Hee hee - -
Yup, you can find quite a few people who will make things like this so far I've found at least 5 companies that can do this. GKN certainly looks like a good option. Check out their catalog for the custom stuff in my 3rd link.
The problem I see with that solution is that it's the most expensive solutions and, if anything breaks or wears out, you're stuck with spending that money all over again, rather than getting a commercial off the shelf (COTS) replacement part.
The frustrating thing to me is that the automotive industry in general has a very common problem - getting torque from the differential to the wheels. When you look at it, even dimensions for halfshafts in Mitsubishis, Nissans, VW's, whatever are VERY SIMILAR in length. The have a narrow range of torques they need to transmit. There is even an ISO standard to make splines with.
All that common stuff, yet what do they do?? Make proprietary stuff that only fits a narrow range of their own stuff.
Hell, even within a year of VW GOLFS, there will be different axles depending on the varient of GOLF it is.
Do they really think they save that much money by making a weak axle for the Cabrio vs a strong one for the GTI??
What a bunch of idiots.
At the same time, folks like GKN and other aftermarket companies seem very capable of making standard parts...
// Rant off // ARG!!
- E*clipse
Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
You're looking for a FWD install aren't you. I've been watching a lot of EVTV and at one point they to GKN and said "They'll make whatever you want."
Where we operate - GKN Driveline
The link shows multiple locations in the Eastern US and Mexico.
In the morning I'm going to call about that subframe, and it it's still available, I'll cruise up and pick it up. It has pivots for a suspension strut, I'm wondering if it could be wrapped in a FWD MacPherson strut front end. All my reverse trike dreams have been upgraded to EV status.
I poked around a bit on thesamba. Here's a diagram that shows the VW Beetle axle.
If the miniadapter I was thinking of would replace part #37 but be thicker, the four nuts on the Toyota studs could be in counterbores and the VW bolts would insert from the outside. Here's a thread with pictures and build pitfalls:
TheSamba.com :: View topic - Porsche 944 axles and 944 CV's for Vanagons
Apparently, Vanagon and Porsche 944 axles are sort-of the same. Splines may change year to year? |