At 11:11 PM 11/3/97 -0800, you wrote:
>You mention "1/2 plate adapters". Do you intend that people just build
>up adapters out of 1/2" steel plate, rather than cutting and wlding
>the appropriate end plates? At the rotoflex, too? So I would have a
>round (ideally) plate, slightly oversize to the coupling, with three
>holes to match the spider on the stub axle, and four holes or
>something to match the CV jointed halfshaft end?
Yes, basically a round plate, recess in the center to clear the shaft[see
below] and two bolt circles, one to match the rotoflex patern[3 holes] and
one to match the cv pattern[4 to 8 holes]
>>
> The shaft will need to extend past the face of the cv joint flange
> at its shortest[bump in a lotus]in order to be long enough to reach in
>droop.
>
>Hmm, I'm confused now. How do these shafts take up plunge, anyway?
The joint itself moves in and out, but it also, inconveniently enough, loses
length with deflection. If you take a cv joint in one hand, and hold the
shaft in the other, and the shaft is perpendicular to the cv flange, you can
move the shaft probably 2 inches in and out. As you deflect the
shaft[simulating droop]you begin to lose end play, the shaft seems to
shrink, due to the geometry of cv joints. This resulted in me
underestimating the length needed for my shafts and I have very thick
adapter plates.
So what all that means is that you need a shaft a little longer than you
think you do. If you leave the plate with no clearance for the shaft to poke
through, it will beat the crap out of the plate, maybe even bind.
The world famous Dave Comeau, when he did his VW shafts for his +2 left a
very thin [.060] wall, not quite breaking through on this large counterbore.
He then heated it up and deflected it out on a suitable implement[I dunno, a
hammer head, his thumb...] to leave extra clearance for the shaft. This
can't be left open, or all the grease will get out[and dirt in]
I dunno if that is any clearer
Keith
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