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Thread: WHAT IT TAKES! Manufacturing an ALBINS drive shaft

  1. #1

    Default WHAT IT TAKES! Manufacturing an ALBINS drive shaft

    MSI (Moore-Sport) has written another technical article regarding drive line products by Albins. We would like to thank Agile Automotive for the photos of the damaged star and broken shaft.

    Being the largest manufacturer of high performance gear and driveline products in the Southern Hemisphere, Albins employs over 50 staff at their Australian based manufacturing facility. Perhaps one of the largest unsung heroes in professional and amateur racing, they have a long and prestigious history supplying driveline component to Touring car teams, Baja 1000 and Dakar Off-Road vehicles as well as elite level Rally teams in Europe such as Tommi Makkinen Racing.

    Albins has integrated ISO 9001/2000 quality control procedures in their manufacturing and production lines in order to offer their clients the very best and most consistent product possible. Currently the company exports over 90% of its product to various destinations around the globe in all forms of motorsport and competition use.

    Albins has recently released some Ex-Factory Rally Team technology to the broad market and in this article we will take a look into what goes into making driveline parts that will withstand 1000’s of KM’s of extreme duty vehicles that endure high-torque and high-shock loadings.
    To begin, the problems with the stock drive shafts and CV joints for vehicles need to be identified. Most people running big HP Subaru’s and Evo’s would have seen CV joints sprayed on the tarmac at some stage, but why?

    The factory Inner CV cages and stars, particularly the front (depending on the application), can spread apart inside the cage when enduring high torque loads and additional shock loading in limited traction scenarios. This is caused by the balls inside the cage naturally being forced against the cage by the internal CV star. As demonstrated in the photo below (taken by AGILE AUTOMOTIVE), you see wear marks on the star already. The star is connected via splines to the driveshaft. Once this happens, the cage binds against the housing causing the axles (attached by the star) to freeze, twist, and eventually.... well we know what happens here.



    The first thing to look at is replacing the CV cage with a unit manufactured from high-alloy billet steel. The cage is made from a solid piece of high grade material that is independently tested and stored in Albins own steel warehouse on-site.



    Once machined to exacting tolerances, it is case hardened to increase strength, then shot peened for increased anti-fatigue properties. A huge amount of machining goes into each item, as you can imagine the lightweight end-product was once a sizeable billet of high-alloy steel at one stage. The end result is this:



    In some cases, shot peening alone can increase anti-fatigue properties of some components by as much as 8 times that of a non-treated item. Shot peening is a standard procedure for Albins that leaves a bronze finish on each item treated.

    Albins uses non-standard, high quality ball bearings in their CV joints. When possible however, they take every effort to make their bearings interchangeable with OE parts. This is practical if replacements are needed in a pinch.

    The CV star itself is machined from a similar material to the CV cage and is manufactured on a 5 axis CNC mill. In our opinion, the Albins item has superior resistance to distortion and splitting under extreme duty as opposed to the factory item.



    Still working backwards in the driveline order, the Axle or Driveshaft in this case, is the next item to receive attention. Axles are manufactured from a very different material to parts such as the CV joints. Controlling the twist in an axle is very important and certainly necessary; however the axle needs to return to its original shape once twisted momentarily. This is somewhat of a trade secret as to what materials are used, as well as the final treatments to the finished part. This will also vary from one manufacturer to another.

    You may notice that even some factory axles have “lumps and bumps” on them or “wasted “sections that are physically thinner. This is to try to control the areas at which the axle twists. When Albins are in the design phase of making a new axle, they use the latest CAD technology to design the axle in such a way that they can control the areas of twist and spread the twisting force into the smooth areas of the shaft away from the splines. When looking at an axle, it all looks very simple but even tenths of a mm and a few degrees difference in certain radius’ can dictate where an axle will twist or whether it will want to shear. The in-house wing of 6 design engineers at Albins is able to utilise CAD and FEA modelling to ascertain the preferred design for each application.



    The Axle material used by Albins is a high-alloy product specifically sourced for Albins Axles only. The material is once again, independently tested and stored on site before making its way into the CNC machinery at Albins for turning and broaching.




    Once the Axles leave the machining area, they enter a computer controlled heat treatment process that is critical to Axle quality. On finishing heat treatment, each shaft is checked for straightness on a CMM (Computerised Measuring Machine) which robotically scans each axle and checks its dimensions against CAD models on file. Any discrepancies are picked up at this stage which is also replicated with the CV star and cage products, leaving the end product closer to that which it was designed to be...perfect !



    Albins also manufactures larger diameter axle and CV upgrades for particularly high HP applications by request and also produces drive flanges and reduced friction Tripods & CV joint options for those cars that are more at home on the track rather than traditional street vehicles.
    MSI finds that the pricing on these upgrades is extremely reasonable and buys peace of mind in regards to getting your big dollar power to the ground!

    For more information and pricing, please contact your local ALBINS distributor or visit www.mooresport.com or www.albinsgear.com.au
    MSI (Moore-Sport)
    Manufacturer of Competition Components
    www.mooresport.com

  2. #2

    Default

    It is like watching candy being made, must have these parts.
    METHOD 4 MOTOR SPORTS
    415-882-1626

  3. #3

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    I will post some super special pricing this week as well for north and southcalevo members.
    -mark
    MSI (Moore-Sport)
    Manufacturer of Competition Components
    www.mooresport.com

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