U jointed front drive shaft possible?

[CrazyPrime]

I was wondering if u jointed front drive shaft would be possible? A u joint at the diff side possibly?

[barbierij]

Why?

Sent from SPACE using Tapatalk 2

[jalopi]

the answer is yes, though you'd either need to get a custom yoke or do a non-BMW engine swap. but as previously mentioned, why?

[ghatid]

The only thing I can think of is OP is considering raising his e30?

[barbierij]

There probably isn't enough room for the yoke anyway

Sent from SPACE using Tapatalk 2

[jalopi]

as-is no, definitely not, but a driveshaft shop could shorten the driveshaft so that it could fit

but seriously OP what are you doing with your car that makes you ask this question

[barbierij]

I would rather spend the time to figure out a $50 replacement for the iX rear u-joint.

[CrazyPrime]

I have a crazy idea about the front diff, I'm turboing my ix and I know the front diff is the weak Link. I typically get ahead of myself on these things and that's why I'm already asking. Basically I was looking at building a awd c10 and looked into the trailblazer awd ss they have a setup similar to the ix with a transfer case and a front diff bolted to the oil pan. Now this is where it gets crazy. I was thinking it may be possible to build a custom oil pan that would allow the trailblazer ss front diff to be bolted to. And have custom cv axles with trailblazer inners and ix outers. I know it won't be cheap but the front diffs have held 800+ hp/tq. I ask about the drive shaft because the front diff has a u joint connection.



Here is the tbss oil pan





And here is the front diff

[AndrewBird]

You would need a diff with the same ratio as stock to match the rear. Otherwise it won't work.

[CrazyPrime]

Obviously its a 3.73 ratio and BMW also has a rear diff that is 3.73 the TBSS also has a 4.10 ratio and the auto ix's have 4.10.

[Kershaw]

well that's an interesting idea. but arent you going to need to put the ix drivetrain into a jig to keep it straight so the oilpan can be created so that the diff mounts perfectly in the right spot?

sounds like a lot of money. and ix front diffs are $250-300. you can blow through probably 10 of them before you reach that fabrication level of money.

[nando]

you'd have to fabricate an oil pan, CV shafts, and front driveshaft. It would also very likely interfere with the steering rack if the diff is any larger (assuming it's stronger, it's likely bigger).

Sounds like it's in the "never gonna happen" category to me.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Just use the E53 oil sump and front drive assembly... it's the same as the back end of a Z3 4 cylinder; and much stronger than the original iX.

As for u-jointed driveshaft:

Progress on u-jointed driveshaft:

Bought one of Jute91's driveshaft repair fittings and had a local machinist press and weld a BMW 4 bolt flange onto it.
The diff and driveshaft are from an E46 front. With this flange, either the E46 driveshaft can be shortened OR a Jags That Run 1310 u-joint yoke for the BMW 4 bolt flange can be used with a custom driveshaft.

FIRST, setting up the driveshaft this way allows a repaired E30 driveshaft to be installed and removed WITHOUT dropping the transfer case or the diff.

HOWEVER, this flange is in slightly the wrong place. It needs to be cut off and moved closer to the splines (and the repair fitting trimmed) in order to clear the oil pan on the 4HP22. ALSO, the flange does not clear the transmission tunnel, which needs to be "persuaded" a bit.




Here's the repair fitting with female flange and the male flange from the E46 driveshaft:



Here's the modded E30 driveshaft with male fitting and E46 driveshaft with male fitting:



Here's the repair fitting with female flange and the E46 differential with female input flange:



Here's the repair fitting with female flange and modded E30 driveshaft with male flange:



Here's the assembly with a naked T-case sprocket:



The flange needs to be reworked to move to the right in this photo in order to clear the auto trans oil pan.

To answer the "Why?" question, the E53 diff is located to the left of the E30 diff (further from the crank centerline)

[CrazyPrime]

That's awesome! Thanks for that, did you do all the fabrication or have someone do it for you?

[The Dark Side of Will]

I bought the stub shaft from jute91 ( http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=276152 ) and gave a local machinist directions for the rest of what I wanted.