Author Topic: drive shaft length (Read 7990 times)

Benz Dr. · « **on:** December 18, 2012, 18:26:44 »

Does anyone know the length of the drive shaft for a standard trans? What I really need to know is the length of the front section but an overall length would also work.

getsmart · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2012, 20:39:45 »

Hi Dr,

Manual or Auto? If its manual I can measure mine when I get home from work,

Rgds, Joe

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2012, 05:22:16 »

Manual or standard - all the same thing.

getsmart · « **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2012, 07:19:33 »

For main (mail-diff end) shaft 741mm end to end...see pics
For small (female-gearbox end) shaft 168mm

Therefore 741 + 168 - 122 = 787 mm total shortest length with 2 shafts together. Could be a little longer if male spline not as far into female shaft.

rgds, joe

George Des · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2012, 13:17:39 »

Dan,

I believe there are two versions of this shaft. One has a slip joint for the fkrward section and the other has a large nut joining the sections. I have a slip version in the garage but do not have access to it right now. Have this hanging around in case I need to mount a spare 4 speed box while I repair the ZF box that uses a shorter driveshaft.

getsmart · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2012, 18:59:52 »

Hi Dan/George,

Obviously the one I've posted is the slip version....the shorter shaft or female at the gearbox end. My pagoda is a 1964 230 sl by the way, about a March build
Rgds, Joe

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2012, 21:29:25 »

I'm referring to the front section without the slip joint. This is the unit that has the slip joint on the longer, rear portion.
I'll assume that the front lenght should be in the 165 to 170mm range. Will have a look and see what I have.

getsmart · « **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2012, 00:59:13 »

168mm to be precise (as I detailed in the diagram) but a few mm either way and you'll be ok

Rgds, joe

Later edit...PS....You're welcome

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2012, 17:22:45 »

Very odd. I found a mechanic's guide from 1966 and it states that the 1st version, front drive shaft piece for a standard trans, as being 502 mm. I measured what I have and it's that lenght.
I measured from the front edge of the flange to the back edge where the two shafts are bolted together the way may book indicates. How are you getting 168 mm?

GGR · « **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2012, 18:18:16 »

I.m not absolutely sure, but I think both standard and auto trans are the same dimensions, or very close. So I wouldn't be surprised if prop shaft is the same for both trans. Have you checked on EPC?

ja17 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2012, 02:15:25 »

Hello,

The lengths of the standard trans and the automatics are quite a bit different.

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #11 on:** December 22, 2012, 04:33:41 »

I had a front shaft from an auto trans where I had written '' 230SL auto '' on the shaft in grease pencil. I had it beside a 280SL shaft and they were the same lenght so I knew it was marked properly. I looked around and found a front piece that seemed about the right dimension but I didn't have a 230SL around with a standard trans to compare. My car own is a 5 speed and that shaft is shorter than the standard but longer than the auto, that was no help.

The mechanics pocket guide that I have is very handy because it gives you all of the specs without having to go look for them. It gave all of the part numbers for each drive shaft and all the different versions. It also shows you which models use the same parts which is also very handy when pulling stuff from parts cars.

getsmart · « **Reply #12 on:** December 22, 2012, 09:59:26 »

Mystery solved, sorry...forgot the main bit you wanted...

Mine is close to 502mm too...see pic...
So there are 3 parts between gearbox and rear diff

1-502mm
2-168mm female
3-741mm male

hope that makes sense now

George Des · « **Reply #13 on:** December 22, 2012, 13:17:44 »

Joe,

Have you got this attached for storage to the transmission and shaft only, or is that the correct orientation? My 230Sl has the ZF and I have the two piece shaft with the shorter forward section like Dan's. I do have the slip shaft version sitting in the garage for use with my spare 4 speed MB box when the time comes to pull the ZF to fix the rear speedometer plate. I assumed the slip section is what gets attached to the flex joint--opposite of what you have pictured?

George

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #14 on:** December 22, 2012, 17:28:51 »

The later version uses a clamping nut to hold the front section in position. The sliding pieces are there to assist in shortening the front sdection enough so that you can remove the flex disc.
On the early style the slip joint in on the rear section. If you need to remove the flex disc, you will need to loosen the two screws that hold the center bearing so that the whole front assembly can move towards the rear of the car. If you have a lot of grease in the slip joint, removal of the grease fitting will allow the grease to squeeze out of the hole and rease any pressure.

getsmart · « **Reply #15 on:** December 23, 2012, 07:45:10 »

Hi Des,

I got confused with my inital answer and sbsequently confused Dan...
I bought my car disassembled but I believe what I've photographed is original.

It might be easier to just provide the order of connections starting from the gearbox end...
501mm shaft is directly connected to the gearbox end via a flexible coupling
The other end of the 501mm shaft is attached to the short 168mm slip via a universal joint..
The other end of the 168mm shaft slips over the splined end of the 741mm shaft.
The other end of the 741mm shaft is attached to the rear diff via a universal joint

Hope this is a bit clearer, you should be able to see all in the photos...

Best Regards, Joe

ps. if i could easily put them together would and take a photo

getsmart · « **Reply #16 on:** December 23, 2012, 07:59:59 »

Hi Des,

I got confused with my inital answer and sbsequently confused Dan...
I bought my car disassembled but I believe what I've photographed is original.

It might be easier to just provide the order of connections starting from the gearbox end...
501mm shaft is directly connected to the gearbox end via a flexible coupling
The other end of the 501mm shaft is attached to the short 168mm slip via a universal joint..
The other end of the 168mm shaft slips over the splined end of the 741mm shaft.
The other end of the 741mm shaft is attached to the rear diff via a universal joint

Hope this is a bit clearer, you should be able to see all in the photos...

Best Regards, Joe

ps. if i could easily put them together would and take a photo

George Des · « **Reply #17 on:** December 23, 2012, 14:55:04 »

No, Joe. I understand now from Dan's explanation and yours. I've never mounted the slip version shaft and just assumed that the slip section went forward so you could easily get to the flex joint mounted on the transmission, but looks like that assumption is wrong. Like I said, the only reason I have this is to replace the two piece shaft currently mounted with my ZF box should I decide to mount a std 4 speed box while doing repairs on the ZF. Not a job I look forward to doing anytime soon since I do not have access to a lift. As a minimun, I need to replace the rear cover on the ZF box. It has a broken speedometer clamping section and there is a small leak from the seal located in that section. After several years of bugging ZF, I was finally able to get a brand new aluminum cast rear cover plate. I was also able to get the proper ZF reverse light switch which has a slightly longer actuating pin than the MB version which will fit and work provided the brass/aluminum seal ring is left off

George

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #18 on:** December 23, 2012, 16:27:56 »

If anyone happens to have a ZF reverse light switch, I could use one.

George Des · « **Reply #19 on:** December 23, 2012, 18:15:39 »

Dan,

I got my reverse light switch directly from ZF. One of our UK members was able to order it through the ZF people in the UK, but since then, I've been able to find a contact here at ZF North America who was able to get me the rear speedometer cover plate. I'll need to look on the Forum posts to find it because I believe I had mention his name and contact info in one of my posts on the ZF discussion about a year ago.

George

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Author Topic: drive shaft length (Read 7990 times)

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