V8 driveshafts

[zombeh]

Does anyone know what the driveshafts are from?
Are they both the same?
Do the v6 and the v8 use the same ones?
Are shafts available without the inner circlip groove (aka. "break right here mark")?

The (broken) left shaft from my car measures 461mm overall which I suspect might be this one

Ford seem to have used many many different length shafts across various sierras and granadas all with different lengths and different numbers of splines. I've not been able to find much in the way of a useful reference for what car has a 460mm shaft with 25 splines each end

[phillpot]

Pair of V6 shafts, both 450mm if that helps with your comparisons? think Sierra had different lengths each side so these must be both left or right hand.




Alternative Parts List has them down as Sierra 2 litre (with disc brakes) , Only 2 litre Sierra with disc brakes was the Cozzy as far as I know?

zombeh said:

Are shafts available without the inner circlip groove (aka. "break right here mark")?

Diameter is no less at the circlip groove than a little further along the shaft, although it could be a stress point?


Don't think the shafts are a "known weak spot", can't recall any previous "snapped a driveshaft" posts

[zombeh]

Yeah, I don't think that it's thinner there so much as a sharp corner. It looks like it's cracked at the corner of the groove, slowly weakened until there wasn't enough shaft left to hold it together then *BANG* and a lack of going forwards.

2.0 with ABS will have discs at the back (that's what the V8 hubs and brakes are from), so it looks like it's the left hand shaft from one of them

I don't think many people do a lot of hard launches with sticky tyres on, so they don't usually snap.

[glenrobbo]

John Carter snapped one at a TVRCC Sprint event last season I believe. As you said, a power launch on stickies does find the weak spot.

[zombeh]

For the benefit of whoever breaks one next, of the millions of different length and designs of shaft Ford used over the years I ended up using 466mm shafts from J&R cv joints, part BAR2 (they list it for the left side of various Sierras and Westfield. These have slightly shorter splined sections that don't have the circlip grooves cut into them (and don't have an inner circlip at all), if you've previously bought cv joints and wondered why the circlips are too small this is the shaft they're for. The shaft itself is slightly thinner so is probably slightly weaker but at least it won't fail in the same way the old one did.

[Kitchski]

I've got some spare V6 shafts I don't need. Never saw this