CV Driveshafts

[alanr]

I would like to say that bad mouthing suppliers in public is not good cricket, well not up here anyway. It’s a hard and thankless job supplying parts for very old cars. Myself personally, I can’t thank these people enough for trying, some of them being wonderful to deal with, others less so.

I am not suggesting that bad mouthing suppliers is good at all but sharing the knowledge that a problem in service of a supplied product is being experienced, which can easily be averted with some forethought, and saves potential hassle for other users is in my world is just being a helpful forumite!
Saying nothing helps no-one, neither supplier or end user.

Alan

[69S4]

I'm reading the comments / opinions about rotoflexes and CV conversions with more than usual interest as my first job when the weather warms up is to go and have a close look at the state of the rotoflexes on my S4.

Like others, I bought in a few sets of spare couplings years ago (when they were cheap), but those on the car are my last ones, so if they're defective I have to make a decision - which from reading here seems to be either current production rotoflexes that may / may not break up in short order, or, convert to CV joints, some of which may require modifications to the shock absorbers (or not), some of which may actually not be that well engineered, and because of the lack of shock absorbing I run the risk of snapping diff ears / output shafts (or both?). Does that sum up the situation or have I missed / misunderstood anything?

[Andy8421]

I'm reading the comments / opinions about rotoflexes and CV conversions with more than usual interest as my first job when the weather warms up is to go and have a close look at the state of the rotoflexes on my S4.

Like others, I bought in a few sets of spare couplings years ago (when they were cheap), but those on the car are my last ones, so if they're defective I have to make a decision - which from reading here seems to be either current production rotoflexes that may / may not break up in short order, or, convert to CV joints, some of which may require modifications to the shock absorbers (or not), some of which may actually not be that well engineered, and because of the lack of shock absorbing I run the risk of snapping diff ears / output shafts (or both?). Does that sum up the situation or have I missed / misunderstood anything?

Something else to consider?

https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=43470

[69S4]

Something else to consider?

https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=43470

Yes, that's always at the back of my mind, which is why my first 2022 task is to have a close look at them. Having said that the car has survived for over 52yrs on rotoflex's without being wrecked - even once, but that's been with couplings from what now seems to be the 'golden era'.

It's what to do when the current ones reach the end of their service lives (if they haven't already) that's my dilemma. From what I read here all of the options seem to have shortcomings in some form or another.

[RichardHawkins]

Alan,

A friend with a +2 has also had grease leak from his Sue Miller supplied CV joints at the junction of the CV to the adapter. What he found interesting is that the grease was not black as expected. He wiped the grease off and has not mentioned a recurrence.

Richard Hawkins

[ericbushby]

And me, grease leak from adapter plate. Wiped it off and then OK, Maybe there is none left inside now!.
or it has settled down.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[mbell]

I have the US made CV shafts with integrated diff output shafts. I too found them to have leaked a bit of grease but not enough to cause any brake issues. I had them in pieces while doing a rear end refresh and used some "Aviation Form-A-Gasket No. 3" between the matting surfaces when putting them back together.

So far in about 1,200 miles just some excess sealant has been thrown out but no signs of grease.

[JonB]

A suggestion to anyone fitting CV jointed shafts.

Spray or paint some clear lacquer round the jount housings otherwise they will rust really quickly. I fitted Kelvedon shafts I got from Sue Miller and they rusted horribly, really quickly. There is no plating on them. Unlikely the rust is a big deal, but it bugged me every time I climbed under my +2 (which was often, as you might imagine).

[mark030358]

I have the US made CV shafts with integrated diff output shafts. I too found them to have leaked a bit of grease but not enough to cause any brake issues. I had them in pieces while doing a rear end refresh and used some "Aviation Form-A-Gasket No. 3" between the matting surfaces when putting them back together.

So far in about 1,200 miles just some excess sealant has been thrown out but no signs of grease.

This 100%, up here anyway.

Cheers

[pharriso]

Used Hammerite on my lightly used shafts purchased from Adi:

Before...

and after

[wobblyweb]

To save disturbing Sue Miller, anybody have an idea of the price of her driveshaft conversion kit?
Thanks

[jeff jackson]

Hi all,
I dint want to spark an arguement amongst us, I just wanted to get an idea of the CVDS conversions you all may have experienced.
As it happens I have gone for Elantrikbits from Col Croucher in Wangaratta, Victoria..
It is worth noting though, that these CVDS will be the most traveled Elan parts in the world.
Col sent these to me in October 2021. They arrived in the UK ok, and went to a distribution centre in Coventry.
I assumed I would have them sometime soon.
However, Parcelforce delivered them to my local depot and it appeared there was an issue with the paperwork.
What should have happened was Parcelforce should have sent me a letter to say I needed to come in and collect. When I didnt do that send another reminder.
What actually happened was they never sent me anything due to "An administrative error".
So As I never knew anything about this and never went to collect, Parcelforce sent the CVDS all the way back to Col in Australia.
Col and I have been corresponding throughout and I must say what a thouroughly top bloke Col is.
Col has re-sent the CVDS and they are currently in Melbourne.
The moral is, constantly track the items, and if coming from overseas to the UK, try and get the Parcelforce tracking number, when it does arrive - its not that easy, but can be done.
Dont assume anything like Parcelforce will contact you if there is an issue, because in my case they didnt!

Kind regards
Jeff 72+2

[512BB]

The clue is in the name Jeff, 'PARCELFARCE'

I never use them to send a parcel. I will not buy from anybody who uses them to deliver a parcel to me. I will ask the supplier to use another courier. If they won't, I will find a supplier who will. Terrible company, truely awful.

Leslie

[jeff jackson]

Hi Leslie,
Yes they are, however the partner of Australia Post unfortunately is Parcelforce.
When the CVDS arrive, this time I will be all over Parcelforce like a rash.
Kind regards
Jeff.

[AshleyPark]

Agreed, Col is excellent. Shame he's not on here any more, apparently he got logged out and was unable to reset his password and gave up trying to login again!