MyE28.com

Bill in MN wrote: If this thing sees the pavement again at all it will likely be as a full cage track car, not as a driver.

WoW, how many ponies are you capable of pushing?

My mate had a 78 corolla with sr20 in it, custom driveshaft to a mazda bravo diff. He was running it in on the dyno at 12psi (it was built to take 25) and the shaft broke, it smaked the floor and ripped the metal, ripped the fuel lines in the process which put fuel all over the exhaust, then the back half of the car caught on fire. As the shell was only a slapper it was knocked out welded up and another dodgey coat of paint. So id consider myself pretty luck that nothing more had happend.
Good luck with gettin it or another one back on the road!

This is a perfect example of why you CAN NOT use a 1 piece shaft on these cars. The distance is too long. A properly built 2 piece shaft is much stronger than a 1 piece shaft.

Everytime we have someone want a one piece shaft (and we say no) they call back not long after because their "custom" 1 piece shaft broke.

I am surprised this shop even built that for you.


Sorry it had to happen. If you ever need a properly built 2 piece shaft, that will hold up to power, let me know.

Tony T.
Beyer DriveLine
Chandler, AZ.
www.beyerdriveline.com

TT wrote:This is a perfect example of why you CAN NOT use a 1 piece shaft on these cars. The distance is too long. A properly built 2 piece shaft is much stronger than a 1 piece shaft.

Everytime we have someone want a one piece shaft (and we say no) they call back not long after because their "custom" 1 piece shaft broke.

I am surprised this shop even built that for you.


Sorry it had to happen. If you ever need a properly built 2 piece shaft, that will hold up to power, let me know.

Tony T.
Beyer DriveLine
Chandler, AZ.
www.beyerdriveline.com

Tony, I don't know you well (yet), but I would venture to say you have 10x the experience any of the rest of us have in the arena of driveshafts. That being said, I'd definitely recommend that your advice but put into a new section similar to the FAQ's. Maybe we could call it the SYAQ's (Save Your Ass Questions), where these tips would do just that, save your ass from heartache. There are many of us that have learned via trial & error vs. raw knowledge but a bank of this advice could definitely save many some heartache & pain in the end. Of course in the end, extra knowledge will most always save a person $$ in addition to busted knuckles. My $.02

Thanks for the tip!
LJ

Tony, can you elaborate on why a two piece driveshaft is stronger? My background is big old American cars, with one piece driveshafts about a mile long. Well, maybe not quite that long, but pretty big. As an example, the driveshaft in my Bonneville must be close to six feet long; the engine in that car is only about 350hp but I have a friend with a 550hp engine in a similar car, and driveshaft strength has not been a problem.

Not being a driveline expert, it would seem that a two piece shaft just has more pieces to break.

A two piece driveshaft is not necessarily stronger. It really has nothing to do with strength of the driveshaft. It is all to do with critical speed. When you switch from a one piece driveshaft to a two piece, you greatly raise the critical speed of the driveshaft. You basically have two short driveshafts instead of one long one. This means the driveshaft can spin much faster before it is in danger of destroying itself. That is why BMWs and mercedes use two piece driveshafts.

American transmissions tend to be much longer than german transmissions. This allows for a much shorter driveshaft and therefore a one piece unit.

What was the length of the driveshaft, your final drive gearing, and the diameter of the driveshaft? We can easily determine the critical speed knowing these facts.

Nebraska_e28 wrote: Tony, I don't know you well (yet), but I would venture to say you have 10x the experience any of the rest of us have in the arena of driveshafts. That being said, I'd definitely recommend that your advice but put into a new section similar to the FAQ's. Maybe we could call it the SYAQ's (Save Your Ass Questions), where these tips would do just that, save your ass from heartache. There are many of us that have learned via trial & error vs. raw knowledge but a bank of this advice could definitely save many some heartache & pain in the end. Of course in the end, extra knowledge will most always save a person $$ in addition to busted knuckles. My $.02

Thanks for the tip!
LJ

I would be more than happy to put something together regarding driveshafts on our cars. I think that is a great I idea. I have read through some of the current stuff on the board regarding shafts and so far most of it is not correct. I'll start putting something together. Whatever I can do to help.

