Ate another driveshaft???!!! Thoughts?

[dat240zg]

Well, this is getting a little crazy. Last year I sheared a driveshaft at the rear of the car, directly in front of where the shop had spliced the Datsun and Chevy pieces together. I got a little laugh out of it and chocked it up to ton's o' tourqe and a weak DS. Well, it looks like the problem is repeating itself. Which brings me to my question...

 

I know that this will sound like a dumb question, but if the motor/tranny and the rear end were out of alignment, would that result in the DS going out like this? The car only has 120 miles on it. Since the first time I started it after the LT1 install, I've had a rhythmic vibration that we initially thought was due to two piece wheel adapters, etc. We switched wheels and did away with the adapters, but no luck. Vibration still remains and I'm wondering if it's a symptom of the problem. The rear end is a very aggressive R-180 LSD.

 

I know that many of you have much more experience than me, so I'm hoping that someone may shed a little light on my problem

 

Thanks....

 

Bryan

[getoffmyinternet]

Perhaps it's the "very aggressive" part? But seriously

 

The r180 u-joint doesn't seem very beefy. When I did the r200 swap I was going to use the one that came with it and do a splice like yours but when I compared it to the end that comes out of the trans it felt like a major weak link so instead I had the ds shop use their own u-joint that just had a flange to fit the diff. I'm sure my car has more than its share of vibrations and whatnot (like a gearlash clunk every time I shift) but has lasted almost two years so far with no problems. It's only a 3.700 though if that makes a difference.

[hoov100]

If the weld or the DS tube itself is breaking, I would take it to another driveline shop. The ujoints should break well before the tube or the weld on a car.

[frank280zx]

If the weld or the DS tube itself is breaking, I would take it to another driveline shop. The ujoints should break well before the tube or the weld on a car.

 

Id do that and check the drive line angles as it sounds that this could be an issue to, Im with Hoov, a weld should not break..

[z2go]

Along with what Frank said, you might try this handy little tool:

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?showtopic=43993

 

Pulled it out of the FAQ's, if you never had an accurate read on the alignment of the tranny to the diff, that could be putting some unnecessary stress on the driveshaft.

[jack46]

The R 180 is not strong you should creme it LONG before any driveshaft problems. I think like others the setup is out of alignment and the weld was not up to snuff.

 

I broke a CV axle and blew a rear end out of my 260 with juice and the driveshaft was reused both times. It put the front end a foot in the air and held then finally broke the CV in a 1.44 60 foot launch. BTW that setup was done in 1987 so it has many engine with a total of 2 DS. The second was needed when I put an LT1 in it in 2003

 

Good luck it is worth the trouble because once they are right they are a fun ride!

[dsommer]

Bryan,

 

Who built the drive shaft? Was it Larry's over in Lowell? I had him balance mine back when I had my other car running but still had some vibration issues but chalked that up to the rear end/drive line angle. I have a magnetic angle finder at the house if you'd like to borrow it.

 

Are you running CV's or U joint half shafts on the car? I don't recall what you installed.

Edited May 11, 2010 by dsommer