Side shafts and cv stories

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Zoltan2222
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Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

I forgot to take a picture last night, but will explain as best I can.
Is it normal for the shorter side shaft to be thinner then the longer side shaft? I realized this for the first time last night, also when I fit the side shafts the longer one seems to be too short about 12mm.
Can anyone maybe tell me what sides and lengths they should be?

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by panic-mechanic »

Yes the short shaft is solid and the longer shaft is a hollow thicker shaft.
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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by mike65 »

Measure from wishbone bolt to wishbone bolt center it should be 680mm. If its more then 680mm, which in your case will be then 692mm then you must bang it or pull it back to 680mm...if not you will have endless cv problems
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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

Hi @mike65, I have not yet measured the distance between the bolts, I am trying to source pipe to somer build top and bottom braces and fit them with 4 new cvs and then do wheel alignment. Do you maybe know the distance they should be on the top side, centre to centre of shocks or something?

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

O ja, I am now fitting GSP cv's. They are said to be the best for a good price?

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Huzi022 »

Zoltan2222 wrote: Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:26 pm O ja, I am now fitting GSP cv's. They are said to be the best for a good price?

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got them on My 16v Caddy, had endless issues with CV's breaking now all sorted :) :hurray:
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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

Very happy to hear, as these are setting met back a bit, would rather have spend it on a bigger turbo

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

So back to this story, I fitted the new cvs and one output cup on the gearbox, seems that I need to shorten the shaft by about 44mm.
I have not checked both sides and I dont have the old outer cv anymore.
But I measured the 100mm output cup 8mm longer then the old ones, and the inner cv is about 18mm longer, assuming the outers are also 18mm longer this also adds up to 44mm.
Does anyone know I these figures are correct?
And has anyone had any experience with X-O-DUS, as I want them to shorten the shafts for me. Spelling might be off

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

Not sure how tired I was on the previous attempt but tonight the side shafts fitted.
After measuring the old inner and outer cvs and the output cups on the gearbox I found very little difference,
Outer cvs same length
Inners cvs about 4mm longer but had to remove the spring at the back to fit them to the shaft so lets say same length
Output cups 8mm longer.
So at worst its 12mm difference.

Will attend to this again once I start with the suspension reconditioning.

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by missioner »

Zoltan2222 wrote:Not sure how tired I was on the previous attempt but tonight the side shafts fitted.
After measuring the old inner and outer cvs and the output cups on the gearbox I found very little difference,
Outer cvs same length
Inners cvs about 4mm longer but had to remove the spring at the back to fit them to the shaft so lets say same length
Output cups 8mm longer.
So at worst its 12mm difference.

Will attend to this again once I start with the suspension reconditioning.

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Did the CV guys use the same shafts and change the joints to 100mm?

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

@missioner
Yes, I fitted the 100mm cvs on the original shafts.

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by missioner »

That's where the issue lies. The 90mm shafts are 18mm longer than 100mm ones.

They go in but you break the inner CV's about once a week, especially if you are lowered

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

Luckily I am not lowered. Why would the shafts be shorter? The cvs measure the same sizes (lengths), or a small difference of 4mm on the inners. I think I might have had 100mm on the outside already.
Are the shafts not more relevant to the car and less to the cv sizes?
I had cv issues before the conversion so hoped thia would sort me out

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by missioner »

The shafts are more relevant to the CV's than to the chassis when it comes to Mk1/2/3 and some Mk4 models. This includes first gen Polo (for South Africa, everywhere else the Polo came out in the 70's)

Basically there are 2 shaft lengths long ones for 90mm and shorter ones for 100mm.

I had the longer shafts in my car as it was a 1300 when it was made. As part of my build I upgraded to a 5 speed and after some time I changed the shafts to 100mm CV's. The first two weeks were crap as I had to fix the LHS inner joint twice in that time. I was embarassed. First tried shortening the original shafts which doesn't work, then eventually I lay all the shafts and CV's down on a table and gathered a few measuring devices to figure out where I had screwed up.

Next day I was off to the scrap yard to go find some shafts, measuring tape in hand.

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What I learned is that the outer CV's is 11mm longer, the inner is 4mm longer and the CV cup on the gearbox is also 3mm taller, total difference is 18mm. In order for the shaft to work, the distance between the hub and the gearbox hasn't changed, the total length has to stay the same. The difference in length must come from the shaft now due to the bigger, longer CV joints that we need to keep all those ponies under control.

Good luck.

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by missioner »

missioner wrote:That's where the issue lies. The 90mm shafts are 18mm longer than 100mm ones.

They go in but you break the inner CV's about once a week, especially if you are lowered

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Lowering the car just keeps the shaft at its shortest length 90% of the time. Remember the joints are designed to be able to change length to some degree to allow for suspension movement.

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by Zoltan2222 »

Great explanation thanks, do you maybe know the lengths of the shafts by heart?
1. My RHS shaft seems to be the shorter one already
2. To get parts round here you almost need to know each part number

This means I will probably replace the outer cvs again? Cause you need to mo3r them off the shaft.

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Re: Side shafts and cv stories

Post by missioner »

Zoltan2222 wrote:Great explanation thanks, do you maybe know the lengths of the shafts by heart?
1. My RHS shaft seems to be the shorter one already
2. To get parts round here you almost need to know each part number

This means I will probably replace the outer cvs again? Cause you need to mo3r them off the shaft.

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Let me scratch in the garage for my old ones and measure them. Then we will know what not to get.

Normally the shorter driver's side shaft is a tube type and the longer one is a solid shaft, at least that's what I have and remember seeing over the years.

Will reply with the lengths when I find my old shafts.

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