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torsion axle upgrade

battdad

Member
hello all,
I have an old foremost snowcat with a custom cab that i am working on. The suspension on it resembles that of a thiokol having leaf springs with wheels at each end of the springs. I have been pondering switching it over to torsion stub axles with regular wheels and tires. I know there are a few threads on here of people that have done this same conversion, however I am having trouble finding detailed photos. My other questions are for the few that have done this conversion, what lb rating of axle stubs did you use? are you happy with the ride compared to leaf springs?
My machine has five bogie wheels on each side, I was thinking that the softer 1000 lb rated stub axles would be plenty as there would be five sets equaling 5000 lbs of capacity. My machine does not weigh over 5000 lbs.
My other train of thought is going with heavier rated axles so when the machine travels over an obstacle, there would be more of the weight on each wheel as it passes over the obstacle.
Any thoughts on this or advice from experienced individuals would be greatly appriciated
thanks
battdad
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
use the axles with the cast spring not the cheap ones with 4 rubber pucks pressed in, or the wheels will develop a lean in short order I would go with a heavier spring in the front than the center sections
 

battdad

Member
thanks snowtrac.
that is one thing i thought about after i posted, eventually i would like to add a blade to the front so i was going to use heavy duty in front to help support the weight of the blade. I read that in a thread also after i posted the question.
still not sure i am going to do the whole conversion thing, just another idea in my head.
 

Snowy Rivers

Well-known member
Check out http://www.theuniversalgroup.com/w/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/flexiride-half-axle.pdf

I am using these in my van cat build...Definitely go heavier on the front axle.

Do a little math and see what you are dealing with as far as weight with the machine lite and loaded max to get a good feel for what you need.

You can go here to get very good tech data on the various sizes
http://www.theuniversalgroup.com/flexiride/flexiride-technical-library/

I spent about an hour on the phone with the engineering dept at Flexi and these units look to be a fantastic solution.

Best part is that the parts are replaceable by the piece and you could have a couple spares on the shelf just in case of a failure.

Myself I love off the shelf technology.

Good luck with your project...
 
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