When is it time to replace Guibo....

#1

For us the answer would be last weekend before we went to the track this weekend. I don’t see much mention on the forums about replacing this wearing part. For those of you that have not done it in two years it may be time.

Ours was about three years old. It exploded violently this weekend coming down the front straight during a race at NJMSP. It took out the gearbox cross member, distorted the sheetmetal the member attaches to, sheared the ears off the gear box that the mounts attach to, tore out all shift linkage and bent the forward section of drive shaft.

The only thing left was the shift lever which Robert was just about to grab for a shift. Shrapnel cut a couple gashes through the trans tunnel. No one hurt but scarey just the same.

Now looking for the above mentioned parts in Northern Virginia soon so we can make HyperFest

#2

I have had lots of center bearing failures but never a guibo.

#3

I had a bolt fall out this weekend on the front stretch at VIR. I am lucky nothing came apart. Do you think the bolt coming out and the shaft being unstable could have bent it?
Soon after, I am hearing a clicking noise in the left rear. Worn CV joint?

#4

What was everyone doing at VIR, SVT club?

#5

Yes,

Golding, Tower, Dravecky and I were at VIR practicing with the SVT club. Grace’s guibo failure happened at NJMP.

We had a clutch failure at VIR, Tower had a wheel bearing go, and Golding had what sounds like a CV joint issue. Not a good weekend for good old BMW reliability.

Don

#6

JayGolding wrote:

[quote]I had a bolt fall out this weekend on the front stretch at VIR. I am lucky nothing came apart. Do you think the bolt coming out and the shaft being unstable could have bent it?
Soon after, I am hearing a clicking noise in the left rear. Worn CV joint?[/quote]
That, to me, suggests inadequate car prep prior to the event. A part of preparing for an event is to check torque on all critical fasteners (control arms, tie rods, lollipop bolts, drive shaft, etc). The bolt could have broken, but the odds are that it was simply loose.

The drive shaft could have been damaged in the incident. To check it you’ll need to remove it from the car to assess the condition of the u-joints. If the click is from a half shaft, you should be able to find it by spinning the rear wheels.

#7

If you are using the OEM nuts with the ring on the top, then they are also one time use only. So if you haven’t replaced them recently, I would recommend doing so. I like the kit that Robert (Peerless) sells:

http://www.e30motorwerks.com/index/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66:driveshaft-hardware-kits&catid=40:new-parts&Itemid=37