Machinist at work has been busy. So I will be working the lathe myself this weekend (finally got written clearance to use the machines myself). Very tight lathe with DRO and tons of tooling (just BYO carbide inserts).

My plan...

Start with the hub...
1. Chuck the stock axle stub in the lathe. Hub has to be mounted on the stock stub spline since there's not enough meat on the hub to grab with the chuck jaws...not enough to be safe, at least.
2. Mount hub on stock stub. Tighten 2 stock washers + 1 stock castle nut.
3. Turn the washers & nut flange down as needed for clearance so I can get to the edge of the spline boss (chuck rotation will tighten nut if it moved, so no worries of it coming off). Also turn off the cotter pin end of the shaft right down to the 1st thread.
4. Face the hub (remove paint) to make sure its perpendicular to the axis.
5. Turn a pocket (get rid of the raised sections) approx. 2.74 ID x .125 DP x 1.34 boss OD (2.74 ID will allow a light clearance for cv cup OD). Bottom of pocket has to be faced to ensure it is perpendicular to the axis, as this is the surface the cv cup inner will mate to.
6. Trim the corner off the gussets on the backside.

The cv cup inner...
1. Use parting tool to trim off stub, or, hack most of it off on the cut-off saw first.
2. Face that end to bring the OAL to 2.940" (removes about .063" to create a flat mating surface)
3. Cut a pocket at center of face to clear the hub spline boss by .010" all around.
4. Remove paint at closed end for welding.

Assembly...
1. Turn the non-splined end of the stock outer stub to 1/2" or 5/8".
2. Mount the shaft stub in the tail stock drill chuck.
3. Chuck the cv cup inner in the chuck.
4. Slide together and check assembly run-out with dial-indicator at hand-speed.
5. If all looks good (minimal run-out), tack-weld 3-4 places. Will remain tack-welded until suspension is together.

Sweet, sounds good.

I would go with chopsaw on the stub, then face with carbide.

Pretty sure parting is going to be tough, but you never know.

Agreed. We've got a low rpm chop saw with coolant flow.

I'm not even sure if the cv cup is chromoly and/or hardened or not (I'm assuming yes on both), hence the carbide insert tooling.

The end mill chewed up the hub no problem.

Hoping to be throwing chips about this time tomorrow.

"We've got a low rpm chop saw with coolant flow"

Does it have brazed on teeth? Like a wood saw blade?

I don't think they can handle hardened steel can they?

Im talking about a plain old kmart carborundum blade.

D$, from my experience, the CV cup is made from a micro alloy steel then induction hardened.
See the attached image, the heat affected zone (burned looking area) is the induction hardened area.
If your parts are made this way you should be able to understand what area is hard.
When the saw blade hits the hardened area it will let you know ;-)

Well, if the slow saw doesn't do it, I have a regular chop saw. It was a $70 axle, so what are the chances it's super duper tough?

Fortunately the cup doesn't need much work. Could be a bad day, could be a good day.

100% appreciate the input and assistance. This is uncharted territory for me, but it's damn fun!!

I'd use a bandsaw - even a cheap Chinese 4x6 on slow feed will go right through it

I personally wouldn't put it in a chopsaw , if the mount isn't perfect , and it moves , the bind will want to throw the piece out

exactly what I had in mind, like what I see. Good job. Would be easy to go to Vw type 2 or 4 or 930 by the way you are doing it. Same theory, the only thing I wonder is the Cv cup is adding a lot to the width of the rear by sticking out on each side where a Vw type would be in the plunge of the Cvs allowing a narrower rear end possibly? I like your ideas a lot, I just know you don't want to be much wider than a LT pilot in the rear when finished which looks like it may be wider? again good job. By the way it was about 75 today but we are expecting rain late tonite into the weekend so MAYBE 65-70 lol life in California

California weather....don't break my heart, man! It's currently -8degF and we have a winter storm watch for tomorrow expecting 5-10" snow. Maybe instead of LT Polaris axles, I should've gone with Polaris sled tracks! lol

"I'd use a bandsaw - even a cheap Chinese 4x6 on slow feed will go right through it"

Not if the stub is hardened it wont. It will skate right across it with barely a scratch. I haven't chopped a CV in 20 years, and it wasn't a Polaris so I don't know for sure. He has a chop saw, so worth a try.

