CV's installed and you can't beleive the difference

[Guest jt240z]

I just installed Ross's CV adapter along with a good set of used CV axles into my turbo 240Z. You just can't believe how much of a difference it makes in smoothness. With the old U-jointed axles, the whole car would just shudder when boost came on. Now, the transition from mild to wild is greeted with nothing but smooth power transfer. No shake.. No rattle, just lots of ROLLLL.

 

The debate on weather CV's are stronger or not is still up in the air. As for their smoothness and lack of vibration... no debate there. My old axles were not worn and had fairly new Brute Force U-joints installed. The only change in the car was the CVs.

 

Thanks Ross for a great part and the support that goes with it.

 

Look for them at:

 

http://www.modern-motorsports.com

[S30Z Bushido]

how much did it end up costing you in all for the whole conversion? i'm looking at doing this in the near future.

[Guest jt240z]

I paid a total of $380 for the upgrade. That included the CV adapters, 280 stub axles(I had 240z stubs and needed to upgrade), a good set of used CV axles, new bearings and seals. The install is a bit harder then I expected, but not too bad. What I didn't expect was that I had to remove the spindle pins in order to put the CV axles in place. It would have been a whole lot harder if I hadn't already rebuilt the rear suspension. My spindle pins just pulled out without any troubles. Good thing I used anti seize compound on the spindle pins last time I did the rebuild. The whole thing took about 4 hours to do both sides.

 

If your suspension has not been re done within the past few years, expect it to take more time and money.

 

After all is said and done, I believe it is worth the cost and effort.

[Ruben]

Do you have a rear sway bar installed in your 240Z? If you do, did you have any clearance issues between the sway bar and the CV axle boots?

 

Ruben

'72 240Z

[Guest jt240z]

No sway bar right now. I have heard that there are some interference issues on some installs. I'll let you know because I'm adding one soon.

[Guest Rick Johnson]

If you are using a front mounted rear sway bar, it will be too close to the CV joint. I cut the ends off the bar and drilled and tapped the ends and installed heim joints. I then connected the sway bar link through the heim joint and down to the control arm. It worked perfectly but was difficult to drill and tap the sway bar. Make sure you have a high quality drill and tap, lots of oil, and lots of patience.

[Danno74Z]

Rick,

 

I'm in the middle of doing a total rebuild on my rear suspension and I'm very interested in the way you modified and installed the rear sway bar. Do you have any pictures of the setup you could share?

 

Thanks,

Danno74Z

[Guest Rick Johnson]

Unfortunately not. I cut as little off the bar as possible, but enough to have a good flat surface for the heim joint to tighten to. I think I used a 3/8 female heim joint and threaded rod. I used a few 1/8 thick machined flat washers to space the heim back so the spherical ball end would sit directly over the control arm hole. I think I used the stock link arm because it was 3/8 diameter as well.

 

Don't use urethane mounts at the control arm because they don't pivot well enough and sooner or later they will rip out the control arm mount. Just use rubber. At the heim joint you will not need any rubber at all so the attachment between the sway bar and the control arm will be plenty stiff.

[Guest bobs302z]

I am in the middle of the swap as well . I was wondering if you had to take any thing apart to get axles in .you answered that (you removed pin) Hey Rick wonde if it would matter if I welded hem goint to cut of end of sway bar . or can you shorten end link inch or so ? What have other people done

[Modern Motorsports Ltd]

"I am in the middle of the swap as well . I was wondering if you had to take any thing apart to get axles in .you answered that (you removed pin) "

 

With car up on jackstands and rear stub axle/housing drooped it makes for a shorter length from companion flange to differential and a tighter squeeze. If you jack up your wheel/housing assembly so it's closer to horizontal you increase the lateral distance and thus installation room available between your companion flange mating surface and differential.

[Guest jt240z]

Ross,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. That was the problem I was having. With the car up on jack stands, I couldn't get the CV's in place. I was lacking about an inch. Since I had recently replaced all the rear suspension parts I simply pulled the spindle pin to get that access. Later, while replacing the differential, I found that if I removed the rear lower control arm bushing cap I could get enough play to install the CV with the car on the jack stands. I never thought of jacking up the suspension in order to get more room. :malebitchslap:

 

I ran into one other strange problem. After installing the CV's I noticed a rubbing sound. When I checked I found that the differential seals were making the sound. After removal of the differential, I found the source of the problem. The output shaft seals, which have a cup shaped protrusion on them, were rubbing on the CV flange and were destroyed. I looked at another R200 I had just rebuilt, and noticed that the seals were a different shape. That second R200 had flush output shaft seals. I replaced the entire R200 because I had a whining sound from the old one anyway. With the new R200 in place, everything went in just great.

 

Have you thought of adding a FAQ sheet, either to your web site or on paper, about tips on installing the CV's. This may help others who have the same questions about installation.

 

Thanks again for a great product.

[BLKMGK]

A FAQ would be good, I'm actually worrying that yanking the stock stubs will be a bitch - guess we'll see someday. Lots of work to be done back there on my car including a seal it seems - ALL of my gear oil has leaked out the front (sob).

