What in the world is spline? I have heard theis way to often when talking about "hard core" off roading and I really really want to know EVERYTHING you can afford to tell me. Thanks guys.

 

Grab one of these http://www.industrialpress.com/mh.htm and read up or check out http://www.mmsonline.com/ and you can find all sorts of goods on how you manufacturer a spline, etc.

Martin

 

splines are the grooves that keep any sort of rod from rotating around inside its housing. i wouldnt really call it a hardcore offroading term. in axles its used to transmit torque to the wheels, its also used in your steering rod and lots of other places, and not just limited to cars either.

its kinduv like a gear, but just REAL small grooves, and like gears it has a tooth count dependant on what it needs to fit in.

 

This is a misleading statement. Splines can be as big or as small as the manufacturer sees fit to make them. Toy axles have 30 splines at the diff. These are fairly small splines, and the more splines the better. Old FJ-40 axles are 6 spline in some parts, these splines are huge and very weak. Older Land Rover axles are 10 spline. These corse splined axles are to be avoided like the plague...

Here are the splines on the end of a Dana 44 axle shaft:

They are 30 spline too, although they have a slightly different pitch than a toy axle.