Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic
-
Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
![IAC "Help Desk" IAC "Help Desk"](./images/ranks/admin.gif)
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by Amskeptic » Mon May 23, 2016 6:58 pm
hambone wrote:hambone wrote:For future reference: does anyone know of a rebuilt transaxle that is of comparable quality to original German?
10 years later I ask the same question. It is almost time. Colin what do you think of your Rancho transaxle? And what is the deal with certain bellhousings not permitting a socket on the engine mounting bolt head? There seems to be a cast boss in the way.
The other option is German Transaxle in Bend but they are spendy with a lesser warranty.
I want to do this ONCE.
So far, the Rancho transaxle is behaving acceptably at 27,000 miles save for a resistant 4th gear change ( I think due to either a overpowering detent or a lousy match up of the slider teeth on the inner hub).
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
-
kreemoweet
- Getting Hooked!
- Location: Seattle
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by kreemoweet » Mon May 23, 2016 10:37 pm
hambone wrote: And what is the deal with certain bellhousings not permitting a socket on the engine mounting bolt head? There seems to be a cast boss in the way.
It's the same deal as with the other top engine bolt: the boss enables one to remove the nut from the engine compartment without the aid
of a helper or vicegrips or some other awkward strategem. When the doghouse fan shroud appeared on later engines, the engine had a
pressed-in nut instead and the boss on the bell housing disappeared. I dunno what Type 4 engines did, but a bell housing I have from '72-'74
has no boss either.
-
hambone
- Post-Industrial Non-Secular Mennonite
- Location: Portland, Ore.
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by hambone » Tue May 24, 2016 6:34 pm
OH! It's a type4 thing. Totally makes sense, all that room up there...
Thank you.
-
MonoCone
- Getting Hooked!
- Location: OB California
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by MonoCone » Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:37 am
EMPI complete axles. I used the Oreilleys lifetime guaranteed ones and had to replace 2 in 3 years on the right side.
No desire to rebuild my own and no longer like the process of installing these things.
The original (?) or at least old left axle gave out. 1.5" of lateral movement on the axle. Lots of clanking. Based on a recommendation (from Robbie?) I tried the EMPI brand axles. Around $90 from several sources. They are pre-greased! I glopped an extra load of grease in there anyway. They seem to be well made and the boots look good and seem plenty supple. 500 or so miles in and no problems.
I'll check back with follow up reports.
To Really Live You Must Go Back to the Mountains.
The Mountains are Where I Am and What I Am.
69 Westfalia 1600 DP; 2002 Eurovan Camper
When you elect a clown, expect a circus.
Formerly posted as OB Bus on this forum - many years ago....
-
Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
![IAC "Help Desk" IAC "Help Desk"](./images/ranks/admin.gif)
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by Amskeptic » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:00 am
MonoCone wrote:EMPI complete axles. I used the Oreilleys lifetime guaranteed ones and had to replace 2 in 3 years on the right side.
No desire to rebuild my own and no longer like the process of installing these things.
The original (?) or at least old left axle gave out. 1.5" of lateral movement on the axle. Lots of clanking. Based on a recommendation (from Robbie?) I tried the EMPI brand axles. Around $90 from several sources. They are pre-greased! I glopped an extra load of grease in there anyway. They seem to be well made and the boots look good and seem plenty supple. 500 or so miles in and no problems.
I'll check back with follow up reports.
How did the O'Reilley axles fail?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
-
MonoCone
- Getting Hooked!
- Location: OB California
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by MonoCone » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:29 am
Amskeptic wrote:MonoCone wrote:EMPI complete axles. I used the Oreilleys lifetime guaranteed ones and had to replace 2 in 3 years on the right side.
No desire to rebuild my own and no longer like the process of installing these things.
The original (?) or at least old left axle gave out. 1.5" of lateral movement on the axle. Lots of clanking. Based on a recommendation (from Robbie?) I tried the EMPI brand axles. Around $90 from several sources. They are pre-greased! I glopped an extra load of grease in there anyway. They seem to be well made and the boots look good and seem plenty supple. 500 or so miles in and no problems.
I'll check back with follow up reports.
How did the O'Reilley axles fail?
Colin
I am guessing that the CVs broke both times. Again, I am unable and unwilling to tear them apart to accurately diagnose the cause(s). In both cases I suddenly got a lot of noisy clanking from the rear and when testing the axle for lateral movement found that they would slide at least an inch left-and-right. When the axle would reach the end of the travel there was a sharp metal-on-metal clank. When the O'Reilley axles were new they had zero side-to-side play. The O'Reilley axles were dry when purchased but I spent a lot of time (and used a bunch of paper towels and nitrile gloves) getting them fully greased.
