Axles

So I broke an axle this weekend at a RallyX. Stupid me, I think the ones I replaced before IR08 last year were OEM, and I replaced 'em w/ cheap aftermarket ones. I still have one of the OEM ones, (the place I had switch them out "couldn't find" the other one). Anyway, I the one OEM one that I do have is, luckily, for the side I broke.
But when this happens again in the future, is there a good aftermarket brand of cv axles I can buy for the Foci? Or do I have to go salvaging for used OEM? I'm not gonna spend my entire annual racing budget on two new OEM axles from Ford at $300 a piece. I know I'll get poo-poo'd by some of you for saying that, but please.

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Ben Hetland
1973 Volvo 142 project car (with some cone-smashing on dirt in it's future, however)

"No. Rally Racing is a back alley sport filled with jackals, headhunters and thugs!"
-Pops Racer (Speed Racer movie)

www.utahrallygroup.com

buy new factory joints for your remans?

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-Tom
DemonRallyTeam | Fine Tuning | CTS Turbo & RP Turbos | RalleyTuned | JRM | Meister Autowerks
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Can you even do that? Mine broke not at the CV by the wheel, but at the middle cv section where it connects to the longer shaft that runs over to the trans. Is that part ever replaceable?

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Ben Hetland
1973 Volvo 142 project car (with some cone-smashing on dirt in it's future, however)

"No. Rally Racing is a back alley sport filled with jackals, headhunters and thugs!"
-Pops Racer (Speed Racer movie)

www.utahrallygroup.com

You might try getting in touch with CVJ Axles here in Denver. They rebuild the Merk ones for me for $100 per halfshaft, that's basically to stock, but they can do all kinds of fancy shit too.

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Grant Hughes

Have you made sure you don't have anything else wrong in the front end? The stock inner CV on the Focus is pretty well designed unit unless it is over stretched or compressed. I would make sure that the axle is completely seated in the transmission and that thin metal bracket that holds the axle to the back of the motor is torqued to spec.

My cheap axles have held up fairly well. I check them for excessive play after every rally. For $50 a piece I replace them when they start to seem a little sloppy.

Andrew_Frick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you made sure you don't have anything else
> wrong in the front end? The stock inner CV on the
> Focus is pretty well designed unit unless it is
> over stretched or compressed. I would make sure
> that the axle is completely seated in the
> transmission and that thin metal bracket that
> holds the axle to the back of the motor is torqued
> to spec.
>
> My cheap axles have held up fairly well. I check
> them for excessive play after every rally. For
> $50 a piece I replace them when they start to seem
> a little sloppy.

And Andrew beats on his Spec Focus as hard as anyone, IMO.

autozone lifetime warrantee axles FTW. at least, in my case. It's really nice when it's the passenger side one goes. 15 minutes (or less) later, you're driving again, if you've got the right tools with you. again, in my case. 95 eScrotum wagon, not a Focus.

--sarge

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---** To be in compliance with the Anarchy **---
Jorden R. Kleier
Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
1990 Mazdog Protege 4WD
1973

Yeah, its the opposite with the Foci, the passenger side axle is the long one. Would you guys recommend Autozone axles over, say, Napa axles? The Napa ones cost twice as much, but are they worth the extra fistful of dollars? (Napa has a lifetime warranty as well, I think).

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Ben Hetland
1973 Volvo 142 project car (with some cone-smashing on dirt in it's future, however)

"No. Rally Racing is a back alley sport filled with jackals, headhunters and thugs!"
-Pops Racer (Speed Racer movie)

www.utahrallygroup.com

Lifetime warranties and quick service time don't help a whole lot when you just paid a $750 entry fee and are 5 miles into the first leg and still have 20 stage miles and 40 transit to the first service, Hope that other one doesn't break.
Figure out what the best ones that won't fail are and pay the money. It's a small price to pay.

