Alanrr is correct.
The effect of the stiffness of an axle is regularly disputed here, mainly without much technical evidence.
In theory, the stiffness of an axle produces an effect similar to an out of balance wheel, it moves the centre of rotation of the wheel away from the centre of rotation of the axle. If that seems impossible, think of it as being a CV joint with a set of different springs to control the amount by which the wheel moves away from the centre of rotation of the output shaft.
Most of the dispute comes from the fact that the distance, from bearing to wheel hub is so short that the range of movement is so small as to be insignificant.
Another theory is that as the chassis flexs across its width, the axle acts as a torsion bar, with the stiffness contributing different rates of response; not resistance to the flex because all axles regardless of stiffness are equally 'strong'.
Add in the fact that some people find that chopping a few mm off the length of the axle changes the performance of the kart and we are working in 'unknown territory', there are too many factors to create a 'law' that applies to all karts, although one might create a set of predictable results for one kart by experiment.
So we are back to a common piece of karting advice. We aren't sure why certain things work for certain karts, on certain tracks, with certain drivers under certain conditions and the only way you can find out whether it works for you is to try it and see.
You will need to keep a record of those results though, because you might find that what works in the middle of summer won't work for you on a gloomy day in autumn.
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