Prop shafts
There exists a company in northern Greece called Hellas Cardan Ltd.
I have been told they were makers of prop shafts for Steyr-Puch. It appears they have good machinery and a big stock of G spares. Apparently they still figure as major suppliers in the sector.
Anybody heard of them? Any views?
I ask because I intend to drive 400km to visit them in an effort to sort out vibrations in the drive train of my car. They raised their ugly head when I lifted the suspension by 6cm (although both OE shafts were checked after mod).
I bow.
Cardan is part of GKN who trade their propshaft division as Cardan. they are a manufacturer of propshafts for most vehicles but to the best of my knowledge do not have a trubleshooting division.we have just completed a servicing /overhaul/troubleshooting study of G' propshafts and discovered that the "crosses" universal joints are the same throughout the range and they can be purchased for GBP 65 each...MB will only supply new propshafts...from experience we found that vibration is invariably caused by worn needle bearings in the "crosses" due to lack of grease / ingress of muddy water...(the crosses on most G's do not have grease nipples) also the "slides" splined sections of each shaft suffer the same way from lack of grease and any wear in this area will cause vibration at certain speeds.. by changing the angle of operation of the propshafts as in jacking up the ride height causes the splines to extend possibly to a place where they are worn/corroded causing the vibration problem that you are experiencing...a loose flange anywhere in the drive train will also create the same vibration problem....
Anakreon,
I think this issue has been discussed on this forum before
The issue, if I understood, has to do with changing the angles the two Uj's are operating at, as a result of your body lift.
A universal joint is not a constant velocity joint
with increasing angle there is an increase in the velocity differential with each complete rotation.
However if Fixwin does not see this as the source of your vibration I will defer to his judgment.
the other aspect is the phasing of the Hardy Spicers ( the cross shaped bit?) at the two ends of the prop shaft, there may only be one correct way for these to align??
Agricultural PTO shafts are quite often shaped such that they can only be inserted the correct way, thus preventing this misalignment.
Gibbering ( only a little?, I hope?) as usual
Cheers
M
Would appear to be either the short shaft between the gearbox and the transfer box or a loose flange on the interface attachment flanges of the gearbox/transfer box. on the last G' with vibration problems we worked on it had a loose flange on the end of the gearbox which had actually worn the splines on the output shaft..on another G' it was one of the "crosses" in the short shaft between the G'box and the transfer box that had no needle bearings left in one side...and the rest full of rusty water... once repaired there was No vibration on either throughout the speed range...
The intermediate shaft between gearbox and transfer box has been renewed with a new OE item. The old one was really in a terrible state & full of muck - unfortunately it cannot be greased.
Nevertheless no major difference regarding vibrations.
I will check all flanges but I suspect they are securely bolted.
I will revert.
Hi re loose flanges ..I am referring to the large nut that holds the flange to the output shafts of the gearbox and the transfer box..only accessible with the short shaft removed....
Now I get it. I am a bit slow on the uptake. :oops:
I have never checked it. :shock:
Thank you. :wink:
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I am milddly concerned.
I tried the following experiment: on the lift, I removed both fwd and aft prop shaft. I switched on the engine and put the gearbox in Drive. A friend was seating at the driver's seat and at various RPMs up to 4,000, by pushing the wooden part of a big hammer against the transfer box, I felt some vibrations coming through. Nothing dramatic but still there...