There's an old hot rodders adage, "if it doesn't run, chrome it.":D

Almost looks like they were cut, ...By the way did the kids learn anything while they were in, trades ?....:lol:

Wow, that could have been ugly. Glad to see you made it without any damage or injury. :bow:

X2. :thumbsup:

I'm betting it has to do with the fact that the shaft is also load bearing since there isn't an upper control arm. I don't know anyone that has broken a stub axle/spindle on a C2/3/4 vette and they all used the same style.

Hopefully the new beefy axle works.

Are the new units heat treated? By the way the others twisted, it does not look like they were originally like mild steel.

Mike -- Good question.... I'm not sure what they were made of - but they're JUNK...


Apparently so is the CASE....


Found this today - because after repairing the stub axles.... I took her for a drive... smelled that HOT REAR END GREASE SMELL --- A G A I N --- seems I've gotten real used to it in this little POS....

So after cleaning it all up -- off the exhaust again.... I happened to look up to notice grease all over the floor and turned around to find the Mariana Trench...



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2152.jpg


http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2151.jpg

Ohhhh Boyyyy.....Kugel is Kracked....:(

Sorry to see that! Sadly it's appearing this unit was designed for show not go. :mad:

THAT SUCKS Sorry to see it happen

Wow that is just crazy. Is there no end?

Time for another "tweak". Paint it yellow cuz that thing's a lemon... :rolleyes:

I think I'll look into a little different rear end -- what'd ya think....

Thats a new one, Ive had a lot of cars thru the year come thru the shop with those rears in them and have never heard about a crack like that before....9 inch on coil overs ???

Good question Tracy ---

I was just looking on Dutchman's website.... they have a Ford 9" center section IRS but I couldn't find it on the site. Only the center section.

I'll call Phil Gerber Monday AM and make an inquiry about theirs as well.

Obviously this is either a defective unit --- or the "champs" quick change just ain't the right parts for me.

I've email a photo to Jeff Kugel as well... will be interesting to see what he thinks.

Kugel has a Ford 9" IRS --- and that might be better suited to this application.

Would just have to pull the body off -- and mod the chassis for the minor differences.

When I was under the car and doing some cleaning etc -- I also noticed my fully polished Food Grade Stainless Steel exhaust has a few "issues" with cracking welds as well.... so guess that will also be on the complete TWEAK AND RE-DO list.

The exhaust needed some expansion built into it -- and some vibration reduction. Pretty little parts like that are fine for cotton packed show cars -- not so much for something that's actually going to get it's azz kicked on a regular basis.

Maybe I should just get out of the hobby and go to Europe for a few months... come home with a nice Ferrari 458 Spider...

What with all the flaming crooks -- and shoddy azz builders these days...

Probably save some $$$ plus make your son extremely happy in the process.

:lol:

Man Greg you have been through the ringer on that rear end. Keep at it Sir...sooner or later you'll run out of parts to break!

I believe RS uses the Dutchman center section, so structural mounting tips from them would be good.

WTF? IS your case chromed or polished? If chromed (which kinda looks it from the spider cracks I see next to the crack), severely lowered the tensile strength of the case through hydrogen embrittlement. If polished, i really have no clue.....

I'd shove that thing so far up Kugel's ass....... JUNK You haven't driven that car enough to get it washed let alone crack a case or break some axles. The design is dangerous without an upper control arm anyway. Put a straight axle in it and move on with your life.

I'd say definitely get something different under there. It's just not built for your intended use obviously and it's helping to ruin the experience with that car.

Sorry to hear this Greg, I was hoping they had it right his time. They worked with you and now I hope they own up to it and give you the 9" (if thats what you want) or your money to make it right. What ever I hope this ends soon .

I just rode in a 458 Ferrari the other day...IT IS A BAD ASS CAR !!!

Maybe I should just get out of the hobby and go to Europe for a few months... come home with a nice Ferrari 458 Spider...

What with all the flaming crooks -- and shoddy azz builders these days...[/QUOTE]

Man Greg, if you drank we could grab a case, sit around and write a soap opera. Yours goes way beyond, just absolute bullshiiiiit. You expect a good proven product when you pay good money but lately it amazes me the number of defected products and deception that is bleeding all over these threads. It's makes it really tough when the members on this forum are such good people and the fact I love cars. MUST GO ON....I'll stop by and shoot the bull soon.

Mike -- I think the section that cracked is polished aluminum.


BTW -- Hydrogen embrittlement really isn't a problem with chrome plating anymore. It used to be when parts were in the tank for 20 minutes or so - but modern plating techniques have the parts in the tank for a minute or so...

Even then -- baking the parts at 350* will cure that.

Doubtful these parts were treated to any baking after the chrome process... because this is "Show" stuff and none of those pussies ever get on their cars.

Kugel is a good supplier -- and I have every confidence we'll get something worked out. This isn't like dealing with Driverz...

