[DeTomaso] Horror Stories....Re: Trailering Tiedown Points

[Ken Green]

Jack,
   
        I guess I had 3 questions:
   
        1, will the "small dia" solid halfshaft survive more HP than our hollow half shafts BECAUSE, the solid shafts can dampen out a shock by elastically twisting (by more, I mean more than a simple strength analysis would show);  and
   
        2, could the damping reduce the chance of damage to the ZF.
   
        3, which do the modern high HP (Z06 Vettes, Ferraris, Lambos, etc) cars use?
   
  Ken

JDeRyke at aol.com wrote:
  In a message dated 3/22/07 6:27:30 AM, kenn_green at yahoo.com writes:

<< What I'm wondering is if the smaller solid shafts actually can live with 
greater torque because they can twist and not break? Would that also imply 
that a smaller solid shaft would provide at least some damping when a car left 
parked in gear is nudged one way or the other? >>

I think what you're talking about is a 'torsion bar effect', and 
Porsche-style halfshafts do twist in use. But the torque that twists them eventually gets 
back to the tranny gears. The tranny-in-gear/trailer "problem" isn't usually a 
problem, by the way. I've personally had to drag various disabled vehicles 
around in trailers or vans and I always left them in gear simply because living 
in hilly country taught me a non-running machine should ALWAYS be in gear, 
with the e-brake on if it had one, and the steered wheel(s) pointed at the curb. 
None of my trailered cars or motorcycles ever had gear failure after being 
dragged home for repairs. Maybe if the thing was left in 5th gear (the smallest, 
weakest gear), and trailered cross-continent in an unsprung trailer.... FWIW- 
J DeRyke


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