transmission question

[ddaigle]

I have a 91 dodge 2.5 liter motor and tranny. I want to use it for a project im working on. Can I lock up one driveshaft and will all the power go to the other shaft and do it without damage? Or will I destroy the trans.? Thanks

 

[Pascal]

Re: transmission question

What kind of project is it you are doing?<br /><br />On that transaxle there is no "posi" in the differential section so the only effect should be to double the speed of the free turning axle. You should be fine for intermitent use. There will be some extra wear in the diff area that you would have to look into periodically.<br /><br />The local Air Cadet Corp uses this method to launch their training gliders. They use a 360 ford engine and transmission to drive a regular rear axle with one axle locked to drive the winch that pulls the gliders into the air. Sure cuts down on the tow plane costs.<br /><br />JD

 

[ddaigle]

Re: transmission question

Actually, I was going to use it to power a boat so it would receive heavy and constant use. I figured it would be all right for a short while but wasnt sure about long term. Can I modify the diff. or what I would really like to do is remove the diff. but it seems to be part of the trans. and that would probably be more trouble than its worth if not impossible. Thanks

 

[Pascal]

Re: transmission question

Not sure that a mod of that type would be possible.<br /><br />What you could do is mount the motor mid ships and extend the axles out the hull and put paddle wheels on them. Set up the axles like an old track crawler with a clutch and brake system so you can turn the unit. Probably need some sort of posi arrangement to make sure that wheel speed was same on each side so you could maintain course. That would make quite a project too!!!

 

[dolluper]

Re: transmission question

Just pull the right side put half shaft with same wieght as left and you can add a compressor to bail her out

 

[JasonJ]

Re: transmission question

If you are going to use it to power a boat, you should ditch the tranny and fab a coupler that bolts to the flywheel. You will get no benefit from having the transmission, as that little 2.5 horse motor would not have the torque to turn a prop in the manner I am envisioning that you are talking about. You are looking at 120-ish horsepower there, best just couple directly. What is your final drive? An inboard configuration, an inboard/outdrive, or a V drive?

 

[Grant S]

Re: transmission question

I have considered similar uses in the past, If you look at the bearing setup in a diff, you will see that the spider gears have plain bearing surfaces that are ok for intermittent loads such as when the vehicle is going around corners, but the axle and shaft have very substantial bearings for their constant loading.

 

[ddaigle]

Re: transmission question

Thanks for the answers. I am thinking about using it in a large flat bottom aluminum airboat. It presently has a 60 hp outboard(used to have a chevy 350 when it was an airboat) and runs very well, so power would be sufficient. It would be set up as an inboard with the prop in a tunnel for running the shallow grass flats we have here. The grass and mud are very hard on cooling outboards so I was going to run a radiator and electric fans. The front wheel drive engine and tranny make a very compact package.The reason I want to use the trans is so I can have nuetral and reverse, but Im open to all suggestions.