I really think "someone" could make a business rebuilding axles with good quality CVs and the best available boots. Ship them pre greased and ready to go. A similar business to what Volkzbitz has done for carburetors and TASB for distributors. O'Reilley's has exchanged the axles without questions but I am tired of unnecessary work under the bus.
To Really Live You Must Go Back to the Mountains.
The Mountains are Where I Am and What I Am.
69 Westfalia 1600 DP; 2002 Eurovan Camper
When you elect a clown, expect a circus.
Formerly posted as OB Bus on this forum - many years ago....
-
whc03grady
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livingston Montana
-
Contact:
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by whc03grady » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:05 pm
hambone wrote:Colin what do you think of your Rancho transaxle?
Amskeptic wrote:So far, the Rancho transaxle is behaving acceptably at 27,000 miles save for a resistant 4th gear change ( I think due to either a overpowering detent or a lousy match up of the slider teeth on the inner hub).
I know I wasn't asked, but fwiw both bolts holding the shift lever bracket to the gear carrier stripped out within 25,000 miles on Ludwig's Rancho transaxle.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com
-
Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
![IAC "Help Desk" IAC "Help Desk"](./images/ranks/admin.gif)
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by Amskeptic » Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:27 am
whc03grady wrote:hambone wrote:Colin what do you think of your Rancho transaxle?
Amskeptic wrote:So far, the Rancho transaxle is behaving acceptably at 27,000 miles save for a resistant 4th gear change ( I think due to either a overpowering detent or a lousy match up of the slider teeth on the inner hub).
I know I wasn't asked, but fwiw both bolts holding the shift lever bracket to the gear carrier stripped out within 25,000 miles on Ludwig's Rancho transaxle.
Who asked YOU?
Did Rancho ever provide you with any relief for this unacceptable situation?
Monocone, for the record, all driveshafts with broken-in CV joints do have an inch of lateral movement. They will clonk at the ends of their travel because the shaft ends bang into the flange centers.
ColinInNY
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
-
whc03grady
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livingston Montana
-
Contact:
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by whc03grady » Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:34 pm
Amskeptic wrote:Did Rancho ever provide you with any relief for this unacceptable situation?
Rancho said, "yeah, they'll do that/that happens" when I told them about the initial issue. Then they told me which sealant they use when attaching the nose cone.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com
-
MonoCone
- Getting Hooked!
- Location: OB California
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by MonoCone » Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:04 pm
Amskeptic wrote:
Monocone, for the record, all driveshafts with broken-in CV joints do have an inch of lateral movement. They will clonk at the ends of their travel because the shaft ends bang into the flange centers.
ColinInNY
OK, then what might explain the clunking and clanking from the axles when rotated? Joints were thoroughly greased before installation. Said clunking and clanking was fixed with a new axle.
To Really Live You Must Go Back to the Mountains.
The Mountains are Where I Am and What I Am.
69 Westfalia 1600 DP; 2002 Eurovan Camper
When you elect a clown, expect a circus.
Formerly posted as OB Bus on this forum - many years ago....
-
hambone
- Post-Industrial Non-Secular Mennonite
- Location: Portland, Ore.
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by hambone » Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:15 pm
Isn't it just a paper gasket under the nose cone?
Bad CVs will clunk when rotated.
-
Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
![IAC "Help Desk" IAC "Help Desk"](./images/ranks/admin.gif)
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by Amskeptic » Fri Jun 03, 2016 6:48 pm
MonoCone wrote:Amskeptic wrote:
Monocone, for the record, all driveshafts with broken-in CV joints do have an inch of lateral movement. They will clonk at the ends of their travel because the shaft ends bang into the flange centers.
ColinInNY
OK, then what might explain the clunking and clanking from the axles when rotated? Joints were thoroughly greased before installation. Said clunking and clanking was fixed with a new axle.
During rotation? They are not supposed to do that. That is typical of poorly matched balls and tracks. I address the people who might think they have bad CVs if they whang the axles back and forth longitudinally while inspecting under the car.
I got the rotating clonk in May, read all about it somewhere in this post:
viewtopic.php?f=70&t=13022#p220491
The noise went away after repacking the original Lobro CV joints.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
-
Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
![IAC "Help Desk" IAC "Help Desk"](./images/ranks/admin.gif)
-
Status:
Offline
Post
by Amskeptic » Fri Jun 03, 2016 6:52 pm
whc03grady wrote:Amskeptic wrote:Did Rancho ever provide you with any relief for this unacceptable situation?
Rancho said, "yeah, they'll do that/that happens" when I told them about the initial issue. Then they told me which sealant they use when attaching the nose cone.
. . . as in, "you'll need that sealant when you fix our over-tightened bracket snafu, good luck now, buh-bye."
![blackeye :blackeye:](./images/smilies/icon_blackeye.gif)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles