The Autumn from hell....Front drive shaft splines let go!

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I have 01. I bought a giubo and will look into can I add the spacer to mine too engage more teeth when I replace the giubo.

If there is not enough room for the full 15mm spacer, I'm sure a machine shop could take off whatever would be necessary with relative ease. Though with your history of ingenuity, you'll make your own at whatever thickness is required. I was thinking of you when trying to figure out what to do with my amplifier as the idea of paying $300 for repair or worse $800 for a replacement did not appeal to me. "WWAD?" went through my head after seeing what the issue was.

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

FYI: giubo is not gwee bow it's joo boh (named after the inventor).

Hah! Noted Andrew. Though doubt I'll remember to change my pronunciation anytime soon. At 20 years of being BMW enthusiast, exactly 1 person has had the correct pronunciation. Yourself. Perhaps the other common vernacular, flex disk, should be adopted universally.

[andrewwynn]

I vote for flex disk. I can't remember where I discovered the correct pronunciation. It hurts my ears when I hear gwee boo on YouTube.

Thanks for the wwad line. You did exactly what I would do.

[TriX5]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

Sorry if I missed this. Is the 15mm spacer being utilized to avoid having to move the transfer case for installation of the shaft? Or is it for added engagement in the transfer case? Combination of both I suppose.

Definitely the latter, combo of both. Spacing between the diff flange and the TC splines is 29 7/8", I had the shaft welded 29 13/16". Using the spacer for maximum engagement but did not want to do any more disassembly in difficult to reach places......

If you put the spacer in with the original spline stub you may have to loose the dust cap or modify it. I did not check this option as that would not give me sufficient virgin spline engagement.

I admit that this would have been waaaay easier when I had the engine out but at the time I was getting impatient and just wanted to get it up and running again.

[TriX5]

The bolts arrived on Wednesday evening but the drive shaft project has been on hold as I was finishing up on the installation of two hopper windows in the basement. At any rate the car was being driven with a temporary set up. This morning I jacked the X up again but I got distracted by some other stuff and the install of the spacer will have to wait until Sunday morning.

Last weekend I cleaned up a set of winter wheels that will go on the car next as the ones mounted on the style 74s are truly done. To account for the wider wheels and tires the beefy 45mm spacers on rear axle will have to make place for a set of 30mm ones. On the front I am slimming them from 20 to 15mm. The rear brake rotors and pads are pretty much done as well and a set of fresh Bosch pads and rotors will be installed.

The calipers could do with some paint as well but I have too many other items on the to-do list.....

[andrewwynn]

Wow that's a heck of a spacer! Lots of extra stress on that poor bearing!

[TriX5]

Andrew - For the relatively narrow Style 74s the 45mm spacer gives just the right amount of poke. :-) The car is still on the original wheel bearings but the last time I fixed the half shaft boots, I could tell the front wheel bearings will need to be replaced in the not too distant future.....

Below is a picture of the Russian spacer installed just before torquing up the new internal hex bolts. NOTE: The effective thickness of the Russian spacer is more like 13mm. The part may be 15mm thick including the raised part on one side that centers it on the drive shaft flange. I should have measured it before popping it in but forgot and could only do an approximate with the part installed. Also, note the tight clearance between the bolt head and the bolt boss on the bell housing....

Today did not get around to the rear brakes and wheels/tires but will take care of it in the next week or so.

[X5chemist]

TriX5. Mine is not installed yet. I'll take measurements to post. Thanks for the pics. Hope to install mine along with some some other work in mid Jan.

[TriX5]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

TriX5. Mine is not installed yet. I'll take measurements to post. Thanks for the pics. Hope to install mine along with some some other work in mid Jan.

Chemist - That would be great!

I am quite happy with this solution, the cost is about 2/3 of buying the Cobra shaft and avoids doing complicated wrenching under the car. Installing the Russian spacer adds quite a bit to the spline engagement. The Cobra guys should think about offering something like that along with their shaft.

The part that intimidated me the most was finding a shop that could do the welding. The welding needs to be done aligning the shaft and the stub precisely. It seems many old style drive shaft shops are shuttering the doors as most of this work is replacement rather than repair these days. Around here there are very few shops offering any kind of quality repair service.

[Henn28]

A quick question(s) regarding the replacement aft spline piece. After 150k my splines looked ok on my front driveshaft when I pulled it for the motor swap, but not great. Fortunately the ac doesn’t drip on my driveshaft so I think that must have helped the longevity.

Regardless, I bought the spline replacement that needs to be welded in. I need to get my car back in service, so I’m thinking I will just weld in the new splines at, or perhaps at a position just very slightly longer than the OEM driveshaft (1/8” maybe). My OEM shaft performed well, relative to others, so I’m thinking why do a ton of work if I can get 100k out of new splines and the same overall length in order to save on install brain damage.

My question then is do the replacement splines perform at least as well as the OEM, and what are the lessons learned on welding it in? I don’t weld and will need to find someone to do this. The YouTube I saw made it look super simple. I am a little worried about strength of the shaft after the new splines are welded in, and balance.

Thanks all

[andrewwynn]

My understanding is the spline end is a snug fit so it should be a very simple weld job. The shaft is hollow and you will not offset the balance much from the weld.


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