i put it in front after seeing it installed like that on a carbon shaft.some say it should be in the rear?what is the diff?
the TT is still out so now is the time.i allso need a coupler ,used, for a 99 frc car.i gave him my front but he shreaded both in 4th gear on the bottle.
thanks ,
mike

 

Aluminum couplers are a BAD idea. You might want to read through this thread LINK

 

ALLREADY READ IT,
MY BUDDY JUST SHREDDED BOTH IN 4TH GEAR ON SPRAY.
I ATE A KEVLAR /CERAMIC PUCK IN 5K MILES.THAT WAS AT 7 PSI.THIS TIME I BUILT THE MOTOR FOR 1000HP AT THE FLYWHEEL AND A TWIN MCLEOD CLUTCH.THIS CAR DRIVES LESS THAN 3000MILES A YEAR AND IS BOOSTING MOST OF THAT.I DO NOT BURN RUBBER OR DROP THE CLUTCH.I HAVE BOTH HARD SHAFTS AND A DTE BRACE.ONE COUPLER WILL TRANSFER THE POWER ALONG WITH THE ALUIMNUM FLYWHEEL.ONE RUBBER COUPLER SHOULD HOLD.THE CARBON DRIVE SHAFT GUYS RUN IT THIS WAY.I NEED TO NOW IF THE FRONT IS BETTER OR THE BACK.
THANKS ,
MIKE

 

Won't make any difference where you put it, it'll see the same load and become the same pile of dust in the same length of time.
What you really need is the prop shaft ECS made with real U joints in it to handle the 1000 Hp.

 

Mike, one original coupling will fail in the setup you are planning to use. It puts the load that two couplings normally absorb on just one.

If you are bent on installing a solid coupling which will fail the original in short order the only place to put it would be the rear. The rear hub has two bearings that keep it aligned, the front has only one. The front needs the flex the original coupler provides. Eliminating this flex at the front will put loads on the input shaft that could cause it to fail in short order as well.

Your car, do what you want. Best of luck Mike.

 

ttt


anyone with aluminum in front?
mike

 

I went with one of these poly/solid hybrid's.

Has anyone installed/used these prothanes?
(corvette central)
1997-2000 TORQUE TUBE BUSHING COUPLER - BILLET / POLYURETHANE - 10MM HOLES
Add to wish list Remove from wish list 585063 139.00 EACH
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5CADGT~Z5Z5Z51

Have 600 miles on it thus far - mostly break in miles for the clutch and trans, but havent noticed any noises or vibrations.. installed one in the rear.

 

i gues no one tried it in the front?
if they did i sure can't find any info

mike

 

You..

 

BlackDogSpeedShop.com makes and sells alum. drive shaft couplers. Their catalog says one for autos, two for manuals. Give them a call for some insight.

 

Yup, Me...

The poly/hybrid coupler from an obvious materials perspective would provide more "give" than a true Solid coupler.... which should help with a single "stock" coupler.

I believe ECS was going to be installing these in some of their track cars to really put them through the ringer.

So far so good - i am happy with is thus far.

 

Really impossible to know, especially because Prothane provides zero info, test data, etc. on the product. Nice of you to test it out though......

 

The couplings are effectively in series and both see the same load. Having 1 rubber and 1 solid won't cause the single rubber one to fail any quicker.

Now, as for the solid coupler at the front - some people have done both solid and their cars have been fine. The shafts should all line up so it will work. But, there could be machining tolerances that will put a side load on the input shaft with a solid coupler.


The torque tube input shaft does not have just 1 bearing supporting it. It has the pilot bearing at the front and the larger roller bearing at the back.

Peter

 

the couplers in series will not effect one another.
the two bearing support makes sence too.joe at performance by joe says the stock will hold and one aluminum in the back is better if you go with one(has pulled a few back for custumers with vibration) ,but in front should work with a chance of vibration.
any more out there?
i would like to hear from someone with a front mount coupler
mike

 

So Peter, are you running solid couplers?

