How to check axles

[JezWest]

I have the swing axle transmission out of my Beetle to be rebuilt. It was whining increasingly loudly and the stock rations (for 1192cc motor) don't suit the current 177cc motor very well. So I have the axles out of the car and I thought I should take a decent look at them whilst they are out. They are in fact short axles from a 1961 Beetle, to replace the stock long axles for my 1972 Beetle (this was so my American Racing rims fit nicely under the wings).

In terms of checking the axles: what am I looking for? Any photos of things that don't look too bad but subsequently let go?

For context: these axles have done 20k miles with me, my driving and the 1776cc motor (Fumio heads, Engle 120, Dellorto DRLA40, Kennedy 1700lb clutch with stock style but unsprung disk, 205x70 radials). It's a street car, only ever will be, I drive it, but I'm not nailing it away from every set of lights. Goodness knows what mileage the axles covered before I had them. They're sixty years old now.

They look fine - I cannot see or feel any cracks, there's no chunks missing, the spade ends look great, the threads and splines look fine. Unless I find anything nasty or soon-to-let-go they'll just go back in and likely be 100%.

So what can you suggest?

[pupjoint]

for cracks usually its MPI inspection, I have only done it once and thats because at that time i had inspectors around me so they just did it for free. the stock axles i find will last for street type of driving.

[PPRMicke]

I have the swing axle transmission out of my Beetle to be rebuilt. It was whining increasingly loudly and the stock rations (for 1192cc motor) don't suit the current 177cc motor very well. So I have the axles out of the car and I thought I should take a decent look at them whilst they are out. They are in fact short axles from a 1961 Beetle, to replace the stock long axles for my 1972 Beetle (this was so my American Racing rims fit nicely under the wings).

In terms of checking the axles: what am I looking for? Any photos of things that don't look too bad but subsequently let go?

For context: these axles have done 20k miles with me, my driving and the 1776cc motor (Fumio heads, Engle 120, Dellorto DRLA40, Kennedy 1700lb clutch with stock style but unsprung disk, 205x70 radials). It's a street car, only ever will be, I drive it, but I'm not nailing it away from every set of lights. Goodness knows what mileage the axles covered before I had them. They're sixty years old now.

They look fine - I cannot see or feel any cracks, there's no chunks missing, the spade ends look great, the threads and splines look fine. Unless I find anything nasty or soon-to-let-go they'll just go back in and likely be 100%.

So what can you suggest?

As long as you do not use slicks, they usually do quite a lot
Check for cracks at the shovel because that's where you want to go
You can always polish off sharp edges because they will last longer
At about 190 hp and slicks you are close
/// M