> Yes, Petersen's 4WOR. I wrote tech stories for them from around '84-88
> (+/-). ("Mighty Rat," 454 in a Blazer) Real story? I'm not sure what you
Gnarley. =) Just found a Trans Tech article with your name on it. (Nov'84)
th400 buildup for the Blazer.
> want to know. (It's not Consumer Reports ... ) Don't plan on getting
> rich.
I think what I'm fishing for is, how much freedom do you as the tech wiz
have in what parts you use and to what extreme?  How much are you
pressurized by (the bean counters) to utilize certain brands, or play up on
a brands strong points.  Today, more than ever it seems like the parts
supplier does the final editing of a story, removing any negative comments
and keeping their product fluffed up.
Don't get me started on Consumer reports. =-) They should stick to
appliances and not automotive stuff unless its a lab test that does head to
head comparisons.   Want to test oil? Do it in the lab. Not in taxis. Really
want to test oil? Park it ouside and run it like most people do (short
drives, cold cycles, cold starts) not in taxis that run all day.  THEN
compare wear.
> According to the U-Joint guys I talked to, you actually want some
> misallignment (equal angles as you mentioned) to distribute the wear
> more evenly over the surface ("race") of the U-joint. Otherwise you
> can get "Brinelling," localized high stress and wear. They recommended 1
> degree for stationary applications, but vehicles move enough on their
> own that you really don't have to worry about it.
Understandable.  I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle drive down the road
where the driveshaft was not moving up or down at any given point. =)
> You are certainly right about equal angles on stationary applications,
> the out-of-phase will tear stuff up pretty fast. It's just not a real
> problem with vehicles (but too much angle is ... !) Hint, next time you
> see a really jacked up 4x4, check to see if his front drive shaft is
> there or has been removed ....
I think the most effective demonstation I saw was on ShadeTree mechanic
(another show that seems to be getting more advertiser driven. You see less
of the dirty tools and hands on now than a few years ago) was the setup with
a motor driven "driveshaft" mockup with u-joints that could have their
angles changed with a cogged wheel they held a card against to audibly show
the different speeds at either end of the universals.
Alex.
 | AmiQWK 2.7 - S/N 0261 |
... If brute force doesn't help, try *more* brute force!
--- OLMS 2.60p.a1+ [EPMBP73M]
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