getZ Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 I couldn't find anybody who had any problems with the passenger side cv being to long, aside from not having the bearing flipped around. My issue is the bearing is flipped and it still is about a quarter inch to long. It's the shaft that sticks out past the bearing and will hit the end cap when the outside is pushed in. During this conversion I changed over to 280z control arms and MMS billet stub axles with the billet companion flange. Don't know if that has an bearing on the install, but I didn't think that should hurt anything. I noticed the gap between the cv joint and the pumkin is still about a quarter inch when the cv joint is seated. The only thing I could think of was I have an incorrect CV joint. It looks correct, but it was an ebay special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgeezer Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 There is a length difference between the passenger and driver's side. Seach the forum and you will find photos describing which side is shorter/longer. Check to make sure you are installing the correct axle on the correct side. When I did my installation, the end of the axle kept knocking the end cap out. My solution was to drop the rear control arms, swing the wheel out and then bolt up the CV. Worked like a charm. g I couldn't find anybody who had any problems with the passenger side cv being to long, aside from not having the bearing flipped around. My issue is the bearing is flipped and it still is about a quarter inch to long. It's the shaft that sticks out past the bearing and will hit the end cap when the outside is pushed in. During this conversion I changed over to 280z control arms and MMS billet stub axles with the billet companion flange. Don't know if that has an bearing on the install, but I didn't think that should hurt anything. I noticed the gap between the cv joint and the pumkin is still about a quarter inch when the cv joint is seated. The only thing I could think of was I have an incorrect CV joint. It looks correct, but it was an ebay special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 From what I can tell from other posts, the driver side is the short side shaft. I found one of the other guys forums where he landed up using two short shafts. I wanted to do this as well, after I get another short shaft. My concern was on the 300zxt shafts the input spline to the pumkin is a little different for both sides. The spline itself is fine, but the depth of the locking ring is a little different, at least enough where it will not lock into place. Tonight I will have a closer look and see what it is going to take to make it lock in. I realize other guys have just left it in there without the lock (it can't really go anywhere), but it still makes me a little uneasy about leaving it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78zlt1 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 One thing you might want to check is if the inner cv is on the right shaft I have 2 sets of 300zxt CVshafts I got of Ebay, one that doesnt seem to have been rebuilt outer set( green) and a set that was rebuilt (inner set). Short shafts on the left , long shafts on the right. As you can see the rebuilt set have the inner CV's reversed , the short stub should be on the short shaft ( the shaft below the spline that has the spiral cuts one is longer than the other) The outer (green cv set is correct) Please correct me if I'm wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Since I just destroyed a perfectly good 3:90 ring and pinion set after installing the M-M companion flanges and a set of aftermarket reman 300ZXT CVs, I too am very concerned that this doesn't happen again. They went after only 150 miles of highway driving. Besides the time and efforts there's the added cost of carrier bearings and the fact I just can't drive my Z when the weather is great and I have the time to do so. I could have installed the CVs backwards but I don't think I did and after the latest breakdown, I checked three ways to heaven to make sure I had them in on the right sides. I also have a problem with the caps popping off. The bearing swap-over was simple and straightforward. I have noted that the recess that is machined into the M-M flanges are deeper than the extended lip on the reman CVs. I ended up cutting a thin metal plate that I inserted in the recess to make up the difference. I took them off tonight and the caps were sit on. The reason I took them off was that after 50-70 miles on the new diff set-up I wanted to do 2 things: 1) drain the gear oil and see if I had gray metal paste in the bottom of the diff ( it seems the pinion is no quite as robust as the ring gear), and 2) measure each side of the compressed CVs to check against a set of OEM CVs that Roostmonkey has. The oil had some fine gray filings but that could have been left over from the insides of the Quaife. The measurements I took were 15.75 (Passenger side) and 16.75 (Driver side). For yucks I called Courtesy this morning and asked for price and availability for a set of OEM CVs. As Butch was waiting for his computer to tell him they were NLA, he told me that if they were the cost would be $1,000. a side. We laughed and I told him my wife was going to be very pleased that they were NLA, even if she has no idea what NLA means. I'll post the results of the check between the reman and the OEM CVs lengths tomorrow. I hate driving down the road with one ear tuned to the next grinding sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 78zlt1 - I believe the green is correct. At least that is what I have. Actualy if the remanufactured one I ordered is like yours. It would work, a long spline with a short shaft. I could mix the two sets and have a correct fitting set. Thanks for the pic! gnosez - Yes, I noticed my end cap being hit on the passenger side, I tried the short shaft on the passenger side and it worked much better, no binding anywhere. The only problem was it didn't lock into place, but it would work. I am concerned why you lost a ring and pinion. Maybe to much pressure being pushed into the carrier from the bearing pushing on the outer cap? Thanks for the info guys. I was beginning