Dave, that's why I suggested chopping the shorter outer Polaris CV and using it on the inner. Its worth a try doing it the way D is, less work.

Im not quite smelling what you're stepping in here. Won't you lose the plunge? Not that a 5 link needs much of any.

I have never made a 5 link rear before but the way you are heading but with a Vw set up for Cvs it could be done simpler MAYBE, they sell the Vw bearing housing bare so one could make a trailing arm type rear but I look forward to seeing your finished track design Any and all cvs will break with out plunge of any kind, Honda gets away with zero plunge on the outer cv on the pilot by doubling the plunge in the inner cup, looks that way with the Polaris also if I am not mistaking. that's why the cup is so long. If a suspension is made with vw type cvs the plunge is threw both cvs the same amount in and out that gives enough for most suspension types to operate with out breaking the cv cage. Its pretty amazing the cv angles some of these UTVs run, a vw type 2 or 4 is about 23.5 drgrees max before trouble and cook off of the grease happens and cage failure looms. I have run them at 27 degrees on a short course 2 seat single buggy they call them now but the boots were always a issue never likeing that extream angle. A 930 will ride at 27 degrees all day and night and I have run at 33 degrees on pilot cvs before but the same issues with boots popped up. I doubt a front end could be made to match the rear of a custom rear with hi angle but I am watching what you are doing and enjoying it.

Ah, now I understand. Thanks!

The 15A chop saw grunted through the stub. This sh** is hard, no doubt t about it. Had to index the workpiece around so as not to try to cut too thick of a x-section. Nice that the room the saw is in is a certified hot work room with exhaust fans. 22min to cut it off though!

While that part is cooling off, I'll go play with the adapter.

Not artistry, but it's true and ready to be tacked.

I told you they were tough!
Nice job.

I agree Dave, the VW stuff would be cool. It looks like you could almost bolt a cv right to Ds adapter? I don't know the diameters, but it looks close.

The reason for using the Polaris stuff is to take advantage of a cheap, plentiful outer knuckle.

Like you said D, not much plunge needed on a 5 link. People that use the non plunging CVs on both ends rely on the splines to slip a little. Or clip one end only.

And a video of the pair on the lathe...

Buggy axle adapter by D$A: http://youtu.be/cWZDnUJg-50

You can see the hub isn't exactly true on the exterior. But I machined it to fit per the spline, and nothing else, so it's good.

I showed my wife the video to show her what I'd was doing at work and she says "OMG...that looks terrifying!" haaa

you cant believe what it takes to cut a pilot axle in half. Keep it up,

what is holding the flange to the trans splines

There will be two opposed set screws in the hub that fit the groove on the stock output shaft. Will be loctite'd in place. If there's any tug on the axle, there is plenty of plunge to absorb it.

Ended up centering the cup with the hub with the cup pocket and the hubs boss. Hub boss OD is 1.380 and cup pocket ID is 1.390. I couldn't do pocket on the hub with the lathe. I thought we had an indexing chuck for the mill, but we only have one on the cnc which I can't run.

Cool, looks like a Clausing/Colechster?

Do you want the screws 180 or 90 degrees?

i got u, i thought you were using the 350 axle piece for some reason. looks good

Clausing Colchester 16.

I want 2 set screws, 180-degrees apart.

I was using the stock axle stub as a mount only for machining the hub. Needed to center off the splines and nothing else.

The hubs are interesting in that...the 4 wheel stud holes and the splines are all that matter. Everything was allowed to have more tolerance, and it shows.