blabla914

I recall somebody making hollow axles for the 914 cv's. I think they were manufactured similar to how they make the hollow torsion bars. In other words they weren't drilled. Does know who made them and if they still make them. I'd also like to hear from anyone who has a set and knows how much weight they save.

thanks,

Kelly

38D

I am pretty sure that Smart Racing has hollow drive shafts. You could also try FAT (they deal mostly in VW Type 1 stuff, but also do some 914 stuff as well). Just out of curiosity, why do you want them?

blabla914

It seems to me, unless you are planning a fairly high torque engine, that the stock axles are rather overbuilt. Larger diameter tubes have a better strength to weight ratio than smaller diameter solid shafts. While the small diameter of the axle makes removing weight from it less effective than say taking weight off the flywheel, it is still rotating and partially unsprung weight. I'm just curious to know what exists, what it costs, and what it weighs. Maybe it would pay and maybe it wouldn't.

Kelly

38D

So I took a look at Smart Racing's axles . Looks like a set of tubular ones starts at $499 and save ~10lbs.

As far as the strength goes, the weaker part is the CV joint. The realiable power limit is about 300hp on the CVs.

blabla914

10lbs is only with their lightend CV joints. Getting rid of 10lbs of rotating weight would be sweet, but $600 just gets you in the door. I think Smart is who I was remembering though, thanks. I guess the market is just too small for hollow axles to be off the shelf. Funny that the market is big enough for torsion bars. I guess those are more likely to need replacement. I like those lightweight CV's though. I've got some old CV's I could chuck up in the lathe. That might be interesting.

Kelly

art

Could you just cut the axles and weld the spline for the CV into some appropriate tubing?