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Offsetting the rear differential

sled_dog

sled_dog

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Has anyone purposely offset the rear differential? Namely you were retubing anyway or something and set the axle off to one side or the other. The idea is closer to the tire less worry of ground clearance as an issue. The pumpkin in standard form is really right at the worst spot compared to tire location for ground clearance. I think anyway. I don't see any big issue with a few degrees of sideways angle on the driveshaft(as long as you try and keep all angles at optimum). I know there is the one guy on Pirate that runs front 60s on the front and back with a centered drivetrain. He has a side angled driveshaft with no issues. Jesse chimed in saying there was nothing wrong with it.
 
You'd have to get custom rear shafts made.....and then carry 2 custom spares......

Seems like ground clearance is a problem better solved by shaving or bigger tires....


And who doesn't need an excuse to buy bigger tires :grin:
 
K5MONSTERCHEV said:
Oh come on, it would be trick, custom stuff is bad ass!! Well i think it is anyway.
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we all know where you stand on that.

As for custom shafts, duh :D I'm considering a Dana 60 with 14 bolt spindles so thats custom anyway. But a 14 bolt has 2 different shafts, have to carry to spares there. If you say, "but they don't break" I say ha, and whats different or infact not better about 35 spline Dana 60 rears? Same diamater shaft, more splines.
 
99% of the moon buggies are set up this way on the front axle (drivetrain is backwards).

Several people have off set the rear axle in a front engine car for ground clearance only, Becca Webster's legends car, and Walker Evan's "Peanut" both come to mind.

Dont plan on driving it over about 40 mph, it will vibrate horribly. Works really well though for slow speed crawling though. Dont know how Becca has kept her car in one piece, but I know Walker had to go to Jack at CTM to get him to make some 1310 rear driveline joints to keep them from breaking. I imagine that a 1410 would have enough strength and angularity, but that also compromises ground clearance too due to the driveshaft having to be a larger diameter to compensate for the increased joint section width.

IMO, its not worth it for a trail rig, but in competition where every little thing counts so much, it would surely be worth looking into. Even in that aspect, there are still many drivers on the podium with front engined, centered rear diff buggies.
 
I dont see a point to do it unless you are going to push the pumpkin all the way to the end. Moving it over a few inches to match the offset of the front axle wont really do much, IMHO, and i dont think it would be worth it. Just my $.02.
 
its a neat idea, but i dont think its worth the hassle. in theory you'd think it would vibrate at speeds, but i know that some production cars came like that. 70-72 econoline vans had it offset about 6" to the right.
 
Some IH and AMC vehicles had offset differentials due to offset output transfer cases. I'd probably move it over a few inches closer to the side the front axle differential is on if I were retubing and having custom shafts made.
 
Robby Gordon's trucks over the years have used a boat V-drive with the engine in back, put in backwards. To get a low ride height the V-drive box is laid on its side which puts the box and the front UJ right under the driver's butt. And the diff is directly behind the driver. You can see it in the preview/teaser shown here: http://d2gfilm.com/home/ Click on trucks.
No idea what W.E. did differently, but RG's trucks are capable of way more than 40 MPH.
 
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Am I seeing that right....?


The battery and fuel cell are mounted to the upper suspension link, and move as the suspension cycles??!!!! :yikes:
 
It's only the total operating angle of the driveshaft that matters........not whether it's offset to one side or not. With that said, I would imagine that moving the diff 12" to one side would be equivalent to the issues you would create by having 12" of lift. Add on top of that the vertical distance from your actual lift and you have a lot of angle to compensate for.
 
Agreed, it was the angle itself that scared me, not so much the plane that it is in.

Sharp eye Greg, I think you're right. More weight on the tires?
 
ntsqd said:
Sharp eye Greg, I think you're right. More weight on the tires?
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Not necesarily more weight on the tires, but it is a better distribution of weight you cant get rid of. Attached to the chassis, the battery and fuel cell will be 100% sprung. On the links it will be 50% sprung and 50% unsprung. Of course on the axle it would be 100% unsprung.
 
not to mention the limited space on the chassis. Can cut down on chassis space and weight by mounting them down on the links. You often see batteries and winches mounted to axles.
 
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