Joined
·
6,661 Posts
Donut in the Center Joint
Here's a picture of a disassembled torque tube and driveshaft (and thanks to propmark; these pictures are in the "members photos"). The donut is the rubber ring in the bottom right. It sits in the center joint, (which is just above it in the photo), and supports the center bearing (just to the left) which in turn the rear drive shaft rotates in. This whole assembly is at the end of and inside the torque tube, which provides the "third link" of the Opel rear suspension.
There are two common rear suspension faults in many Opels. The torque tube bushings (between the driveshaft and tube in the photo) get torn, and the donut becomes perished. The first causes the tube to bang around inside the center joint on acceleration. The latter causes the rear shaft and bearing to bang around inside the center joint on acceleration.
If the donut is just a bit soft, but still otherwise intact, one common trick is to stuff the inner void in the donut with old fan belt sections. There is a thread on that subject at
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=384
HTH (and look at the next picture too)
Here's a picture of a disassembled torque tube and driveshaft (and thanks to propmark; these pictures are in the "members photos"). The donut is the rubber ring in the bottom right. It sits in the center joint, (which is just above it in the photo), and supports the center bearing (just to the left) which in turn the rear drive shaft rotates in. This whole assembly is at the end of and inside the torque tube, which provides the "third link" of the Opel rear suspension.
There are two common rear suspension faults in many Opels. The torque tube bushings (between the driveshaft and tube in the photo) get torn, and the donut becomes perished. The first causes the tube to bang around inside the center joint on acceleration. The latter causes the rear shaft and bearing to bang around inside the center joint on acceleration.
If the donut is just a bit soft, but still otherwise intact, one common trick is to stuff the inner void in the donut with old fan belt sections. There is a thread on that subject at
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=384
HTH (and look at the next picture too)
