Spider 9 Front Axle Buildup

Here's the high-pinion third member that will be used in the axle. It's a fully built True Hi9 assembly from Weivoda Auto. The housing is heavy-duty nodular cast iron and uses chromoly bearing caps. The reverse-cut gears are made by Richmond Gear and use a third (pocket) bearing at the pinion head for greater strength and reduced pinion deflection.

This third-member housing also includes a device (unique to the Hi9) for ring-gear support. The adjustable bolts shown here are used to support an anti-deflection thrust block that controls ring-gear side load to keep the ring-and-pinion in proper mesh under severe torque loads. Also in this assembly a full spool was used as the locker mechanism.

A forged 1350-series yoke was chosen to provide the strongest possible connection to the driveshaft. A Daytona-style pinion support is used on all Hi9s. This offers a larger pinion bearing and improved oil flow and lubrication.

Here, the stout third member is slipped into the completed axlehousing linked to the buggy chassis. You can see how much ground clearance the high-pinion driveshaft will have for this setup.

One final thing that was added to help protect the third member and provide a smoother rear face is this trick diff skidplate from Blue Torch Fabworks. It attaches with some of the axlehousing bolts and three of the pinion support bolts.

An underside view of the finished axlehousing shows the protection provided by the third-member skid. This is one beefy setup.

The axleshafts of choice were Longfield Super Axles using full 35-spline components manufactured from hardened 300M material. The inner and outer axleshafts are individual pieces splined on each end, and the CV-joint bell is a third, separate component made of 4340 chromoly.

Here you get a glimpse of the backside of the Birfield joint, however, full of grease from the supplier. This super-sized CV joint is comprised of six 7/8-inch ball bearings made to allow for smooth power transfer at all angles and can provide a steering angle of 45 degrees.

The open end of the Birfield is enclosed in this formed red plastic boot. It keeps the grease in and the dirt and water out. Slide it back and a zerk fitting is revealed, should you need to add a squirt or two of fresh grease.

The shafts were installed in the completed axlehousing that at this point was link-mounted to the buggy and ready for internals.

With the shafts installed, the unit-bearing assemblies were bolted to the outer knuckles, and then those were bolted to the inner knuckles. As a side note, Spidertrax also makes its smaller Ultimate 60 (55-pound) knuckle using the same construction but sized to fit U-joint axleshafts and accommodate 50 degrees of steering angle

Spidertrax steering arms mount to the top of each knuckle using four or six bolts. Additional shear strength is provided with the machined slot (arrow).

Warn floating-hub drive flanges were used in the Ford unit-bearing assemblies, providing a constantly locked front axle for this trail-only rig. Spidertrax now manufactures its own heat-treated 4340 versions as well.

With the hub assembly complete, each wheel hub was closed with a Spidertrax aluminum cover plate.

Spidertrax sells some very cool brake components, including Wilwood billet calipers and some super-trick lightweight rotors that utilize aluminum hats. For this application, Cary required a rotor that would fit inside a 15-inch wheel, so he chose to use an OEM Chevy 3/4-ton rotor.

Calipers used were Oldsmobile twin-piston floating units. These were bolted to tabs that were welded to the outer knuckle. Steel construction of the knuckle easily permitted this methodology. Spidertrax carries custom mounts for the Wilwood calipers if needed. With the axle assembly complete, the rig was ready for some hard-core trail action.