Hi guys, tried to search for this question but i found nothing to be honest so...
One of my rear drive shafts is broken and I would like to replace both but obviously it seem that there are two different PN for earlier and later 944s and mine being from 04/1985 I don't know which one to choose:

1) it seems that earlier cars mount this PN: 477 501 103


2) later cars should mount this PN: 944 332 038 01


Now... they both cost about the same but the earlier it seems to be quite a bit shorter. Do you have any way to tell which one to get? I could measure the one that are currently mounted but I can't find the exact lenght of the two spare's types.

Thanks!

 

Axle change follows the dash board change. Oval dash would have long axles, square dash will have short axles. Asuuming this is a manual shift transmission, automatics have a different axle from the others.

 

If your car Has aluminum rear trailing arms you need the longer axle.

 

Think I'll need the shorter one then:

 

I got 2 new ones from JBugs.com. They are the same as a 74 beetle or a THING. They are not Chinese AFAIK. HTH.😀

 

Have to be honest here... I'm kinda pissed off knowing that I share my axle with a beetle but it is what it is. I'm considering some repair kits because here in Europe the whole axles are available only trough rosepassione for a whoping 550euros

If anyone has a tip on where to get them I'm all ears...

 

These but only if you have 33 spline shafts (they also come in chrome moly if you are running high hp). I think there are similar ones for the 31 splined shafts but youll have to dig

EMPI 87-9917 (VW type 2 axles)

I find this statement extremely confusing... I am not sure why you would be upset that you can get cheaper, high quality CV joints that are shared across models, but I for one am very happy that I can get my axles replaced for $150 instead of $1100. This is the Porsche parts "upcharge" at its worst.

I have these joints installed on the OEM shafts (late model 33 spline) and I autox/track my car, they are very durable and good quality, which is not the case with lower quality, complete axles you find on places like Rock Auto, etc (which do not last)

Also, the longevity of axles is also correlated with the condition of your transaxle mount, especially late model cars. The urethane mod fixes this and makes the mount much stronger, which reduces the movement of the trans, which is the main thing that kills axles (worn trans mount).

 

Not quite true. Late '85 and all '86 oval dash cars are early offset. '87 on for late offset.

 

It was just a joke nothing more! Obviously I'm more than happy to kmow that there are shared parts that I can use!
The only problem is, as I said, that I'm not finding any available in te EU. Do you have a VW part number that I can search for?

 

the aluminum trailing arms came with the oval dash. wheel offset change does not affect cv axle length.

 

wait til you find out that the entire steel trailing arm, including bearings and stub axle, is shared with a 68+ IRS beetle

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

considering that the first cars from Porsche were basically modified beetles... that makes this car more Porsche than many others

 

There were a few minor differences from the beetle, but yes… I have a lot of VW parts on my ‘83 because they were way cheaper than OEM and nearly the same. My stub axles were worn from a failed bearing incident, so I replaced them with parts from a VW Thing, direct fit and brand new. Lots of rubber pieces from other VWs.

 

Good to know! 😀