Patent ID: 7334312

Claim:
A method for forming an axle having selectively internally thickened wall sections, comprising: extruding a short, tubular metal blank into an elongated tube of substantially uniform cross-section with a substantially uniform cross-sectional thickness wall; forming one end portion of the tube into a wheel end support, with the opposite end of the tube being open and with said opening being of the same cross-sectional shape as the elongated tube cross-section; providing a tubular ring of an axial length substantially equal to the length of a pre-determined thickened location of the wall of the tube, that is, to a section of the wall of the tube to be thickened; said ring being of an outside circumference that is slightly greater than the internal diameter of the tube and having an interior opening of selected shape, size and location so as to define desired axle wall thicknesses along the circumference of the ring when the ring is positioned at a desired axial location within the tube; inserting the ring into the tube opening and positioning the ring within the tube to overlap the section of the tube wall to be thickened while orienting the ring within the tube portion for creating desired wall section thicknesses at pre-determined circumferential locations relative to the tube wall; permanently fixing the ring in said location for forming a combined ring and tube wall thickness at said location; whereby the axle is formed with a wall section which extends radially inwardly relative to the inner wall of the tube and which is thicker than the extruded tube wall thickness.