Narrowed axles?
 

I have just read Johans tech article on narrowed irs arms ,But wondered what he used as driveshafts .can you safely cut /sleeve and weld a type 1 driveshaft?and does this affect u/j movement ,ie the change in angle due to the shorter length?

Thanks in advance:

I wondered about this before as well. My application would be for an off road buggy, so brakedown is not really an issue(well, I would prefer it not to brake easily, as I might just be stuck fairly far away from home on a farm road!)

The way I thought about doing it is to cut it the lenght I want, then sleeve it with a steel pipe(not those used for plumbing applications though!). Once sleeved, drill perpendicular holes through the sleeve and axle. Feed a rod through the hole and weld the ends up. Then weld the sleeve to the axle at both ends too.... Now I am no genius, but thought that this might work for my particular application/need.... :confused:

I was thinking something similar but without the cross drilling .I was going to machine the axle to a limited diameter then make a sleeve with an interference fit .Press the sleeve on and weld the end of the sleeve.Its just that welding affects the material and wondered if anyone had a better solution.

i believe i've read a couple of places that you can use the short-side axle from a type 3 auto when narrowing the irs and they're each like, 1.5" shorter, but i might have made up those numbers.

Sounds good ,i had an auto type 3 and never new the axles were were different !

I also heard that Cabrio axles are shorter. Problem being that these axles are hard to come by..... And it doesnt seem that anyone are making these aftermarket (I might be talking arse though!?)

beetle cabriolet axles? i've never heard that, but that doesn't make it untrue.

Don't know what length the axles need to be but this might help, it's a picture I took of 944 axles when I was trying to get some axles for my rear end.
http://65volkswagen.info/65Cabby/Pro...s/IMG_4372.png
The left most one is a standard beetle axles the other two are from a 944. In the end it used EMPI race axles. But they could be shortened because they do not have a shoulder as these three do.

Right one.
 

The one on the right looks perfect ,But which model is it from?.I have some shafts from an 84 944 but the u/js are 100mm.is the spline the same to fit beetle cv joints onto the 944 axles?Thanks for the pics mate .I have just got the bits i need to start the mod.:cool:

I have just measured the axles i got from the 84na and they are a good 40mm shorter than the bug ones .I havnt physically checked but the splines appear the same for the bug and 944 even though they are 100mmC/Vs.If i narrow the trailing arms 28mm as johans article i may get away with using the 100s at the trailing arm and bug joints at the gearbox although i may have to move the circlip groove on the shaft .Hope those shafts are'nt too hard !

Cabrio Beetle? If so, they are the same as a sedan.

Important update
 

I just found out that the axles i have are not standard 944 ones .They are from a 944 auto model .What i had measured was the short side (380mm)as when i looked at the other it was over 400mm.I have just found another driveshaft to match the other short one and the splines are the same as the bug although i had to use a c clip as a shoulder and the original spacer.Short auto axle is 35mm shorter than original.I narrowed my arms 29mm so this should be ok.

If you are talking about The left axle of a Type 3 with an automatic trans, it is 26mm shorter than a Beetle axle.
T3 : 389.5mm
T! : 415.5mm

Not type 3 for me!
 

No , i was referring to the 944 auto model .The short one is 380mm,Making it approximatly 35mm shorter .I have narrowed my arms 29mm and hope there is enough movment to take up the 6mm otherwise i will have to use a spacer.