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40spline.com axle shafts & yoke

wizzo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
1,988
Location
glasgow, ky
After breaking a few stock 14 bolt shafts, I decided I wanted to invest in some quality shafts rather than just keep throwing money at junk yard shafts. I was buy pairs for $100, you do that a few times and it starts adding up. Obviously there are many after market shaft options available but I wanted to go with a shaft that I felt like would last me a long time and that I felt like the manufacturer had done their homework. If you are not familiar with the name Mark Williams go here and look around: http://www.markwilliams.com I'm not sure how Andrew talked Mark into building product for him but the end result is VERY nice.

I started talking with Andrew about which shafts to go with. I ruled out 40 spline at both ends b/c I am not interested in putting new spindles in a GM 14 bolt stock housing. So my dilemma was between 35 and GM 30 spline at the carrier. I knew that I would be adding one of his full spools at some point b/c my stock carrier is warped and the gear pattern doesn't run true. But if I could get away with not having to do everything at once, that would help my bank account. After talking I decided to go with the GM 30 spline b/c it is actually stronger than the spicer 35 spline. This has to do with pressure angles and the size of the GM 30 spline shaft.

You can read more about the pressure agle topic and Mark Williams shafts in general here: https://www.markwilliams.com/axle-txt.aspx

First, the packaging is awesome. It is nice when you spend money to not have the part show up on your door step damaged b/c the manufacturer didn't really care how it showed up to you. Shafts are not loose int he box, they are divided by foam.
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You can see here that the shafts are 40 spline at the flange. All of 40spline.com's shafts start out with bar stock large enough for 40 spline shafts. They are machined down from there allowing you to have the strongest possible shaft.
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Install of the shafts went as expected. Nice tight fit at the carrier. Took a little tap with a rubber hammer to fully seat the shafts. As you can see no fancy hardware required to install these shafts.
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For someone who wants the best quality shaft, that they can remove the stock shafts and bolt in the new, this is a great way to go. No fuss, just install and NEVER LIFT!
 
While I was upgrading, I decided to go with Andrew's billet 1350 pinion yoke. Take a good look at this yoke and you can see a lot of thought went into the design.

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The product is very beefy but clearanced where needed. The machined in half circle retainer is awesome, no worries for breaking of the small tabs on stock yokes. Add their 2nd gen u-bolts and this thing will be tough! Honestly if you are running the factory straps, you are just asking for trouble.
 
Chris, if you don't mind me asking (and you can pm me if needed), how much were the shafts? - found some pricing on their site

and they were a direct bolt it for a plain ole 14 bolt?

what if I ready have a mini-spool in there?

how much stronger than stock shafts?

you do the 4340 or 300m?

very interested. thanks
 
Had the same experience from 40spline with my shafts for my p.o.s. Great product. Great service. I've beat on them pretty good since. It's very cool dealing with good people in our community that are respectful.
 
Wow, great pics and writeup Chris! :dblthumb:


1tfrot said:
Chris, if you don't mind me asking (and you can pm me if needed), how much were the shafts? - found some pricing on their site

and they were a direct bolt it for a plain ole 14 bolt?

what if I ready have a mini-spool in there?

how much stronger than stock shafts?

you do the 4340 or 300m?

very interested. thanks

Chris is in Harlan all weekend continuing his never lift tour so he may not see this. We try to offer our best pricing via the website, we include free shipping as well and that's pretty significant with such heavy parts. With Memorial Day coming up, and considering you're a Hardline member shoot me an email at [email protected] and let's see if we can get you a discount :smoke:

Chris was initially thinking 300m, but after some discussions he went with the 4340. I'm not one to try and upsell/downsell anyone, I like to try and get the customer the best part to do the job they want and in their budget. In his case, the 4340 was a perfect fit. When people ask me, "is 4340 enough for my application" I just say, "Do you know Bubba Bacon?" He's probably my best test subject on the 4340 platform. He has been running my 4340 shafts (30 spline at the spool) for a couple years now with zero failures. I've heard estimates of 800-900hp on his buggy and he runs anything from 43 stickies to cut boggers. The other day he told me that my shafts were the only thing that he hasn't broken in his buggy. 4340 is enough for just about everyone, some people want 300m for the bling factor or additional peace of mind. To directly answer your questions, yes our shafts are massively stronger than stock. I also don't see why you'd have any trouble on compatibility with the mini spool, and everything is a direct bolt in using stock hardware. I'd say it's the best 30 minute upgrade you can do.

