CV joints and axles for our cars

In what way would they be an improvement? Having just inspected my originals including U joints with over 50K miles, they are solid as a rock. Unless you are going to use your car regularly, which I don't know of any owners that do, how much better do you need? Just a question to ask oneself when making "improvements"

Ask ANYBODY that has done the upgrade if there was an improvement. Most people RAVE at how much smoother the car feels using CV's. In addition to the benefit of no damage to the car if a failure occurs compared to the damage that would occur if a U-joint fails.

The folks that love everything that is STOCK will always bad mouth great upgrades but they are not speaking from a position of knowledge. They speak from the perspective that stock is better and it works so why change it.

Sorry if I offend some people but the CV joint improvement is one of the best things you can do to create an incredibly smooth running drive train. It is amazing, there I said it, on how many people call me up and tell me the CV joint upgrade is the best thing that they upgraded on the Pantera.

Will half shafts go over 50k miles? Of course they will!!!!! But they will never give you the smooth feel of CV joints. And if they ever break, you will wish you had CV's...

quote:

...amazing....

Scott - you better watch out!

Here we go again!

quote:

Originally posted by Rocky:

quote:

...amazing....

Scott - you better watch out!

Here we go again!

Yeah, I could, but I won't.

I bought Scott's setup. He's great to work with. Two thumbs up! Buy the pre-assembled setup and save yourself the trouble of trying to grease and seal them. Trust me on that.

I had a couple of fitment issues due to the original machining of the slip on axle flanges on my car. They required a little time on the lathe to correct, see below. This would have been an issue with any CV adapter setup I assume so I place no fault on Scott. I have spoke to another owner of Scott's CV axels and they did not have this issue. So it's just something to look out for.

I would do it again, no question.

Steve

Had to clean up the original bore so the flange would fully seat on the axle adapter.

The head of the bolts would not sit flat on the axle flange.

Again, needed a little lathe work to clearance them.

Inside

Outside

I had a never ending problem with half shafts, I switched over to the C.V. and all of them went away. Smooth with more clearance and ride adjustment options. My set required NO machine work, fit was perfect.

Years ago, Gary Hall told me the reason the OEM half shafts create so much vibration under acceleration is, when you put even mild power through them, the main central spline locks-up. Changes in length then occur as a series of violent impacts, as the splines cannot slide smoothly when they're locked up. CV joints eliminate that problem. CV half shafts are also much lighter and smaller in diameter than the OEM half shafts. Other cars of the era, such as the Maserati Bora, had CV half shafts, so one can only assume our U-jointed shafts were a cost cutting measure.

I made the switch to CV's more than a decade ago. The only problem I ever had was grease oozing out between the CV joints and the adapters. This problem was easily solved by installing Porsche 930 CV joint gaskets. I suppose RTV would have worked too.

RRS1 really ? I don't drive #6480 every day (lol) but I do put on a few miles every year, Quella CV Joints are a great upgrade, especially with somewhat more than stock torque.

Here is a drawing of the adaptors I made for my Pantera if owners want to make their own.
I posted this on the Forum back in 2011
Axles are race buggy 930 axles 15 5/8” long.
Being a race axle they are fully floating without CV joint shoulders, (no stress risers).
7/16” UNF bolts to hold the adaptors to the drive yokes are ARP part # 230-2801.

regards,
Tony.

And what the whole set up looks like.
regards,
Tony.

I constructed my own adapters a few years ago using Tony's (Edge) design. (thanks Tony) They have worked flawlessly ever since. BTW the Bora uses adapters for the ZF also.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Moore:
RRS1 really ? I don't drive #6480 every day (lol) but I do put on a few miles every year, Quella CV Joints are a great upgrade, especially with somewhat more than stock torque.

The list of upgrades is a long one. I prefer to leave the vintage feel of the Pantera alone, which can travel tens of thousands of miles in stock form. If I want "better" I'll drive a newer car!