c15d steering/ possible unavailability of parts

desperate · Unread post by **desperate** » 19 Nov 2002, 00:03

This is a question that may have many throwing their hands up in horror, however. If a splined shaft which had a flat area where the clamping bolt passed over still be safe if the splines were worn, the joint being very tight. Are the splines for location? I do realise the splines probably may contribute to a non slip situation but do the lack of them affect the integrity of the joint. any answers would be treated as hyperthetical (is that the right spelling)?
(this question is prompted by not being able to carry on my business without a van and being on the verge of going to sell xmas trees at Tescos)

Unread post by **alan s** » 19 Nov 2002, 02:53

My guess would be that the flat holds it in position, the splines locate it at exactly where it should be and also take the vibration/wobble out that outside forces would exert on it which in turn could cause the flat to round off & become ineffective if not firmly held. In other words, the splines stop radial movement whilst the flat holds it from moving up & down.
Hypothetically, if it were given a couple of smacks with a welder, this would then temporarly take the place of the splines as regards the holding & locating goes. The down side to this thoery of course is that it could weaken the metal in the area where the welding has taken place and could possibly make a permanent solution that bit more expensive due to having to replace parts that wouldn't have been necessary had no welding been done.
Alan (hypothesis) S

Dave Burns · Unread post by **Dave Burns** » 19 Nov 2002, 02:58

Splines transmit the turning force from one shaft to another, so if they are worn they may slip and develop play, in the case of steering shafts it is therefore a safety issue and a test failure.
Plenty of cheap C15 van's on the Autotrader online.
Dave