That would be very beneficial Tony!

Hopefully this episode will scratch the one piece idea from anyone's thought process!

As my father would have said "lessons learned, son, lessons learned".

TT wrote:

Nebraska_e28 wrote: Tony, I don't know you well (yet), but I would venture to say you have 10x the experience any of the rest of us have in the arena of driveshafts. That being said, I'd definitely recommend that your advice but put into a new section similar to the FAQ's. Maybe we could call it the SYAQ's (Save Your Ass Questions), where these tips would do just that, save your ass from heartache. There are many of us that have learned via trial & error vs. raw knowledge but a bank of this advice could definitely save many some heartache & pain in the end. Of course in the end, extra knowledge will most always save a person $$ in addition to busted knuckles. My $.02

Thanks for the tip!
LJ

I would be more than happy to put something together regarding driveshafts on our cars. I think that is a great I idea. I have read through some of the current stuff on the board regarding shafts and so far most of it is not correct. I'll start putting something together. Whatever I can do to help.

Danke!

TT wrote:

I would be more than happy to put something together regarding driveshafts on our cars. I think that is a great I idea. I have read through some of the current stuff on the board regarding shafts and so far most of it is not correct. I'll start putting something together. Whatever I can do to help.

How about a complete writeup with pictures for the DS you are making for your new acquisition?

Duke wrote:

TT wrote:

I would be more than happy to put something together regarding driveshafts on our cars. I think that is a great I idea. I have read through some of the current stuff on the board regarding shafts and so far most of it is not correct. I'll start putting something together. Whatever I can do to help.

How about a complete writeup with pictures for the DS you are making for your new acquisition?

I can do that as well.

Bill in MN wrote:Stuart

I got rid of the eta early this spring so the floor option is a no-go.

It's still going to the frame shop but common sense tells me it's not worth putting money into if it'll require extensive work to make it safe again. It will be much more cost effective to find as perfect a donor chassis as I can find and transfer everything to it over the winter. I think it's one of those "suck it up and move on" deals

Dang - I just threw away a 528 you could have had for the sheet metal parts.

Day late and a dollar short, huh Chris??

I'm starting the hunt for as an original and clean car as I can find. Several of our mye28 comrads have brought some fine e28's to my attention and I'm also looking into a few other platforms as well. Not being in any hurry, I know the right one will be found and we'll be back in business before too long!

I'll GIVE you a RUST-FREE 87 535is rolling chassis sans driveline and doors if you want it. You'd have to pick it up though. Have clean title, not in my name though...

When I first heard people talking about one piece driveshafts for e28s I thought how would that work? I guess it didnt work too good. I would be intrested in knowing what kind of $$$ would be involved in a good two piece for a turbo build.

Jimmie

Jimmie G wrote:When I first heard people talking about one piece driveshafts for e28s I thought how would that work? I guess it didnt work too good. I would be intrested in knowing what kind of $$$ would be involved in a good two piece for a turbo build.

Jimmie

Just ordered one from Beyer DriveLine today! I'll let you know how it works out for me in a year or so. By then I should have my FI motor built.

Thanks TT for the info!

Maddog wrote:A two piece driveshaft is not necessarily stronger. It really has nothing to do with strength of the driveshaft. It is all to do with critical speed. When you switch from a one piece driveshaft to a two piece, you greatly raise the critical speed of the driveshaft. You basically have two short driveshafts instead of one long one. This means the driveshaft can spin much faster before it is in danger of destroying itself. That is why BMWs and mercedes use two piece driveshafts.

American transmissions tend to be much longer than german transmissions. This allows for a much shorter driveshaft and therefore a one piece unit.

What was the length of the driveshaft, your final drive gearing, and the diameter of the driveshaft? We can easily determine the critical speed knowing these facts.

all the mazda racing driveshafts are 2 peice too, 9000+ RPM with a 1 peice = balance problems, and worn tailshafts