I also get a lot of questions about why upgrade to the full 1.71" 40 spline shafts (40 spline at the hub and spool) and my answer is this. If you're building a custom housing or replacing spindles already, there really isn't much difference in cost to go ahead and do the full 40 spline treatment. I run a Super 14 in the rear of my buggy and that was a no brainer to go ahead and do the full 40 spline setup. But, if you're freshening up a stock 14 bolt housing and want bulletproof performance, the 40/30 spline shafts are a no brainer.


Molly Hatchet said:
Had the same experience from 40spline with my shafts for my p.o.s. Great product. Great service. I've beat on them pretty good since. It's very cool dealing with good people in our community that are respectful.

Man, I never get tired of seeing posts like this! :woot:
 
Awesome info and it's good to see a vendor take the time to answer questions etc!!
I know where I'm going when I build my next 14 bolt!!
 
40spline.com said:
Wow, great pics and writeup Chris! :dblthumb:


Chris is in Harlan all weekend continuing his never lift tour so he may not see this. We try to offer our best pricing via the website, we include free shipping as well and that's pretty significant with such heavy parts. With Memorial Day coming up, and considering you're a Hardline member shoot me an email at [email protected] and let's see if we can get you a discount :smoke:

Chris was initially thinking 300m, but after some discussions he went with the 4340. I'm not one to try and upsell/downsell anyone, I like to try and get the customer the best part to do the job they want and in their budget. In his case, the 4340 was a perfect fit. When people ask me, "is 4340 enough for my application" I just say, "Do you know Bubba Bacon?" He's probably my best test subject on the 4340 platform. He has been running my 4340 shafts (30 spline at the spool) for a couple years now with zero failures. I've heard estimates of 800-900hp on his buggy and he runs anything from 43 stickies to cut boggers. The other day he told me that my shafts were the only thing that he hasn't broken in his buggy. 4340 is enough for just about everyone, some people want 300m for the bling factor or additional peace of mind. To directly answer your questions, yes our shafts are massively stronger than stock. I also don't see why you'd have any trouble on compatibility with the mini spool, and everything is a direct bolt in using stock hardware. I'd say it's the best 30 minute upgrade you can do.

I also get a lot of questions about why upgrade to the full 1.71" 40 spline shafts (40 spline at the hub and spool) and my answer is this. If you're building a custom housing or replacing spindles already, there really isn't much difference in cost to go ahead and do the full 40 spline treatment. I run a Super 14 in the rear of my buggy and that was a no brainer to go ahead and do the full 40 spline setup. But, if you're freshening up a stock 14 bolt housing and want bulletproof performance, the 40/30 spline shafts are a no brainer.


Man, I never get tired of seeing posts like this! :woot:

thank you sir and thanks for reaching out with the message to me. I will contact you when I'm ready, for sure! I've got your cell as well :smoke:
 
1tfrot said:
they were a direct bolt it for a plain ole 14 bolt?
Yessir!!! Remove ol factory shafts, slide these bad boys in! Seal up the flange, bolt up and you're ready to go

what if I ready have a mini-spool in there?
I run a Ouverson mini spool currently, so yes they will work with that or a plain ol factory carrier.

how much stronger than stock shafts?
I'm not metallurgist so I can't give you any %'s or #'s BUT so far so good in my last two rides/ destructive testing!!! LOL. I haven't given them any slack.

you do the 4340 or 300m?
I went with 4340. This was something Andrew and I discussed at length. My experience with 4340 front shafts is that it won't hold up. I twisted 2 Foote 4340 stubs and an inner short shaft. And that was on 39" krawlers. Went to CTM's 300m drive home shafts and the splines still look as good as the day I installed them. So with that past experience, I had a 300M or stay home mentality. Andrew schooled me on the quality of materials that Mark Williams uses. He also mentioned that one of the Bacon's runs his 4340 shafts and I said yea, but, I run a LS engine!!! :rolf: In all seriousness, they run their rigs in those comps a bit harder than I run mine on the trail. So it is pretty legit real world proof of how strong the 4340 shafts are. If I was an Ultra 4 racer or full time rock racer, I probably would spend the extra and got 300m for the added piece of mind.
 

thanks Chris. I'll be talking to Andrew at some point when I'm ready for the change. appreciate the info :dblthumb:
 

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