to think it was me or my setup. It sounds like others have had the same problem as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Can someone post the total (compressed) length of a set of OEM 300ZXT CVs? Thanks. I don't want to re-install my reman set until I know for sure they are the right size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 John, the OEM units I have measure 16.25 and 15.75 at the location we disscussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 From what I can tell based on other members write ups is the correct length 300zxt shaft does not always work. I'm not sure if it's the year of the car, 240 vs 280. Looking through other pics, even if it worked it was close. Notice how compressed the boots are. A lof of guys have their boots almost completely squashed so they are almost out of travel going into the car. If the shaft locks into the pumkin you cannot have them in wrong, unless of course they are remanufactured incorrectly. The input spline shaft ends have different lengths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Roost - thanks, it looks like the OEM longer side is 0.50 inches shorter than the reman version. And no, just because it locks into the diff doesn't mean it you got it in the right side. The Quaife unit input shaft internal lengths are the same and are in fact deeper than the shaft itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78zlt1 Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I took some measurements today of my non-rebuilt shafts. These DO NOT have the cages flipped. and they are compressed , hitting the cover of the outside CV. What lenghts do you guys have with the cages flipped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Good point 78zlt, my measurements were on an un-flipped set too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 8, 2007 Author Share Posted September 8, 2007 I didn't think about an aftermarket diff affecting how deep the shafts go into the pumkin, which would of course change the need for the overall shaft length. I have a brute strength lsd and the spline stops with about a quarter inch gap. Gnosez - does the Quaife unit seat comletely into the diff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 8, 2007 Author Share Posted September 8, 2007 I measured my flipped set and the numbers are identical to 78zlt1. The short side actualy came in longer. short: 19 7/8" long 20 9/16" I don't know if the set of cv's I have were new or not, I got them off ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Yes, the diff fits in there all the way. It's not the quaife it's the CVs (or actually one of the CVs) that is wrong. The portion of the CV that is inserted into the diff is the right length on both sides, the shaft however is too long by 1/2 inch which means it puts pressure on the ring gear (and carrier bearings), which in turn pushes the ring gear into the pinion. Hence, if you use a bad CV you end up trashing a good 3:90 ring set. I'll be returning the reman CV once I get back home.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 Well, it seems like both my cv shafts are just a shade to long, maybe about 3/8 of an inch. I can't swing the strut tower back into place with the cv joint installed. I can understand why guys with really low cars are having problems with the cv's, at least with the same setup as mine. I don't have any experience with cv's but it seems to me when the shaft is installed there should be play going in and out to the diff. It shouldn't be pushed completely up to the outside with no more travel. 78zlt1 - wanna sell that short shaft with the long spline end? That way I only have to get one shaft modified. I did find a place that may shorten CV shafts for a reasonable amount: http://www.dutchmanms.com/pricesheet.html I will probably be giving these guys a call monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 Well shortening the axle doesn't look possible. I don't think it is possible to respline the axles because the spline diameter is bigger than the shaft diameter. Plan B; pop the cap off (which gains me a 1/8 of an inch), grind a little over an 1/8 inch off the end of the axle using a dremel which will take a while, but not put heat into axle and I gain just over a 1/4 inch. Put a little gasket sealer on end the axle, fill it up with grease, then bolt the cv shaft onto the companion flange. Check the cv for travel and binding throughout the range. Hopefully that will be all the extra room I need to keep things from binding up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78zlt1 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 78zlt1 - wanna sell that short shaft with the long spline end? That way I only have to get one shaft modified. I think I will have the same problem you have so I'm gonna hang on to both sets till I get the car together. Give us an update how your setup works , hopefully it will seal well and eliminate the binding problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 I don't know what to make of this at all. I just got a replacement short side CV from Rock auto and it came in at 19.25 inches. That's a full half inch shorter than my ebay ones. It should work fine with no mods. At least that takes care of the driver side. It has the correct spline length so I don't know what this means The only thing I can make if it is there are some big variations in either manufacturing (OEM) and/or incorrect remanufacturing. I think I'll order the passenger side just to see what I get. Maybe I'll get another one that is a half inch shorter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getZ Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Sorry, I made a mistake. The new driver side shaft I got from Rock Auto is wrong. It is a short shaft with a long spline, which will work for the long side (passenger). It did measure in at 19.25 fully compressed. BTW I ordered the left side CV. I did finish grinding an 1/8 inch off the axle to give a tiny bit more room for the cv joint. I will assemble everything tomorrow and see how it fits together through the entire travel of the control arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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