half shafts - which type?

[wibble_puppy]

ello

Is the way way extra cost of the high strength half shafts as sold by MMC Birmingham @ £364/pair worth it? ie are they that much better than the hardened ones sold by eg ESM @ £82/pair?

wibble

[alex_holden]

Broken one already?

Uprated half-shafts probably aren't necessary with a standard engine but if you're going to fit a turbocharged 1275 and massive back wheels they might be worth it.

[wibble_puppy]

Broken one already?

lol yeah, it was going up the road to Coniston last night that did it

[mike.perry]

Hardened ones would be fine, you could buy 4 1/2 pairs for that money. How often do you break them? They would last you a life time.
More important is stripping the diff out and thoroughly cleaning out all the swarf. Don't forget to drain the oil first or things could get awfully messy!

[wibble_puppy]

thanks, mike

just for clarification, I haven't yet broken one *spanks alex * - just wondered whether, when/if i do, i should invest in the big boys' ones.

It seems to be the sort of thing it's worth having around as a spare, yeah?

[IslipMinor]

Is the way way extra cost of the high strength half shafts as sold by MMC Birmingham @ £364/pair worth it? ie are they that much better than the hardened ones sold by eg ESM @ £82/pair?

They are 2 very different designs. MMC Birmingham also do the 'hardened' ones at £35 + VAT each, but the 'hardened' ones are an uprated version of the standard design, using the same material with a different heat treatment. Fine for standard (ish) cars and tyres.

I ran these without problem for about 5 years after the restoration and fitment of the 1380 engine. I don't do 'dropped clutch' starts and more often under power one wheel would lift and spin, relieving the diff and half shafts of load, until I fitted an LSD!! One of the hardened half shafts broke at the first corner, just 200m from home!! It is a climbing LH turn standing start at a x-roads, and it snapped immediately.

Now have Peter May's EN24 special shafts (same as MMC Birmingham, probably even supplied to them from PM?). Yes, very expensive, but around 20,000 miles without problem. Had them out a short while ago when checking the LSD settings and no sign of wear or twist at all.

[wibble_puppy]

thanks very much for sharing all that

[plastic_orange]

If you are worried, you will be cheaper changeing to a Ford Escort rear axle.
Not just the half shafts are weak - the diffs are too, having exploded a Riley 1.5 one which threw the teeth through the axle casing.

Pete

[wibble_puppy]

cheers for that, pete. how much aggro were you giving the axle at the time?

[plastic_orange]

Not a lot - was only a 1098 - I had to fit a complete axle.
Even a Marina axle would be better if you want to save a bit of dosh.

Pete

[bmcecosse]

Standard shaft will be fine - I only ever broke one shaft and that was in extreme conditions with the rear wheel bouncing inches off the ground during an 'auto-test- event. Don't understand why your shaft broke Richard - an LSD should split the load through the two shafts and so should really relieve them of some of the stress! At least with your LSD you would be able to drive it home.

[IslipMinor]

Yes. it is a plate diff that did allow me to get back home, but the function of an LSD is to transfer some of the load from the more unloaded side of the axle to the loaded side to maintain traction. The loaded side will then see more torque than without an LSD, which is what happened to me!!

Axls tramp is another thing that will stress the half shafts, and a 1098 is worse than a 948 for this.

[morrisman1]

i havnt had any problems with halfshafts in my 1098. i give it all sorts of abuse, smoke up the inside tyre on u-turns and such, have done a fair bit of round and round on gravel car parks etc. i dont see how a half shaft could pop under normal use unless it was installed on the wrong side.

my ute had a toyota diff so i know i wont have problems with that.

[wibble_puppy]

thanks for your input, everyone - very useful

[plastic_orange]

i havnt had any problems with halfshafts in my 1098. i give it all sorts of abuse, smoke up the inside tyre on u-turns and such, have done a fair bit of round and round on gravel car parks etc. i dont see how a half shaft could pop under normal use unless it was installed on the wrong side.

my ute had a toyota diff so i know i wont have problems with that.

I wouldn't go boasting about not breaking a shaft - you know what they say

Pete

[bmcecosse]

Over the years they can develop an obvious 'twist' on the splines - that's the warning sign!

[rayofleamington]

I have been lucky not to break one - in my 'youth' I drove like a hooligan.
This used to include brake-sliding the rear at up to 50mph by dropping it into second and dropping the clutch whilst braking. That strains the half shafts the wrong way, and is never a good thing.

[wibble_puppy]

[morrisman1]

i havnt had any problems with halfshafts in my 1098. i give it all sorts of abuse, smoke up the inside tyre on u-turns and such, have done a fair bit of round and round on gravel car parks etc. i dont see how a half shaft could pop under normal use unless it was installed on the wrong side.

my ute had a toyota diff so i know i wont have problems with that.

I wouldn't go boasting about not breaking a shaft - you know what they say

Pete

haha yea i knows what ya mean. murphy's law.

[Willie]

Morrisman1, if you drive your Minor like that then you have been lucky,
so far. The reason that we suffer breakages nowadays is because the
half shafts are rather old i would think!