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Grant Hughes

I completely agree with that. But what happens when your axles are now the strongest part of your drivetrain? Then you start breaking differentials and transmission parts, which is a hell of a lot more expensive in the long run.

So, your axle is like this:

Driver Hub|==[CV1]=====[CV2]==|Trans|==[CV3]============[CV4]==|Passenger Hub

And the CV3 joint is the one that broke?

I guess I was under the impression that the Focus had a jackshaft/intermediate shaft from the passenger side of the trans, supported by a bracket bolted to the block, and more-or-less equal length CV axles. That's how my eScrotum is (with the 1.8 DOHC transmission, the original 1.9 had the super-long pass. side also) and I'd figured that a newer car would have kept that bit of better technology.

I've got a driver-side hybrid axle from Raxles.com that seems to be VERY stout, a mazdaspeed protege LSD, and a custom Jackshaft made by Corksport, but I run a stock axle on the passenger side. Before I got the Raxles axle and the jackshaft, I'd been blowing the driver axle, which required re-filling the transmission each time I replaced it. After the raxles.com/corksport changeover, I've only popped the driver side once. The car's got a Mazdog 323GTX engine, 173.3hp/172.5ft-lb. The Raxles.com axle wasn't cheap, but it didn't break the bank either, I think it was about 180 or so. Also a lifetime warrantee, with overnight shipping in case of failure.

So, Raxles.com might be a place to check also.

I wonder if the size of the axle shaft itself were increased, if that would decrease the likelihood of the CV3 joint breaking, since there might be less twisty-springy action happening over the length of the thicker shaft,to shock and break the joint?


um,'twisty-springy action over the length of the thicker shaft'.... lol!

--sarge

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---** To be in compliance with the Anarchy **---
Jorden R. Kleier
Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
1990 Mazdog Protege 4WD
1973

Sarge on the Focus it is more like:

Driver Hub|==[CV1]====[CV2][Trans]========[Bracket][CV3]====[CV4]==|Pass Hub

So the actually half shafts are basically the same length. Changing either axle requires you to top off the transmission or make the car look like it is doing a stopie to get all of the fluid to the front of the case.

CV2 and CV3 use a tripod design similar to this:


I would be interesting to see what failed on the Ben's inner CV. If that joint gets bent beyond it recommended range or over extended it can become damaged. It is pretty easy to over extend that joint while changing struts since there is almost nothing other than the boot that is holding the tripod into the cup.

CV1 and CV4 are a traditional design.

ahh, gotcha, it's a whole 1-piece deal, but still has a bracket. I like the 2-piece deal on my eScrotum just because of the non-drainage aspect, since filling is a royal PITA, you've got to yank the speedo gear out of the top to refill.

Back to Ben's issue, I wonder if a 'better'outer housing would fix the problem, or if it's the inner tripod that needs strengthening, or if it was the shaft itself that broke.

Good luck on finding something that works better.. would something from an SVT work, or are those parts even compatible and/or stronger?

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---** To be in compliance with the Anarchy **---
Jorden R. Kleier
Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
1990 Mazdog Protege 4WD
1973

SVT axles are compatible but I am pretty sure they are same part number from Ford so I don't think they were upgraded.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2009 12:27PM by Andrew_Frick.

What's blowing up? Specifically?

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

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What broke was the CV3 joint itself, not any of the shafts. It just popped out of the tripod thing, and I lost a bunch of the ball bearings inside that part as well. The braket seems to be fine, but I dunno. It was during a rally cross, and I wasn't quite turning lock to lock, but I was getting close.
One thing that I've considered might have some kinda' negative effect on the CVs is the Kaaz LSD. I didn't know it could be adjusted before it went in, and so my guess is that its at 100% lock, if thats how it comes from the factory.

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Ben Hetland
1973 Volvo 142 project car (with some cone-smashing on dirt in it's future, however)

"No. Rally Racing is a back alley sport filled with jackals, headhunters and thugs!"
-Pops Racer (Speed Racer movie)

www.utahrallygroup.com