Allthrottleandsomebottle

33K plus hard miles and being just about 10 years old..........time for some new ones. I will contacting ya Greg K.
97's have bolts to remove the center shaft:






The alignment pin keeps ya from reassembling the idex wrong:


I have seen worse......but I knew I had a problem when taking the TT out, I had rubber dust........
Damage in the next post

Allthrottleandsomebottle

Allthrottleandsomebottle

The torque converter side isn't as bad.........

SteveDoten

interesting pics

xlr8shn

I feel a lil better about the couplings in my M6 tt after seeing yours...

ouch...

http://photos.strasser.us/gallery2/v.../99c5/mods/tt/

97Rob

I have 97 w/ 45000 and the couplers are shoot. Waiting for a ZO6 tube now. Felt the upgrade was necessary w/ my HP.

willig72

Will the aluminum ones work on the 97-98? If so how much extra vibration do you get?

Gary

MUKAK

x2

Cobra4B

Damn.... which year did they change them and upgrade? '00? Greg will make it right for ya!

John Shiels

Both my bushing came out like power no pieces what so ever. I was running at VIR and heard a clanking so I came in,

ajg1915

2001

Ranger

ALLTHROTTLE&NOBOTTLE,

I sure appreciate your thoroughness in documenting your maintenance and repair work. I helps many of us better understand the issues involved. Also appreciate the care you exercise in titling these threads to ease finding them by search.

On behalf of many members...A big thank you.

Ranger

Allthrottleandsomebottle

Thanks,

I try to give back what the Forum has given me
PS, I did snag a whole 2002 31k mile bolt in torque tube assy for.......$310 shipped to the house off EBAY as my spare CHEAP upgrade

SKF engineer

The 'upgrade" in '01, what did they actually change and/or do for the upgrade?

Thanks

Allthrottleandsomebottle

In a nut shell..........
There are 3 assemblies. 97-99 has the bolt-in rear bearing assembly, 00 has the clip-in rear bearing assembly, and late build 00' & 01+ has the clip-in rear bearing assembly AND a larger diameter driveshaft.

The driveshaft is upgraded from a metal matrix composite to aluminum alloy 6061, and it is increased in diameter from 55mm to 63mm. Driveshaft couplings have also been upgraded on manual-equipped models for additional strength and durability.

Early C5s up to the middle of 2001 used 10 mm bolts and all Z06 cars and mid 2001 and up used the 12 mm bolts.

I agree with Lou G.........
"In my opinion there should only be one aluminum coupler used and one stock coupler. The stock coupler should be at the front (engine side) to allow just enough give for any factory misalignment of the machined parts.

Keep in mind that the failure of the rubber couplers is not a result of a weak coupler it is the result of the stock Aluminum drive shaft whipping like a jump rope. The constant flexing of the stock aluminum drive shaft is what destroys the couplers.

The carbon shaft, although only 1 pound lighter it is so much stronger that it never deflects. It runs true and straight so the rubber couplers stay where they were designed to be.

This is a fact based upon my conversations with the GM engineers that I am friends with. The stock aluminum shaft has a composite disc bonded to it (my 97' does not). The purpose of that disc is to "Limit" how much the stock drive shaft can flex. The disc rubs on the inside of the torque tube as the drive shaft flexes. The higher the RPM the more flex".

With that....I may be upgrading to a carbon shaft/1 rubber/1 aluminum coupler or stick with both rubber couplers makes good Engineering/practical application sense in my experience
I don't mind pulling the drive train every 3 years

SKF engineer

Thanks for the reply.

So if I'm reading things correctly my early '01 (Jan-Feb 2001 build date) corvette has the larger diameter shaft but the smaller 10 mm bolts.

Meaning that my driveshaft does flex but maybe not as much as an older 97-99 shaft.

Thanks again for the help.

JR-CRUZN-C5

Stock ones were shot, tried Lamars' Poly - they failed - allowed the drive shaft to index until bolt heads locked against shaft - Currently run the ECS driveshaft with "U-Joints" and vette ends - NO PROBLEMS!!!

JR

varkwso

Nice work!

Allthrottleandsomebottle

JR, I read your stuff in late 05' on that issue..............I PM'd Doug about your above set-up........A few questions for ya till I hear back:
How much more weight
Any mods needed to hook up each end to the engine/rear
Ball park $$$
AND pictures???
For all to see a little difference:
Here is a pic of the 2002 I picked up, on my bench ready for disassembly,C-clip to remove the guts
2002



1997 bolts to remove the guts


SKF........Thats the info I know......but as you know with any OEM.........with a pending design change, the only way to know for sure is IF you ever take it apart

varkwso

Only every 3 years? You must be gentler than me....