Posted by Desoto61 [138.162.0.43] on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 15:23:06 :
In Reply to: you have to wonder why mack went to double splines posted by clueless [201.202.24.222] on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 12:18:50 :
Honestly I'd guess it was at least partly due to the manufacturing and it would also benefit survivability.
A giant piece of bar stock with two splined ends has got to be easier/cheaper then forming a flange onto the end. Welding one wouldn't get you the same strength without a lot more work.
If you snap an axle on our trucks you kind of have to limp back with the axle in place or hope you can swap it for a spare, otherwise you have a big hole in the end of the axle tube. Vice being able to pull the shaft and just re-install the flange till you can replace it. I'm guessing the xtra HD trucks more commonly have multiple drive axles, so loosing one is less catastrophic? I'm just guessing here.
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