I have said plenty already about how much I dislike the driveshaft make up in these cars but recently I discovered that a broken drive shaft is a potential death trap. Why is this so?
It is so because when the driveshaft coupling/s let go, the driveshaft thrashes about under the transmission tunnel tearing up metal in its path until it stops. Unfortunately the rear brake lines run inside the same tunnel along with the clutch hydraulic lines. Should such an incident arise, your rear brake lines could be cut along with the clutch line. This would leave you with no gears or rear brakes at the same time. Talk about high drama!
In the attached photo, that is exactly what happened. So be warned.
The solution is to relocate the hydraulic lines well away from the tunnel and the driveshaft.
Major Safety Issue
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- Split drive tunnel flashed.jpg (201.26 KiB) Viewed 3512 times
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Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
You would definately be having a bad day there MD, have you
relocated clutch and brake lines out of the driveshaft tunnel and if so any pics, just wondered best way round it.
Has the driveshaft still held together in that photo in terms guibo bolts to clutch yoke or has it sheared completely at the rear guibo to clutch assembly and the driveshaft thrashed itself to death?
This reminded me of a Myth Buster episode(read on if you know the tv show) where they weakened a drive shaft of a big old buick drove it at 80kmh and as it broke/sheared completely(it sheared at the front of the driveshaft) the driveshaft droped to the road into a pot hole and "pole vaulted" the car into the air!
Well that was the myth but in reality they punched the driveshaft through the boot and lifted the rear wheels off the ground about 1 meter.
Interesting, maybe they would have got better results with an alfetta
relocated clutch and brake lines out of the driveshaft tunnel and if so any pics, just wondered best way round it.
Has the driveshaft still held together in that photo in terms guibo bolts to clutch yoke or has it sheared completely at the rear guibo to clutch assembly and the driveshaft thrashed itself to death?
This reminded me of a Myth Buster episode(read on if you know the tv show) where they weakened a drive shaft of a big old buick drove it at 80kmh and as it broke/sheared completely(it sheared at the front of the driveshaft) the driveshaft droped to the road into a pot hole and "pole vaulted" the car into the air!
Well that was the myth but in reality they punched the driveshaft through the boot and lifted the rear wheels off the ground about 1 meter.
Interesting, maybe they would have got better results with an alfetta
Gearbox
Hi matt,
Fortunately this incident did not occur with my car. The photos represent an Alfetta sedan I purchased to turn into a race car. I noticed this problem when I started to pull it down in preparation for the usual things you do to street vehicles to turn into dedicated track machines. Nevertheless, the problem is a real one alright. It is in my opinion, a particularly unfortunate combination in terms of serious safety issues for the transaxle car.
For the race car, these lines will be relocated well away from the tunnel to ensure no chance of this happening again.
I am also working on a completely different driveshaft purely for racing applications but that's another story for another day..
Fortunately this incident did not occur with my car. The photos represent an Alfetta sedan I purchased to turn into a race car. I noticed this problem when I started to pull it down in preparation for the usual things you do to street vehicles to turn into dedicated track machines. Nevertheless, the problem is a real one alright. It is in my opinion, a particularly unfortunate combination in terms of serious safety issues for the transaxle car.
For the race car, these lines will be relocated well away from the tunnel to ensure no chance of this happening again.
I am also working on a completely different driveshaft purely for racing applications but that's another story for another day..
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse