jat240 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 It shouldnt have failed with a stock l28 and 1978 5-speed in a 78 280z with street tires and stock axles. right? everyone said the axles or r180 would break before these would... I paid $500 for them from wolf creek feb 2014. I had maybe 1500-2000 miles on them. 5-6 autocross events and 1 trip to the drag stip where it broke on my first attempt to go down the track. Anyone else get axles around this time period? did yours have holes that were too big for the stock axle flange bolts? did yours seem kinda soft for something that had been heat treated? Did I do something wrong? or did I just get a $500 paper weight that might have destroyed my $400 differential? I havent looked at the other side yet as it was still turning with the drive shaft.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 (edited) Looks like a heat-treating problem, maybe? Welcome to the world of racing and the world of after-market parts. Try not to be too pissed about it, it sort of comes with the territory. Upset and disappointed, sure. But not mad. I'm glad it didn't happen at half-track and spin you into the guardrail. Give the supplier a call, I would bet they will replace them for you and will want to do some research on their machine shop. Way to go for enjoying your car fully, not many guys do. Get it fixed and go snap a driveshaft! Don't know if you had any wheel hop, but feel for it and stop the spin/burnout if the wheels start to hop-that's a drivetrain killing situation. Edited August 7, 2015 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jat240 Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 I held it about 3500-4000rpm dropped the clutch and pow. the car didnt move an inch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jat240 Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 first picture is of the passenger side. the second picture is the drivers side that broke. clearly they were were too soft. you can see how much the one that didnt break twisted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 What caused the groove at the inner end of the splines? That looks like something that occured during use. We have a set of these from the first batch made by Beta Motorsports and they are holding up fine to road racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jat240 Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 thats for the internal retaining ring the axles snap into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sovereign Z Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 If they were heat treated incorrectly, they could be over hardened making them brittle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Contact John Williams (Dat240)? On this site. He's the one that made them for me and I think he continued to make the for Todd at WCR. Unfortunately Todd passed away recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 44 and 71 in this thread might be informative. Axles is hard to make... http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/107855-m2-z31-short-shaft-issue/page-3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 thats for the internal retaining ring the axles snap into. I mean the other end of the spline, where it meets the smooth section. There is significant wear there. What caused that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jat240 Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 That's the undercut section, where the thing twisted the splines chipped and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Ok. It looks like it is all burred up. Maybe it is grease or artifacts from the twisting. I thought perhaps it has some wear that occured before the failure that might have contributed to the failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jat240 Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 I contacted Mr Williams, we are getting the issue resolved. Thanks for the info guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Please let us know the outcome. I bought an unused set from around that time period. I would like to know if it's a batch issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotmy4 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I snapped my passenger side stub axle last weekend. I'm making more horsepower and have been running them since 2011. It was from a second gear pull. Driver side looks like it's twisting. I'm running a ls1 on street tires. I'll see if I can upload some pics later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Guys... these side axles were designed for an R180 and are limited to about 300 ft. lbs. of engine torque - mainly due to the axle OD limitations. You really should be running a R200 behind a LS engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotmy4 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I knew I was on borrowed time. I was honestly thought the diff would have went first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Me too. But the LSDs in the Subie R180 are very strong given the size limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatnow123 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Wow!! I'm sure they just weren't hardened like they should have been. What I find amazing is that you (as well as others) have broke these and axles on many a vehicle yet those tiny U joints generally seem to go unscathed. Makes so sense to me as I would think the U joints would be the weak link just based on size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 There have been two axle failures on two vehicles that I'm aware of. The axles are from two different production runs about 3 years a part. The second failure mentioned above was in an application beyond the design limits of the part. It lasted 4 years. The Nissan half shafts are very strong and failures tend to be in the shaft itself, not the u-joints - unless the u-joint is worn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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