drive shaft alignment

[Sparkrite]

Are the drive shafts meant to be at a 90 degree angle from the centre line of the car as they exit the transaxle, ie if viewed from above are the two in line with each other. This is for a tcs.

[EuropaTC]

I don't think so but I'm happy to be corrected. Certainly on my TC they aren't a perfect right angle when viewed from above and there's no damage to the chassis. I think UJs are designed to work at an angle anyway, I'm sure I read somewhere that they are better at an angle than perfectly aligned.

Brian

[Kendo]

U joints should not be straight through, or the will brinell. I think it’s the workshop manual that has a rear view of the rear suspension. It shows them at a slight angle

[Sparkrite]

 Im talking about them being straight in one plane, obviously not in the up and down due to the suspension travel.

[Grumblebuns]

I'm assuming the picture shows the angle you are talking about. On my early TC with the 336 the driveshaft is angled forward (2-3 degrees by eyeball). I'm not sure about the later 352 & 365s

[EuropaTC]

It's about the same on my 352 as well, just a few degrees but obvious from above, I just don't have a good photo like yours in the files.  With the 365 the engine mounts/bellhousing/radius arms are in the same place so unless the outer casing on the 365 is different then that should be similar if not exactly the same.

Sparkrite - I'm guessing from the past history you're concerned the rear hoop moved in the accident ? 

If so, another check would be around the engine mounts, if the impact was hard enough to move the gearbox forwards then it might (should ?) also show up in distortion of the rubber engine mounts or bending where they fix to the chassis. Conceivably it could bend the two mounting arms between block/mount but they look fairly chunky on mine so I'd go for the rubber mount or relatively thin vertical plane on the Y section.

Brian

[Sparkrite]

Hi Brian, you are correct I am trying to figure out where there may be chassis damage following my collision. I did a toe in check on the rear and it was 14mm instead of 3.18 - 6.35 wsm.
I cant find other evidence to show my engine/box moved forward the 8mm as found in the clutch lever.
From the vertical position my gear lever does not extend as far forward in 1st, 3rd and 5th as it extends rearwards in 2nd and 4th which corresponds to the gear change link tube moving forward with the gearbox. But this is not a precise check and I cant say what it was like before the accident.

[EuropaTC]

Hi,
I understand your concern and why you're looking for clues. 8mm of forward movement is quite a lot and I'd expect to see some distortion of the engine mounts or mounting area. I'd bet the rubber bushes in the lower links would be distorted as well and if you dismantled from the rear hub carriers I bet they wouldn't go back easily either. 

At first glance 14mm sounds a lot of toe in, but is that per wheel or the total spread over both wheels ?  If the latter, it's not that far out, if it's per wheel them something is wildly adrift.  So unless you're sure it was correct before, I'd not take that to be conclusive evidence of frame distortion.

cheers
Brian