Drive Shaft Star Bearing

[Doc Fizzix]

I was asked to take a picture of the transmission side of the dive shaft taken apart so here it is. This picture shows that the "star" bearing at the end of the drive shaft can be removed and then you should be able to match it up with another or have it rebuilt without having to replacing the whole drive shaft.

[Driveshaft bearing]

Hi

What the picture did not show is the other half where the spider joint fits
thats the part that wears as well, so you are wasting your time to have a new one made up.

Go for a whole replacement shaft it will be better all round ,dont compromise on something as important as a drive joint as this could cause problems in other areas.

I have just replaced the left and right shafts and the jackshaft. They are on special offer from LOTUS see January sale list of left and right parts.

Cheers

Johnbenk.

[Doc Fizzix]

Hi

What the picture did not show is the other half where the spider joint fits
thats the part that wears as well, so you are wasting your time to have a new one made up.

This really depends on what side has gone bad! The picture was requested by a member that had the inboard side go bad. I have seen first hand that the inboard side can be warn-out before the out board, this can happen if an inboard boot tares or rips before an outboard. I personaly had a perfect outer boot and joint but my inner boot was bad. Yes I would agree to replace the whole thing is nice but at over $800.00 from Lotus (last time I looked) I think there are better solutions and some times you do not need to replace the whole thing, you can save a ton of money by not having to buy the whole thing if possible. Also, I have been comparing the outboard end with a couple other brands and although I am not 100%, I think the outboard may be the same as on the GEO (hell, it is all GM right?)

This means you could buy the star bearing and the outboard joint for a lot less then the whole drive shaft from Lotus. Also, more and more of the drive shafts will be disappearing over the coming years and we should all share information so we can find suitable replacement parts or good cross references.

[Simon_P]

It might be reasonable to replace the tripod, as the trunion bearing surface or the rollers may disintegrate first. The tracks will usually take scoring or polishing, but if it has started to spall it has had it.

Simon

[Ashaman]

Johnbenk is correct.

It would be virtually impossible for the bearing to fail without damaging the "tulip" that goes with it, unfortunately. Even if it didn't, they are damaged just by normal use as they tend to wear a particular area much more than the rest of it. The bearing surfaces are pretty hard stuff, much harder than the rest of the assembly I would imagine, so you can expect the wear to be significant if it has seen many miles at all.

No one I have talked to has been able to source this outer "tulip." Seems like it must be out there somewhere though...maybe a shop that rebuilds these has oversize bearings available and can repair it by machining it?

The inner joint however is the same as for the Stylus. In fact, at first glance the shafts look the same. As it turns out though, while the overall lenght is close (if not the same), the way they go about it is different.

The Lotus part uses a much longer shaft, and this is necessary to clear the "fork" of the strut. The Isuzu part will not clear this. Another issue is the spline count. I think I posted the exact count elsewhere, but the Isuzu part has less splines than the Lotus, so it will not fit into the Lotus hub.

The good news is that the inner joint is the same. I was able to order the Isuzu axle and use the boots & inner joint on my existing axle. Total cost was $60. These were available from Autozone, Napa, and Carquest.

[Simon_P]

I chose my words carefully!

A worn contact patch is quite normal, scratches along the track are ok - it is unlikely that the driver would notice this wear. and there are many thousands of miles left.

When the surface starts to break away “Spalling” Like the surface of a dead bearing -then it should be replaced.

Worn is not the same as worn out.

Which part did you find that was interchangeable? I'm not quite clear, and it would be good to know.

The problem that we have here is Isuzu gearbox, GM hub, third party driveshaft = Parts are mostly unique.

Simon

[Ashaman]

Yeah, it might be fine, but I don't believe it would have as long of a life as a replaced joint. I wasn't necessarily disagreeing; it might work - I just think that it would be a rare situation to have the tripod thrashed but the rest serviceable.

Everything would have to line up exactly as before or it could be "notchy" also. That is why they advise against disassembling joints, they say that everything is "precision machined" and cannot be interchanged. I just think that for the labor involved, I would hate to do it any sooner than necessary; it might be worth a shot though if you want to. Heck, if mine were in good shape, I might have tried it if it was cheap enough, that $600 pricetag for a replacement is just insane.

The part that was interchangeable was the entire inboard joint. So I ordered the entire Isuzu axle, pulled the inboard joint off of it, and installed it on my CV axle. If you didn't have the Isuzu cars there, the Geo/Chevys might be the same also.

[Doc Fizzix]

Johnbenk is correct.

It would be virtually impossible for the bearing to fail without damaging the "tulip" that goes with it, unfortunately. Even if it didn't, they are damaged just by normal use as they tend to wear a particular area much more than the rest of it.

Not true, I have seen this several times when a boot leaks the "bearings" are the first to go if the boot and the grease are not replaced in time. It seams the "tulip" is a much tougher and will out last the bearings because contaminants can easily get into the bearings or they can be starved of grease much sooner than the "tulip" (with a busted open boots) and destroy long before effecting the wear on the "tulip". The "tulip" is not under the same amount of stress (friction) as the "bearings". The bearings roll on the "tulip" so the tulip see much less wear than the bearings that are turning.

The isuzu drive shaft is a great match for parts, just saw one the other day and the inner and outer look to be the same as the Elan. The only difference that I can see if the length of the center shaft.

[kmckmc]

The part that was interchangeable was the entire inboard joint.

Indeed, I just replaced my Elan's inboard joints using remanufactured Isuzu Impulse 1991 FWD, manual, w/o abs, drive axle.

cheers,