engine and drivetrain New Driveshaft Alignment Tool

[sl0ride]

Our race team devised a new way to align the transmission to the center bearing. Not saying the other methods don’t work this is just a different stroke that we feel is a bit more precice than other methods. Besides we have engineers on the team so we can't use an existing tool/method that’s already available!

Why?

The reason why you want to align the transmission is to reduce or delete any flex in the guibo, this will cause premature wear and failure of the guibo. Prior to using this tool we had major issues with guibo failures.

The tool-

Four metal cylinders (or cubes even) with holes for the guibo bolts and cut the same length as the guibo is thick. We used machined aluminum but steel pipes cut to even lengths could work as well. The key thing is all 4 pieces must be the same length, the guibo thickness. You could alternatively machine a piece of metal to the same thickness as the guibo. Then drill 4 holes spaced out to fit the driveshaft flange and a large hole in the center for the driveshaft nub.

How to use it-

Remove your driveshaft and old guibo. With the back end of the driveshaft dangling, bolt the driveshaft flange directly to the trans output flange with the spacers between the two flanges. Tighten the bolts and spin the driveshaft to check for wobble near the center bearing, you should see minimal to no driveshaft wobble. Now you can adjust your engine mounts and shim your trans mounts to locate the center bearing to have minimal load. Don’t be surprised if you need a stack of washers. No guru here but I feel there should be a slight amount up upwards tension on the center bearing if any. This will compensate for the driveshaft weight. So shim everything so the center bearing needs to be pushed up 1/8-1/4” to its mounting point. I ended up using about 9 washers or ~¾” on the trans mount on our car.

If I was any smarter and not in a rush to get this car ready I would have taken pictures when I used it yesterday. If anyone would like to borrow it and take pics please get with me. No charge besides shipping but I will put a refundable deposit on it to ensure a safe return. Just remember to take pics.

-Eric

Edited July 11, 2013 by sl0ride

[jimk]

Good job.

 

I mount the driveshaft w/o the guibo and use an inside caliper (woodworkers with a long reach) to check the space between a pair of the bolting faces and turn both sides to check each quadrant using the same two bolting surfaces.  Using the same bolting surfaces eliminates error if not all bolting surfaces on the flanges are in plane squre to the centerline.

 

Final sequence is to mount the driveshaft w/guibo and loosen the diff mount bolts to let it find the fore/aft home.  Turn the driveshaft a few times and retighten the mounting bolts

Edited July 11, 2013 by jimk

[rover1]

any pictures of the tool?