Drive shafts uprated or standard ?

[trigger234]

Out on a drive in the 76 stag all going well went to pull a way from a junction and BANG one broken drive shaft. Not a pleasant thing to happen. After getting her home and putting her in the garage, looked up the price of two new drive shafts, well what a difference in price £500 each for uprated ones or £220 a pair for standard ones. So can someone tell me is it worth putting on the uprated ones or put the standard ones on? and how difficult is it to do.? Thanks for your help.

[SaphireSpud]

How long have the standard ones lasted and how long do you expect to keep your Stag? Regards, John.

[Motorsport Micky]

Whether you choose standard or uprated driveshafts make it your mission to make sure the car has new (not reconditioned wheel hubs). These hubs have been around nearly 50 years and are starting to die in use. You've had a driveshaft break...inconvenient, but nothing as bad as having a hub or stub axle fail in use which can be very dangerous, the wheel tends to tuck under and the car then has a life of it's own.

Stag Hub failure.jpg

Reconditioning a hub stands every chance of damaging them, they are now very brittle and the application of a 20 ton press and an oxy torch to warm it up often leads to cracks in areas unseen and untestable, only to be found in use by the driver when it goes pear shape.


Micky

[022Dave]

I've got the CDD cv-jointed driveshafts fitted, and they are excellent. I agree at about the cost; at £1000 they're not cheap, and it all depends on how long you plan to keep the car. I wanted to improve on the sliding splines & Hardy Spicers to get rid of the 'twitch', and give longevity. I didn't want the same old, same old, so went for the better engineered solution.

Dave

[022Dave]

I bought their uprated hubs too!

[marshman]

The £200 a pair is for the shafts only, no UJ's, hub or bearing. The £500+ each is for a complete driveshaft/hub/bearing assembly. The UJs are replaced with CV joints, but more importantly you get a new hub. There have been quite a few reported instances where the rear wheel has separated from the car as the hub fractured. When driveshafts/bearings are reconditioned a lot of force is required to separate the hub from the shaft, not good on a component approaching 50 years old. For this reason people opt for a new assembly when replacing driveshafts. It also reportedly does away with the infamous Stag twitch. Your money your choice, but I do agree that over £1000 is a lot to spend, but then again losing a rear wheel could cost a lot more!

Roger

[new to this]

Out on a drive in the 76 stag all going well went to pull a way from a junction and BANG one broken drive shaft. Not a pleasant thing to happen. After getting her home and putting her in the garage, looked up the price of two new drive shafts, well what a difference in price £500 each for uprated ones or £220 a pair for standard ones. So can someone tell me is it worth putting on the uprated ones or put the standard ones on? and how difficult is it to do.? Thanks for your help.

When you say the drive shafts went bang,what part broke ? if it was the hub yoke that part is not included with standard drive shafts.

[Richard G]

I am saving up for the CVJ shafts, althoughh i only fitted UJ ones about 5 yrs ago, not done a lot of miles. Just want the car to be at its best to drive...............

Rg

[stag8manod]

I converted mine to CCD CV joints and new uprated wheel bearing units, not cheap when freight to NZ has to be included. I also fitted stepped 3/8 UNC, 5/16 UNF studs into the trailing arms to retain the new bearing housings. It is beyond my understanding why Triumph used UNF threads in the alloy trailing arms. All part of a major upgrade including a 3.45 diff, fully polybushed, new SKF Quill shaft bearing and transverse links from the rear diff cover to the trailing arms. All working well and pleased with the setup.
Cheers Ian A

[Phil S]

cv shafts and new hubs on the back for me as well, then also have the uprated front hubs and stub axles when the 4 pots went on, peace of mind and a selling point should the day ever come.
phil

[nigele]

I fitted the CDD CV driveshafts and it has transformed the car, no more clunking and lurching around corners which polybushes and greasing the splines previously had made little difference.

Easy to fit, although you need a big torque wrench for the hub nuts.

Also fitted the UNC stepped studs in the trailing arms for peace of mind.

Nigel

[mallardstag]

How do CV jointed shafts change length as the suspension moves and the distance from the hub to diff changes?

[022Dave]

How do CV jointed shafts change length as the suspension moves and the distance from the hub to diff changes?

Large ball bearings, held in a carrier, running along machined grooves of the shaft. This also ensures that there's no snatching as the length changes.

Dave

[mallardstag]

Large ball bearings, held in a carrier, running along machined grooves of the shaft. This also ensures that there's no snatching as the length changes.

Dave

Thanks Dave, I hadn't understood that the CV joint itself could change length.

[Goldstar]

Not all sweetness and light though. I had a cv joint break. The carrier for the ball bearings cracked which meant the joint was completely knackered. No repair parts available (I tried quite hard) so £1,000 to replace (UK distributor won't sell me one although I could get one from the OE supplier). Not great.