Well, I just finished the istallation of the flanged axles I bought last year. Probably fixed a non existant problem, as the old axles were well greased and looked fine, but as I drive this 63 Hawk frequently on long trips, I wanted to be sure I wasn't bitten by metal fatigue at some point. These axles are nice and are much heavier than the originals.- built tough. It was a straight forward installation, and sure makes brake jobs easy, but there is one addition I want to make.
One of my main concerns in the event of a broken axle was the resultant loss of brakes. With the new axles, though an axle won't break, if a wheel comes off (yes, it happened to me once when I stupidly forgot to tighten the lug nuts), the brake drum would come flying off and there go the brakes. I need to find a clip for the lugs to hold the brake drum on just in case.
Fred