Atlas axles - Classic Ford

cftechmyths1Atlas axleswon’t takebig power? False.With the right partsfitted they havebeen proven onbig power and biggrip cars.2Group 4floating axlesare stronger?False. Thedifferencesare only on thehub arrangementand not the pig’shead internals.3Ford nevermade a BabyAtlas for the Escort?False. They arevery, very rare,but they werefitted to someEuropean cars.4An LSD isstronger thanan open diff? False.They are as strongas each other.5 A standardaxle can copewith 350 bhp? True.This has beenknown withgentle road drivingand, importantly,lower grip levels.What is a fully floatingGroup 4 axle?This is something you hearbeing banded about a lotwithin rally circles and itrelates to the strength of the hubarrangement, rather than thepower it can cope with. The heavyduty upgrades to the hubs allowfor sustained shocks and harsh useover rough ground such asrallying. The centre pig’s headsection, including the CWP, diff andshafts, is virtually the same as anyother Group 1 or fast road uprateditem, but the tubes are thicker andheavily braced. They also use astub axle arrangement andbearing carrier, so the hub itself isdesigned to spread the load ontothe tubes and axle. On a normalaxle the shafts and bearings haveto transfer the torque of the engineas well, taking the wheel load, butthis way its role is reduced to justtransmitting power. This is done byanchoring the hub, using twotapered roller bearings, whichstops wheel movement no matterwhat the wheel encounters. It alsomeans that even under very hardcornering the wheels will alwayspoint in the same direction, whichis ideal for track or circuit basedcars too. As it’s a fair amount ofwork to machine the necessaryend parts, and different shafts areneeded, it’s not something that canbe done as a kit or as an afterthought once the axle’s been built.Only the outer hubs and shafts are different.FullyfloatingThis is somethingwe hear being useda lot, but it onlyrelates to the hubarrangement, togive extra strength.On the left is a Group 4, next to a normal axle.About Fostek engineeeringRun by father and son duo John and TomFoster, the company started out around13 years ago when they were buildingthemselves a rally car. When it came to theaxle they found no one could supply themwith one. Taking the initiative, they read a fewbooks and had a go at doing it themselves,with good results. They were soon doinganother for a friend’s car and word spread. Inthe early days they had to machine and adaptstandard parts, as very little was readilyavailable. But they now make their own parts,redesigning items along the way to be bothstronger and lighter. Over time they’ve learntwhat works and what doesn’t and now turnout hundreds of axles a year for customers allover the world for road and competition use.They quickly established a reputation as beingthe leading force and experts in Atlas axlesand their latest development of newly castpig’s heads means they can now supplya complete brand new axle from scratch.So if you’ve got a big power engine and needan axle, Fostek are the ones.Fostek is a familyrun businesswhich catersfor everythingAtlas related.92 August 2011