The case and caps are also milled in strategic areas to reduce weight without sacrificing strength. Strange says the weight reduction amounts to 1.75 lbs. which honestly wouldn’t matter to 99.99% of any of us but I went with that option for a different reason and this is important. If you are using a stock Ford stamped housing like I am, the standard billet caps will NOT clear inside the housing. If you option the lightweight package, the caps are milled and just about fit in the stock housing without modification.

I ended up having to fire up the “flame wrench” with a “rosebud” tip and heated the two dimples in the back cover of the Ford housing until cherry red and then gently persuaded them outward until they were no longer a problem. Considering the dimples are hidden behind the housing back brace they are unseen. No harm, no foul as they say.

All of the components are available individually or as an assembled unit, which is the direction I went. There are many different options based on gear ratio available and the stem size of the pinion. Also available are aluminum yokes, titanium yokes, female couplers, and chromemoly yokes.

I ordered part # PRF215. This is a fully assembled 3.812” bore Ultra Case with the lightweight 40-spline spool (8.25 lb/2.25” bearing journal), billet aluminum 12-bolt pinion support, small (normal) stem pinion PRO (9310) gear, and chromemoly yoke (#U1603). I optioned it out with the lightweight ball bearing package I referenced above (#OPRF25) and a fully machined and lightened ring gear (#D3596) that is available in ratios ranging from 4.86 to 6.50. In case you’re wondering, I went with a 5.67. RPMs anyone?

So, now I had the hot stuff aluminum center and I needed some equally cool axles to install into it. I went with what Strange calls the “Ultimate Drag Racing Axle“. The Strange 40-spline Pro Race axles are forged from Hy-Tuff material, which is an ultra-strength alloy steel. They are then through-hardened, not just case (induction) hardened, which means the axle is the same hardness from the center of the shaft to the surface and lets the axle achieve superior torsional strength and ductility. This means it can take a lot of twisting abuse and not break. Also, Hy-Tuff lends itself to weight saving gun-drilled and ultra light axles because the material is the same hardness all the way through.

After looking at all the options I went with an axle, bearing, and stud package (#P1014). The package consists of a pair of gun-drilled 40 spline axles, (any length up to 30”), choice of bolt circle (I went with 5x4 ½”), and five 1” lightening holes machined into each axle. It also includes a pair of axle bearings made for the 40-spline axles and 3.150” OD Big Ford-style housing ends along with 5/8” wheel studs and spacers with hex nuts. Gun-drilled simply means the entire length of the axle shaft has been removed leaving a .875” hole the entire length of the shaft. I stepped up for the lightweight flange option (#A1006), which replaces the standard five 1” holes with a “pocket milled” flange for even more weight savings.

Also, when you start out with gun-drilled axles, the opening behind the Strange logo is machined out like a funnel and nicely transitioned into the main shaft for even less weight. The gun-drilling is worth a substantial savings in rotating weight. According to Strange the 40-spline gun-drilled axle is 10 percent lighter than a solid 35-spline axle and, most amazingly, it is still 54 percent stronger! Of course, if weight is not a concern then the solid 40-spline axle would be even stronger.