How Far Should The Near Side Drive Shaft Push Into The Gearbox?

[SweetBadger 94]

Hi All, sorry for yet another drive shaft issue related post but I'm still a little surprised that just adding -ve camber with eccentric top mounts could bottom out a 309 shaft that was working fine previously.

 

I'm wondering whether the 3j lsd is designed like a later 306/xsara diff and therefore pushes the n/s shaft further out.

 

Below is a pic of a 205 n/s shaft fitted to my car (306 gti6 gearbox 3j lsd) there's about 7mm of the part of the shaft that the bearing runs on sticking out. That's as far as the shaft goes in - does this look right? It looks like it might be sticking out a bit far to me?

 

 

Anyone have a 205 box and shaft off the car that they can compare with the above?

 

The seal doesn't leak so it's going in far enough to seal ok, but if the shaft was being held further out of the box on the n/s it would explain the drive shaft plunge vibration issues only showing on the n/s.

[SweetBadger 94]

 

Right, measured the plunge on the off-side using an old 205 1.6 shaft I had lying around - 23mm - I.e. too much!

 

This means I need an off-side 309 driveshaft, and yet a 309 near side shaft is too long and bottoms out...

 

I'm now pretty convinced that the 3j diff does not let a 205/309 near side shaft go into the gearbox far enough just like a later be diff. It explains why before fitting the diff I had no issues with a 309 shaft bottoming out, and why the off-side shaft was fine but the near side caused issues.

 

So my options are continue running a 205 near side shaft and a 309 off side shaft and hope that I don't get any oil seal issues on the near side, or use a 306 inner cv with a 309 shaft on the near side.

 

I'm going to see if 3j can shed any light on this tomorrow.

[dcc 855]

No issues with my 3j

[SweetBadger 94]

 

Had to swap the clutch & box yesterday. I can now confirm the 3j diff does hold the driveshaft further out of the box.

 

Standard diff:

 

 

3J diff:

 

 

It's not by much but was enough to bottom out my 309 shaft when I saw no issues with a standard diff. If fitting one I'd check your driveshaft plunge on the n/s driveshaft before filling the box with oil!

[petert 585]

Cable ties?

[SweetBadger 94]

Temporary measure applied at race track with minimal time - now replaced with proper metal clip.