Really, can you explain why GM even bothers putting in the composite wound rubber coated flex coupling over a solid? Guess what is used in the 638 hp ZR1!


Oh, you got me there!! I should have been more clear as to what I ment. The rear bearing of the propshaft is support by a bearing housing assembly consisting of a housing, internally splined hub, pilot bushings, o-rings, snap rings, a wave washer, and two ball type bearings. The front does not have a bearing housing and it has only one ball type bearing supporting the propshaft. Yes, the input shaft has a pilot bearing in the rear of the crankshaft.

 

 

What does that have to do with the fact that each coupler location will see the full engine torque? Having one rubber coupler or 2 rubber couplers doesn't mean anything as far as the loads each coupler sees. So, seeing the same load regardless of there being one rubber coupler or 2 rubber couplers means

If I could go back in time when I had the car apart I would install 2 solid couplers. If I had the car apart again today I'd use that Prothane coupler in the front and probably a solid shimmed for true in the rear. The replacement rubber couplers I used are crap and have a lot of give and I'll likely pull it apart just to replace them in the winter.

A few people have posted here that they have installed 2 solid coupler by using shim washers on the mounting bolts until the assembly runs true. I think one person was up to 15k or 20k miles or maybe even more with that arrangement and a few had gone lower distances. There was one poster who was having trouble but it sounded like he damaged the roller pilot bearing during the install and it had come apart. He never did post back with what he found after taking it apart. There have been a number of other people posting with rubber couplers who had the same problem.

So, did you install solid couplers and have a failure or are you just deciding it can't possibly be done?

Peter

 

Peter,

The reason I asked, I was interested in your personal experience in the Corvette propshaft and torque tube. Where did you get the “crap” couplers, and why is “lot of give” bad?

You totally bypassed my question about why GM even bothers putting in the composite wound rubber coated flex coupling over a solid. The Corvette ZR1 got the best stuff available out there, why would GM choose the composite wound rubber coated coupler for use in the 638 hp ZR1?

I won’t go into a deep dive at the moment about why two stock couplers are better than one other than to point out that any spring has limits, the couplers are springs in this propshaft drive system. Each coupler has a given amount of travel before it goes solid in torsion. With two couplers I have twice the angular deflection in torsion compared to one. There have been photos post in these forums showing folks that have gone to one solid and one original coupler and the flex coupling has broken the propshaft attach point for the couple due to solid contact under over deflection. This is just one of many reason why current production Corvettes use flex couplings in this propshaft setup.

If you search a little more on this subject you will find that a number of companies that first came out with these solid replacements have quit supplying them.

 

If you drove my car then it'd be obvious to you why the couplers I've got suck. They came from BMW. The car is jerky due to the bounce in the couplers.

I have no idea why GM uses them. I don't work on the GM engineering team. I'd guess that they are an easy way to assemble the torque tube without having to worry about getting the whole prop shaft assembly to run true. Also, they don't have to ensure the engine and torque tube and transmission shafts are completely in line with each other. In other words, to make up for machining tolerances.

Can you answer why BMW uses them at the transmission to driveshaft connection? You really can't answer that one any more than I can speak for GM.

It seems to me that if the engine has enough torque to compress one until it contacts and breaks then it'll also compress 2 of them to the same condition. The same torque goes through both. The only post I recall with a blown apart shaft at the coupler I believe still had 2 rubber ones. The coupler design seems to have plastic tubes in the rubber and if these tubes contact they'll try to roll over each other. In this sense, the Prothane coupler appears to be a much better design since it has that outer aluminum shell that keep those both sleeves from rolling over each other.

Honestly, if Prothane didn't make that coupler then I'd recommend a u-joint shaft as a replacement.

Peter

 

still no one?
i just did 4k miles on the road in three days and need some rest.i willread and reply
mike