halfshafts

[oaktree11]

Hi again! Ihave searched the forum but cant see an obvious answer. I have the diff fitted and am now in the process of fitting the halfshafts that have already been reconned by Phil, the previous owner.
The ends of thye shafts have taken a bit of beating, presumably during removal. The early threads on one side were damaged but I have dressed them and now the nut will go on and I happy that it will be secure.
The main problem is fitting the splined end into the hub on the trailing arm. They dont go in far enough for me to get the nut on to pull them through. The ends are a but beaten and i am wondering if, pre beating, there was a threaded hole in them? (then I could screw some threaded studding in and make a puller).

I cant see much in the way of alternatives other than that. Any ideas?

Thanks - John

[GreatOldOne]

I think I gave mine a few gentle taps with a rubber mallet until I had enough thread to put the hub nut on. Then it was just a case of winding it in the rest of the way before attaching the other end to the diff.

I can't remember there being any sort of internal thread on the end of the shaft.

[oaktree11]

I am sure you are right Jason. the shaft should push in quite easily. I will have another look tomorrow. Maybe I will take a triangular file and just clean up the splines. maybe there is some "bruising".

[oaktree11]

OK, they are in! i cleaned up the splines and with a bit of a struggle got them in.
Another problem now looms large!
In the photo below, you can see that the rubber gaiter is a really tight fit. There is a very little clearance between it and part of the trailing arm casting.
I didnt recon the halfshafts but you can see that this type of clamping band wont work. I will need a perfectly flat one. Any ideas?
[IMG]
IMG_0607[1] by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]

[oaktree11]

Another option would be to remove the halfshafts and grind the casting a bit flatter? Not too keen on that though, its a high stress area.

The gaiter itself does seem rather "chunky"...

[peterux]

I'm pretty sure that is the wrong gaiter and its clamped around the wrong part of the CV joint. It should stop short of the end of the outer drive shaft flange by about 2cm. I think even with a different clip that gaiter will probably fall off.

I can't find a decent photo of mine but I have a couple of drive shafts down in my lockup which I could photograph but I expect someone else will be along shortly with a decent photo.

EDIT: I think this photo on ebay gives you some idea...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-Dr...#ht_500wt_1202

[oaktree11]

Peter, I am sure you are right. I suspect this was a "will fit" kit that doesn't!

So, it looks like they will have to come off. I suppose I should question whether the CV joints are of good quality too....hmmmm. I suppose the first step should be gaiter repair kits? The top gaiter next to the diff is ok. - John

[oaktree11]

I am really sorry to raise this issue again because I was having a good day! I pulled the halfshafts from donor 2 and solved the gaiter riddle - the "recon" ones had the wrong gaiter located on the wrong radius see this link:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...?t=3197&page=4

I was going to overhaul the donor 2 parts and fit them because where the gaiter should locate on the outer CV on the recon units is quite deformed and has blobs of weld! However there is a problem, the second set of halfshafts are different on the outer end. The ones from donor 2 have a toothed ring on (anti lock brakes maybe?) but i suspect that with this on it wont fit into the hubs I have. It looks like it might be removeable - anyone got any ideas?
Here are some pics, I hope my plea is intelligible!

1. The "recon" outer end
IMG_0059 by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]

2. Donor 2 outer end
IMG_0058 by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]

note how "clean" the gaiter seat is on Donor 2 one compared to my original

3. the toothed ring on donor 2 halfshaft, the size of the CV's are identical but the pic makes the recon one look smaller

IMG_0055 by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]

4. The inboard ends are identical except that on donor 2 one (the rusty one) the bolts are allen headed whereas on the recon one they are spline heads.

IMG_0054 by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]

Any help or advice would be welcome!

Thanks - John

[oaktree11]

Just an update. I cut the toothed ring off one of the halfshafts and without it it's identical. I guess this was an early ALB system.
I have solved all my issues. I used the gaiters from one of the donor 2 halfshafts - inner and outer are identical so one halfshaft provided both the gaiters i needed. I have rebuilt the "rebuilt" halfshafts and fitted them - whoopee!
IMG_0063 by oldpropuk, on Flickr[/IMG]