What I'm hacked off about is the car is now a year old - and as Todd pointed out - it's barely been driven.... it's cruising season shortly... and to change out the whole rear end will require body removal - bracket changes - paint work etc.

Well see what kugel says. I think the better rear end is Dutchmen 9" IRS. Plus they're a local shop.

http://www.dutchmanaxles.com/product...kage-cv-style#

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...using-back.jpg

IRS Housing & Alloy axle package, CV style

Product Description

Building your own Yoke or CV style independent rear end? We now sell individual “IRS” components for those that want to build their own “hybrid” independent rear end using a combination of OEM & Dutchman components. Why not build it as tough as you can using the legendary, durable, and readily available 9" Ford 3rd member gear set and Dutchman's 31 or 35 spline custom alloy stub shafts. Using our new "IRS" CV center, you can eliminate the C5 & C6 Corvette transaxle center section and build a very trick C5-6 "Hybrid" rear end. Whether you are building a Hi-Tech Street Rod, muscle car, road race car, or off road vehicle, construct your next vehicle's rear end using Dutchman custom IRS rear end components.

Features:
We engineered the housing with extra thick cross sections for added strength and poured it out of the superior 206-T7 aluminum alloy, which is 30% stronger than the typical 356-T6 and polishes better too! The stub shafts are machined for the extra large 1350 series U-Joint (yoke-U-Joint style) or heavy duty 934 Porsche CV joint (CV style) and are CNC machined using 4340 Chromoly material. For added strength and durability, the stub axles are supported using a Timken Set 10 taper roller bearing (instead of the typical single row ball bearing our competitors use).

Available options:
-31 or 35 spline stub axles.
-Polished housing.
-934 CV joint, boot, & bolt kits.
-930 smaller CV joints (If space is a problem).
-3rd member gear sets. Strength and ratio-your choice.


http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...using-side.jpg


9 inch Ford IRS Housing & Yoke style stub axles, side view

The Car from Hell!!!!.........................

I just shed a tear for you Greg.

I think you could repair that cracked rear housing W/JB weld.:willy: :willy:

That's too slow to set.... Chinese sheet metal works faster, comes on a roll in silver... and is rated to 200 mph.

So true Ken....


It is by far the simplest car I own... but also the most expensive... is the lightest and least powerful... and is also the biggest POS.

It's like one of those 4th grade "new math" problems -- I continue to have to solve for "X"

I wonder which quick change manufacturer, That is a pretty odd place to crack. I wonder if it might be mounted in correctly. Those quickchanges typically handle quite a bit of power with ease.

The "Winters Championship" description....

The Champ Adapter is the same housing but for straight axles - the Independent is shipped with 1350 yokes -- ya don't need 1350 yokes on a whimpy POS... if ya get what I'm saying'






Champ Adapter
Ideal for big horsepower cars, this combination adapts original Early Ford® side bells and tubes to our full size Championship Quick Change. Assembly includes a Winters Track differential designed specifically for this application, heat treated lower shaft and a 10 spline straight cut gear set of your choice. "Hot Rod Heaven".


Championship Independent Quick Change
Winters Independent Quick Change . What happens when you cross an independent rear with a quick change? Winters Independent Quick Change, the absolute ultimate rear money can buy. Everything about it is race inspired. All upgrades are standard. 4.12 ring & pinion, heat treated lower shaft, Winters Track assembly, caliper mount side bells, roller support bearing upgrade, pinion lock nut assembly and 1350 series flange yokes. One set of 10 spline straight cut quick change gears included.

Just give it to me and I'll park it next to my 32 that just sits. They will be happy together.

http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0363.jpg

Considering the original builder, what's the chance the frame isn't square or properly reinforced and the housing is being stressed?

The rear end was removed and re-installed by Brizio and I'm sure if they saw something wrong - they would have either fixedededed it or talked to me about it. But I will be interested in what Jeff K has to say - and will send photos etc and ask him about the installation!

Kugel Komponents Kustomer Service at it's finest!!!


I had sent Jeff Kugel a picture of the Mariana's Trench in the case on Sunday -- he calls first thing this morning. He's already spoken with Winters about my issues -- and all I need to do is to drop the ENTIRE reared out of the roadster - send it to Kugel - and they will rebuild and inspect every square inch of it - inside and out.... and ship it back to me. Not once mentioning "abuse" or that I broke it - or that it shouldn't have happened.... just a simple "How do you want to handle it? Want to bring the car to us to have us do the work or..."

On several occasions I've said I will be more than happy to PAY whatever it takes to get this all squared away... and not once has he said - "well... it's going to cost X". Not once. I will -- somehow -- take care of him/them.

THAT IS HOW A COMPANY BUILDS AND MAINTAINS A GREAT REPUTATION.



Winters makes a heavier version than the Champs - but they're not happy with it all polished out.... the casting is porous.... so they're working to make it better but this will take awhile -- so that's not an option.