mine are 10 spline, and so are the ones in the front of the county).

CHEERS TIM.

not sure about "toughness" or "hardness"---
GOOD axels TWIST and recover,,,
M3 swayaway stuff will do 360deg,,(and these were 1K from the states 15 years ago,,)


though they seem to remember which way they like to twist so a black pen comes in handy

gotta be carefull with this.

hardening the axle can make them brittle they will pass a hardness test (which is essentially a compression/cut test and they will deal with more power before they twist but they dont twist as much. Exceed the "twistability" of the axle and it snaps just the same.

Originally Posted by F4Phantom

new axles like maxi drive ones costs just under 1k from a retailer, I am talking about $160. If the metal is of the right type (mine is an 87 RRC) then they can be strengthened. The only issue would be if there is simply not enough material to start with. I work on my car a lot but I have never broken an axle so dont really know my axles diameter.

While HYTUFF (formerly Maxi-Drive) axles are good, there are cheaper options.

EN25/26 axles from Macnamara are $650 for a pair of 24/23 spline fronts.
Rovertracks axles are $466 an axle set + postage from the US
Rover Tracks Heavy Duty Land Rover Accessories

While these are 3-6x the price of heat treating, I would probably choose the new axles. As they are a much higher grade of steel and a proven product.

Your 1987 rangie was (I believe) made just before the switch to 24-spline axles, so you should still have 1.1" 10-spline, rather than 1.24" 24-spline.

Most manufacturers of aftermarket axles seem to heat treat to a lower hardness, for maximum fatigue life. However John (Bush65) is the expert on metallurgy, so I will let him comment on all that.

Originally Posted by longing4alandy

Just take a packet of kraft singles to him and he can check the ingrediants list directly

I was thinking cheddar cheese (a little more crumbly/less malleable) but you could be right