Jay Hitchcock Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Well it was about 3:30 in the am this last Sunday morning when something went bad. I got the brake lines plumbed and bled, fixed the power steering leak, adjusted the suspension, mounted the half-shafts and did a full once over on every bolt and system. I strapped in, and my buddies started to push the Z outside so I could break in the diff. Just as we hit the tarmac there was a loud thud from under the car. It sounded like an inpact or something. We got the car back inside to find the passenger cv had punched out of the boot and spilled grease all over. The angle seems to radical so the knuckle popped out. I have a new boot and straps on the way but it looks like I have to raise the entire diff up in the chassis about 1.5 inches...so maybe I will have it running this weekend. Learn from my mistakes, it is better to walk away and come at the project with fresh eyes than to press the issue and break something. Talk to you all later. jh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 This all sounds very strange. Pics would help to understand what's going on here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 He is saying the angle diff is too low in relation to the center of the wheels, causing a high angle for the CV shafts. You can see in this random picture a diff and CV shafts at angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 BTW, your Z doesn't look that much lower than other Z's, have you done something else to the diff that would cause this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragefear Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 wow, it doesn't look like that bad of an angle to blow it so quickly! DOesn't sound like you hardly got it out of the driveway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 what i'm getting is that pic os not his car, it's a pic just illustrating CV angle. correct me if i'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragefear Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 what i'm getting is that pic os not his car, it's a pic just illustrating CV angle. correct me if i'm wrong. ahhh... hence the "here's a pic of a random dif and CV shaft" thats just above the picture? I need to read more! Seriously! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I think I understand what he's saying, the bit that has me totally baffled is that they apparently "blew out" the CV while PUSHING the car. Plus the "knuckle popping out" is a mystery to me. The whole thing is weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Hitchcock Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 This is a pic from under the car. It looks like it was just over articulated and popped out. The shafts are completely custom as are the stub axels and companion flanges. This makes the length of the shaft itself very short. Short middle shaft, wider couplers on both ends, end result is too steep of a shaft angle. I was told not to exceed 20 degree...when I measured the shaft it was at 16 degrees already! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? I hope that I'm approaching this problem correctly as the parts on this car aren't cheap. Thanks. jh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Hitchcock Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 Here is a shot of the driver side. The car had to be raised to drive it since the half-shaft was resting on the frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 OK, so pics do help! The CV "bearing" if you will, came out of the "race". The only way the shaft can pop out of the inside like that is if the shaft is too short. It would bind if it was overarticulated and in most cases this breaks the race part, but I don't think that's what is going on here. Mayolives describes his breakage in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114195 My first thought was a differential problem, but upon further tear down and inspection, I discovered a broken cv axle. The joint near the differential was in pieces. I purchased the rebuilt cv axles from Modern-motorsports and what occurred happened on their first trip under a load. Mayolives issue was that his shafts are too LONG. This causes the bind in his case. He got some shorter shafts made and hasn't had trouble since. Are you running the same length shaft on both sides? I think the driver's side needs to be shorter. Did you perhaps put the longer shaft on the driver's side and the shorter shaft on the passenger's side? I'm not familiar with how those 280ZXT shafts get assembled and so I don't know how easy it will be to reassemble the one that came apart... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Hitchcock Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 I just got the new boot and straps in the mail. I plan on pulling both sides and re-checking them...it could be as simple as having them swaped. The builder said that should be the first thing to check. The driver side is shorter, so since he left no marking or reference on either of the shafts I might have them backwards. As far as the over agressive angle that will have to be figured out next. I will post some more pics when it is back together. Thanks Jon. jh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 No problem. Post some pics when you get it figured out. I'm going to be dealing with this issue pretty quick I think. Still trying to figure out whether to relocate the diff forward or get shorter shafts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Jay I just thought of something else. The inner CV spline section is different on one side than the other. If I recall the passenger side spline is longer. I am thinking it is possible that somebody installed the inner CV joint on the wrong shaft. This would mean that you would need to pull the inner joints off and switch to the other shaft in order to reinstall the shafts on the correct side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Hitchcock Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 No, I checked that when I sealed and installed the diff. With these shafts I can leave both the inboard and outboard couplers, and just pull the shafts out. I'm tearing everything out now..I should know more by tomorrow. Talk to you later. jh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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