[Guest bobs302z]

well i got my cvs in I cheated a little and cut the dust cover nob down about half and a link out of the spring . My car was on a hoist and still could not quite get cvs dust cover by flang . Another thing i noticed is that the nob on the dust cover hit the axle stub a little . That made my desion to cut it down easyer. Another thing I noticed was that my end links on rear sway bar are the same length but because lower suspesion box is the same side to side the sway bar is actually preloaded to one side.I have energy suspenion end links not sure if old ones were the same . I thing I a going to put hem joints on the end of sway bar like Rick will adress it then . Cant wait to get car on the road hoping for May 1 . We still have snow & gravel on roads.

[Guest jt240z]

Ya, I found the same slight interference "problem". There seems to be about a 3mm "crush" on the grease cap from the stub axle nut. I found that if you tighten the 6 mounting screws down the cap just slightly pushes in and everything goes in OK. I don't think it will cause any problems, but it may cause some to leak grease. Not sure here, just a possibility. Kind of depends on how much, if at all, it distorts the rubber seal.

[Guest Rick Johnson]

I too found the CV dust covers contacted the stub axles. I machined down the stub axle ends, cut down the height of the nut, and used a thinner washer. It was quite the puzzle. I was a bit surprised that no one else was complaining about the fit issue.

 

I must say that my biggest disappointment was reading Scotties Web page and finding that the CV axles had not been strong enough to handle his horsepower. After breaking two CV's, he switched to a Vette rear.

 

Can anyone brag about how much rear wheel horsepower they are successfully putting through their R200 and CV half shafts????

[Guest Anonymous]

rick, i have 280z with a 350 probably putting out between 420 and 450 hp. so far my best time has been an 11.56@118 mph with a 60' time of 1.68. well that is when i started breaking y-joints. i am considering going to a 31z c/v, recommended by ross@modern motor sports. my concern is that in the future i am planning to install an ati pro charger . will the combo take 600 hp , and also the cost of new gears. when i install the blower i will have to put in a higher gear. the used gears i have used so far have wined and made metal ,not good. to be more specific , when i was turning 11.80 and a60' time of 1.84, i had no problems, that i was yet aware of. same motor all i did was change from a flowmaster to a magnaflow.oh, my car has been lowered about an inch or so . i am not sure because it was lowered before i took posession of it. sorry if this did not help.

[Guest Rick Johnson]

Sorry but I do not have the experience to answer the question as to how much HP or particularly torque the C/V shafts can take. I really hope that other people who have broken their C/V shafts would let us all know.

 

My guess is that a good indication of half shaft torque capacity would be to relate 60' times to shaft breakage. My 'automatic trans' car would run 1.75 60' times and not break U joints. (my car is not lowered very much so my U joint angles were not stressed) I switched to C/V shafts and started running cheater slicks at the same time. I currently run 1.71 60' with C/V shafts with no problems to date. Based on your information above, it sounds like I was on the verge of breaking U-Joints since you broke yours at 1.68 60'. (UPDATE - I have a friend with a Cadillac engine 240 that runs around 1.68 60' times. He has broken 2 U joints to date)

 

UPDATE - Scotties web site makes it seem that if your 60 foot time is below 1.6 you may start breaking CV shafts. Based on this sample of only 1 broken C/V shaft, it is not clear how much insurance you buy with the switch to C/V shafts. (I switched to the C/V joints anyway )

 

I would really like other people who have broken their half shafts to let us know about their experience - particularly what 60' times they were running when they broke.

[Scottie-GNZ]

I do not believe I ever made such a statement. I did say the CV was a "weak point" but I also clarified what I meant by that statement. It takes tremendous HP and traction to cut a 1.60' or better and the load on the CVs can be compounded by incorrect suspension setup, like road racing springs, etc and the fact that we are for the most part using 20+ yr old used CVs. I went as quick as 1.55 with 275/50-15 BFG DRs and launching with a t-brake. I broke a driver's side CV and after checking with a CV shop, I was told that must have been a freak accident because the pass side is what usually breaks.

 

Bottom line is, as long as we are using 20+ yr old parts from the junkyard, it is a crapshoot but definitely better than u-joints. I stressed that point in my webpage and more than once on this forum. I also made it very clear (apparently not clear enough) that the reason why I switched was not only because of the R-200. I wanted to launch much harder but was not willing to pay $500-700 for custom CVs. I am now running DOT-slicks and have gone as quick as 1.45. Would I have broken another used CV? I did not want to risk it. In addition, as nuts as this might sound, it cost me (I stress ME) less to do the C4 swap than it would have have cost me to get the R-200 to do what I wanted.

[Guest Rick Johnson]

Scottie, although your experience may have been "a freak" occurence, it is very helpfull in developing an idea of the C/V shafts durability.

 

Hopefully other people who may have broken their 280ZXT C/V half shafts will respond with the details of their experience including the 60' times they were running when they broke. It would be nice to accumulate more actual data on this often discussed subject.

[Guest Anonymous]

scottie i broke two drivers side at the diff. today i purchased two L and RT x-31 c/v shafts , turbo, i am waitng for ross to e-mail me back before i take them to be rebuilt. i choose the turbo shafts because the picture ross e-mailed me shows there to be a 4 bolt pattern . that is what the turbo shaft has. the non-turbo shaft has a 6 bolt pattrn . ross called them just z-31, witch means non-turbo. so untill i find out witch one his adapters fit i guess i will just be waiting . ho-hum.