Homebrew pinion conversions
As short as possible and mating to Land Rover propshafts
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Here is what you get when you remove the torque tube from a
Unimog 404 axle. The pinion conversion is to mate this to a standard propshaft, in my case Land Rover |
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You'll need the end of the torque tube, here just cut off roughly ready to go into the band saw and lathe. |
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We found some stock, and used the band saw to cut off some
11mm thick slices. Note the weight for unattended operation !! |
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The inner shaft of the torque tube has this spline, which
you'll need. Thankfully there is about 100mm of spline on the rear shaft, which is just as well as we only had one inner shaft. |
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We are only going to use 40mm of spline, that is the same as
a Dana 60 axle, and they don't have issues in this area. The circular plate actually has a 5mm deep recess machined into it. This is to make the conversion 5mm shorter and to help with assembly and welding. The two pieces had a TIG root weld followed by a MIG weld over the top. |
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Time to chop off some of the spline. Measure 7 times and cut once applies to this stage !! |
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Here is the end of the torque tube cut down. An oil seal has been let into the end. |
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Here is the remains of the torque tube bolted on. The pinion was drilled and tapped for a M8 bolt, need to be strong enough for the spline on the prop to pull against, so about 10mm deep seemed enough. The pinion drilled easy enough, I believe it case hardened, but chopping off the pinion eliminated this. |
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The final assembly |
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Nice'n'short |
© Andrew Marshallsay 2004