APchassied

Alright, we've pretty much come to the conclusion that the differential is the biggest problem. But, after bombproofing our differentials problems still occur. The next most responsible culprit would be the axles. Now, couldn't you just have straight axles fabricated for the car to allow it to handle stomping it at the line? I know your handling around corners would suffer and I expect to be shot for bringing this up anyways because that's what everyone loves about the S, BUT, consider that Mustangs and Camaros have straight axles in back and they can still handle a few corners. Nowhere near the precision and ease of that of an S2000, but...enough. This is just mainly for the quarter mile guys if you haven't already guessed. The only other options I see are having the axles strengthened by an axle shop or having a new rear end put in. Solution 1 seems alright but it's still very breakable, considering construction is near same to that of the factory, save stronger components. A new rear end would be too bulky and heavy unless you went with an RX-7 piece(which isn't too out of this world). If anyone has anything to add or some comments about my thoughts, or just to shoot me down, please let me know. I really need some aid in drivetrain strengthening before anything. Let me know! Thanks.

manfromplanetX

oooo...remember the pre 69 vw bugs...
and how the transaxles would buckle the tire under on a turn...
that wouldnt be good <i know there is a more tech answer for it...but...>
point being if you dont have a cv on the transaxle and the whell side...
oooops there goes a nother rubber tree plant

mpx

APchassied

There's a '61 Beetle out in the garage now and yes, it's had it's fair share of problems, but none like the one you just described. Maybe it's a subtle problem I haven't noticed or I'm not completely understanding what you're saying but none such on this one.

Wesmaster

C4 = straight axle, C5 & Z06 = IRS...and the last time I looked, those Z06's didn't need to baby the car off the line. The issue isn't so much whether or not we have a straight axle, it's how strong the axle is. We don't need anything that can handle 500 ft/lb of torque...we just need something that can handle 170-200 ft/lb of torque. A nice custom racing axle will do the job. Driveshaft Shop is one of the largest performance axle companies, and they'll manufacture a pair of S2000 axles, guaranteed for life (you break it they send you a new one) for $1,000. I've probably told 20 people this when they ask "How can we strengthen our axles?" and no one seems to actually do it (even me, yet). So, I ask, are you asking because you plan on doing something with the information, or are you just asking because you have nothing else to do? (no offense, just curious).

From what I understand it's theoretically possible to swap a rearend into the S, but what gear ratio will it be? Are you going to be able to come close to the 4.10 stock final gear ratio? If not, the car will be a dog.

If you really want to beef up the S2000 rear end I recommend:

Kaaz Differential (~$900) - got it
Comptech Bearing Caps (~$450) - got em
J's Gear with Cryogenic Treatment (~$920 + ~$100) - in the mail from Japan
Differential Housing with Cryogenic Treatment (OEM + ~$75) - waiting for the gear
DriveShaftShop Axles (~$1,000) - sometime in 2003

Yellow Streak

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Wesmaster
[B]C4 = straight axle, C5 & Z06 = IRS...and the last time I looked, those Z06's didn't need to baby the car off the line.

Ryephile

wesmaster: factual correction: the Corvette has been fully independant suspension from at least 1968 to date, to my knowledge. I am unsure of the suspension in the C1 and C2 chassis's, however I have worked on C3's C4's and C5's and can vouch for their IRS. The C3's in particular were nortorious for breaking universal joints due to the halfshaft being a loaded part of the suspension (a horrible design, IMO)

thanks, cheers,
Ryan

Wesmaster

Ryan, cool, I've just heard a lot about the "straight axle C4's" running very well at some of the Corvette Shoot-Outs, so I assumed.

APchassied

Wes, I am planning to do some rear end strengthening but not just yet. Right now I'm trying to conjure up all the things you could possibly do and from those decide which would work best together and for what amount of money. I just bought the S from a local junkyard so it'll be in the shop for quite some time. There was a bit of frame damage up front, plus all the body work. They told me about 2 months in the shop. So, until then, I'm just brainstorming. By the way, what's Cryongenic Treatment? It sounds familiar but I maybe I've never heard of it. Also Wes, how successful have you been with your new products? Did you buy them because parts broke or to prevent parts from braking? Well, thanks for the help.

Wesmaster

I'm going to be using One Cryo for my treatment, their web site has some good background information as to exactly what Cryogenic Treatment is. In short, it's just like in Star Wars...it's a freezing method.

I bought the Kaaz differential after my differential assembly blew up from hard launches with the SC (and ACT clutch). I went with the Kaaz differential and added the Comptech bearing caps to keep the differential from falling apart as it did the first time. I had also snapped both axles. With all of the parts and labor it came to about $5,000 to get the car back on the street. After a year of driving with that setup I've now sheared my pinion gear in half through "daily driving" and that caused damage to the ring gear as well...but most of the other major parts were spared this time. As I mentioned, I ordered the J's gear and will have it and the OEM differential housing treated just to make sure that I've done all that I can do. If the rear end continues to fail I will have nothing else to beef up...I will have to find a different solution.

futomame

For those who have comments on our axles, please take a look at the following thread:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...&threadid=93480