engine and drivetrain 5 Speed Driveline....

[Parkertii]

So I have the engine and transmission back in the car, new driveline measured but cannot find a shop that is willing/able to shorten the shaft. I could order a pre shortened driveline from Ireland or a few other places online but I would rather have the one I have shortened since it seems that the vary in lengths. Has anyone else found this problem? Or can anyone recomend a shop in utah that can do this?

Also, what all is involved in shortening the shaft that would make it so hard to do?

[gracer]

Driveline services in Portland Ore. has ~40 years of experience doing BMW drivelines.  I highly reccomend them.  G

[AceAndrew]

I've found a much more prevalent problem are driveshafts being "rebuilt" with and chevy/nissan u-joints reamed in place of the OEM joints and the rebuilder using poorly-manufactured center bearings (have had one fail within 500 miles on my own car).

[M3M3]

Driveline services in Portland Ore. has ~40 years of experience doing BMW drivelines. I highly reccomend them. G

Agree.

[kid2002]

We have also had REALLY good luck with Driveline Services out of Oregon. Also have used Drivelines NW in the past . 

[roadhog0]

I dont think Drivelines NW will shorten shafts. I know they will balance them though. I need to take mine in here soon...

[TobyB]

Driveline Service of Portland. 

 

They've built several different custom configurations for me, all good.

 

t

[thehackmechanic]

See my reasoned but opinionated post on why it's reasonable to use the standard measurement rather than try to measure it yourself.

 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/blog/67/entry-151-thoughts-on-the-rear-support-bracket-and-the-driveshaft/

[Parkertii]

thanks for all the replies, in regards to using the stock size i can see how that would make sense. however this also brings up a additional questions regarding the driveline.

 

First, it seems that most people prefer to use the 6 bolt driveline instead of the 8 bolt that came standard with my car. Is there a major issue with using the 8 bolt? How much better is it to use the 6 bolt?

 

Second, i picked up a six bolt driveline with my transmission but im not sure it is the "right" one to use. The overall length of the shaft is already about 2 inches shorter than the 8 bolt shaft, but the major issue is that it is shorter on the side that runs from the center support to the diff. so in order to use this shaft i would have to shorten from the flange to the center support by 2 inches... while lengthening from the differential to the center support by 2.75 inches. 

 

i am interested to hear back on this because of the discrepancy between the two lines if i used the stock measurements on the 6 bolt shaft i would be substantially off on the overall length. However if i use the 8 bolt option i will be in the ballpark with using the standard size.  

 

do i simply have the wrong driveline?

 

see attached photos.

 

Thanks! 

Edited November 18, 2013 by Parkertii

[Parkertii]

the photos of the two shafts are laying side by side and are lined up at the differential side. They were not moved during the photos to show the size difference.

[Tommy]

Take them both to shop. Ask them to take out the 8-bolt flange and replace with 6 bolt flange and shorten to right length.

 

This assuming that you have 6 bolt flange in your gearbox.

 

  Tommy

[thehackmechanic]

When shortening, it is only the front section that needs to be shortened. The rear section remains the same, so the the mounting point of the center support bearing remains the same. That's why you want the 2002 shaft to be the starting point of the shortening. Call that one Driveshaft A. Not sure what car your other shaft camem out of. Call that one Driveshaft B. I assume it's from a 320i (maybe it came with the transmission). As Tommy says, the output flange on your gearbox has to match the input flange on the driveshaft. So, if both the gearbox and driveshaft B have a 3-bolt flange, that's why you could take them both to a shop and say "cut the three-bolt flange off driveshaft B, put it on driveshaft A, and make the length of driveshaft A shorter than its original length by 3.5625." (Or measure the flange-to-flange distance for yourself, if you decide that route is better for you.)

Edited November 18, 2013 by thehackmechanic

[peterschop]

There is nothing wrong with using the 8 bolt DS that came with your car. If you do use the the flange from the 6 bolt, make sure it is the same size as what is on your transmission. The automatics have a 3 bolt flange but it is larger than the manual 3 bolt flange. Also, a drive shaft from an auto 2002 is already shorter than a shortened 5 speed DS. I don't know about where the center support is on it though.

[Parkertii]

I also still have the 4 bolt flange from the old transmission, does anyone know if it would be possible to simply swap the flange on the back of the transmission rather than additional fabrication to the driveline?

[M3M3]

supposedly you can't due to the output axle splines being different.  however, i have two e21 5 speeds.  one has three bolt, one has four bolt.  i never took them off to see if they interchange.

 

i would use the three bolt if you can.  the 3bolt guibos are much stronger.