Hi Guys,

Having bought an axle, travelled 150 mile round trip to collect it, ground off the old brackets, fabricated and welded on new brackets and started painting it ready for fitting I've just realised it's a Koln axle as opposed to an Atlas. Apparently these are not much use as they are weak.

Previous axle thread

Are they really that bad? Would I be better off to go with a proper Atlas axle or would the Koln axle be suitable for a 2.0l Zetec build, up to around 150bhp?

Thanks in advance for any info,

Cheers,

Martin.

The blokes at PPC mag bought a MK2 with one fitted, Dave from Retro-Ford said "you could snap it like a carrot with a decent crossflow".
Doesn't sound too promising to me

They're not that bad

They were fitted as standard to Cortina 1600 and most 2000 Mk4/5

Probably better than an English axle apart from limited ratios and LSD

Favoured in Europe

Cheaper than Atlas

Diff bearings same as Tran-x use for English LSD, RS Turbo box, Golf 16v box etc and a bit better than standard English ones

Pinion bearings were always the weak point but they're not too small compared to Caterham using Ital axle etc

i kind of think, you've spent all that time and money on it already, fit it. if it lasts it lasts, and if it doesn't, lesson learned. maybe?

I know how you feel i did a 200 mile round trip to get one only to find out it was no use to me

See here: "Linky"

One a plus side i sold it on Ebay for more than i payed for it

Thanks for the feedback chaps.

Tend to agree with Blakep82, as I've come this far I'll just run with it and see what happens. If and when it falls to bits I'll fit an Atlas. Scutter on this site had one fitted to a 1700 crossflow and gave it some serious abuse for a couple of years with no problems.

Cheers,

Martin.

PS. Just got a replacement diff gasket for it - that's how I realised I'd got a Koln axle in the first place - from the guys at Bearing Kits. Highly recommended. Very reasonable prices and very helpful. NTDWM.