grumpy old man:
gingerfold:
Kirkstall was regarded as THE back axle in the 1950s / '60s for the “loose axle” market and for the chassis assemblers rather than the fully integrated vehicle builders. As Pete says the theory, and practice, of hub reduction was less strain on the half shafts. Albion axles were hub reduction and very well regarded.I still don’t know how I managed it, I once snapped a half shaft on an Albion reduction axle. All I was doing was easing it forward on the weighbridge at the old Ripon Gas works.
Double drive, reduction hubs, and your correspondent snapped a halfshaft, Old Fred Chappell swore at me…a lot.
Something must have snagged up somewhere I’d have thought. One problem with the double drive uncompensated suspension Albion rear bogie (sorry to sound technical but I’m only quoting what I heard years ago)…anyway there was no third diff between the axles and it was absolutely imperative to have tyres with identical, or very similar, tread depths. Otherwise the axles could fight each other. The Albion Reiver had two prop shafts from the gearbox, one for each axle IIRC.