so the gsl-se i am buying apparently needs new axles

i was trying to make a deal for the current owner to replace them before he ships me the car, but it turns out he has no time, so it looks like im going to have to do it myself

i know nothing about axles, let alone how to work on rear ends

can anyone tell me what is involved (doesn't have to be in too much detail) so i know what i may be up against? its an 85 gsl-se and has a torsen diff. (if that matters)

also what might it cost? i'll probably try to locate used axles and have a shop install them. how much time should a shop charge me?

thanks, nick

 

Nick,

I suggest you go to Victoria British online and request their catalog. It has some good exploded view drawings of alot of the systems, but for sure the rearend, axles, sspensions, etc. ( also parts and prices, of course ).

 

i keep hearing people refer to the VC company

what is their website?

nick

 

www.victoriabritish.com

Whats wrong with the axles? are they bent? or are the bearings just bad? Anyway, pulling the axles and replacing the bearings etc is a couple hour job in your driveway. A slide hammer will help to pull them out, but i've done it without one. Its basically just a matter of removing the rear brakes, taking out the 3 bolts that hold the backing plate/retaining plate off and yanking them out. To remove the axles and lock ring cut them off with a cutoff wheel (be careful not to hit the axle, and DON'T torch them off) then pressing the new ones on (needs like 8 tons or something rediculous like that, so a good size press is a must) then just reassemble it all. Oh yea, drain the diff fluid first or else it'll make a mess. HTH

 

oh, and are you sure its a torsen diff? cause thats not stock if it is. Stock is your basic run of the mill clutch type LSD.

 

ya its a torsen i believe out of a miata....not sure if it matters or not

the previous owner says the bearings are fine

 

a miata torsen will fit so its possible then. So if the axle bearings are fine whats wrong with them? bent?

 

i don't have the car in my posession yet, and assume they are bent...although i don't know alot about diff's, or axles as i've never had to deal with them

i am in the middle of buing the car off a guy on this board "rifraff" and he seems to know what he's talking about, and also seems real trustworthy. apparently he has narrowed the problem down to the fact that the axles are the problem...

so tell me this...what could be the worst possible scinerio in this stiuation? at worst would i need to replace the entire rear end and axles minus the brakes? cuz that wouldn't even be all that bad would it?

nick

 

the car has approx. 220 horse at the flywheel, 180 to the wheels. could this be too much power for the axles and cause them to bend? or just simply hard driving? what would cause them to bend in the first place? im assuming they are bent. what else COULD go wrong with axles?

 

worst case, yea you replace the whole axle assembly, not a bad job, just heavy and awkward. Bent axles could be caused my nailing a curb or something else really hard, or using a torch to remove old bearings (like was the case with mine) oh yea, then can get bent in the press putting new bearings on too. What else could go wrong? not much, the bearings could be bad, they could be bent, or somehow the splines are chewed up and not meshing properly on the diff side (unlikely) Anyway, keep us updated, I wanna see what the problem is...

 

oh and no, that kind of power won't do anything to the axles, nor teh diff, unless you drive it at 110% all the time...

 

i don't like the sound of hitting a curb hard, hopefully it was something else. im going to get into detail about the problem with the seller when we speak next. since this is the biggest problem with the car, im not going to worry about it TOO much.

thanks for the info 82transam, and i'll let you know what i come up with (car won't arrive for a while yet, still looking into cheaper shipping, and there's no hurry on mine or the sellers part).........................................even though i can't stop thinking about my new car!

nick

 

yea no problem man, I just replaced the axles on my one car, and am in the process of sandblasting/rebuilding a GSL rear for my project car, so its all fresh in my mind. anyway, good luck...

 

hello dudes..

wonder does gsl se has fastest axle overall than regular gs stock axle ones ?

thanks.. semi

 

WHAT????????????????? Try again.

 

Worst possible ? Having to get a GSL rearend for 100-350.

I bought a used car from a guy named Paul Swindle years and years ago. Yeah, he swindled me. You better keep an eye on Riffraff

 

The GSL-SE has the mazda greased lightning axel, whick will allow you to redline at least to 10 grand. The GS actually stands for GO SLOW due to the low speed axels from leftover Cosmos.

Here's hoping you have the fast axels !

 

what do you know about rifraff that i don't!

nick

 

No, man... I did not mean to imply anything at all about Riffraff. I don't know him or of him at all. I just meant that I got swindled by a guy named Swindle.

 

ooh ooh, so rifraff might be a rifraff right? I got it right didnt I? Damn I am good