source for NOS or NORS 6spline couplers

35ragtop

35ragtop

Senior Member
Hi Fellas,
does anyone know where I can buy a 6 spline drive shaft coupler of NOS quality.
I have just had a Macs/Ecklers one fail after 1200 miles!
Thats bad enough but the fine bits went right through my rebuilt banjo and destroyed some of the bearings or maybe all.
Then theres the clean up to ensure nothing left in the housings.
My fault for buying repro but didnt realise just how bad these can be.BEWARE!

Any leads greatly appreciated.
Dave
 
35ragtop said:
Hi Fellas,

does anyone know where I can buy a 6 spline drive shaft coupler of NOS quality.

I have just had a Macs/Ecklers one fail after 1200 miles!

Thats bad enough but the fine bits went right through my rebuilt banjo and destroyed some of the bearings or maybe all.

Then theres the clean up to ensure nothing left in the housings.

My fault for buying repro but didnt realise just how bad these can be.BEWARE!



Any leads greatly appreciated.

Dave
Click to expand...



How did it fail?
Did the splines wear out?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I drove at 50 mph max, I have just got the truck on the road and have done the usual engine break in speeds.
The splines simply wore on the sides and the material finally migrated into the pinion bearing whilst on a road trip.
The soft pin sheared as well adding more debris. Still unsure why but blaming the soft spline. Was a snug fit when installed a few months ago.
I don't burn rubber!
Dave
 
Try barnfind 08 on the barn.
any reasonable used original is way better than one of those cr-- repos.
Lawrie
 
Check with Fred Wilner of Southside Obsolete. Hershey is coming up, so maybe you can have some folks look for you. Post the part number. You might end up with more than one, though! LOL! Of course, shipping costs could kill you...
 
Last edited:
I don't usually comment a lot but I feel This might be informative
to support how good original Ford parts really are. The '31 in my avatar
was built by a good friend. In order to get the car on the road, with a Merc
flathead in a '32 frame with a '36 rear the driveshaft needed
to be cut about 14 inches and the driveshaft re-splined for the cuppler.
In order to get it put back together, the original driveshaft was
splined by hand with a hand grinder. The plan was to take a second
driveshaft to a pro to be sized and ground properly at a later date.
12 years and about 40,000 + miles later the parts are still holding up!
 
Tony ,the old driveshafts and axles are made of the best steel,I use unservicable ones to make lots of parts on the lathe.
Lawrie
 
Lawrie,
Absolutely right!
The metallurgy in old Fords is amazing!
Henry really was a stickler for using the
best materials.
Cheers,
Tony
 
In the parts book, the coupler you want came as part of the driveshaft as an assembly and wasn't listed separately (at least for my 40). I have a NOS driveshaft for my 40 coupe and it has the coupler on it already, forward pin installed, with a pin started in the hole that connects to the pinion. I would think any new ones found would be NOSR.
 
Tony Martino said:
I don't usually comment a lot but I feel This might be informative
to support how good original Ford parts really are. The '31 in my avatar
was built by a good friend. In order to get the car on the road, with a Merc
flathead in a '32 frame with a '36 rear the driveshaft needed
to be cut about 14 inches and the driveshaft re-splined for the cuppler.
In order to get it put back together, the original driveshaft was
splined by hand with a hand grinder. The plan was to take a second
driveshaft to a pro to be sized and ground properly at a later date.
12 years and about 40,000 + miles later the parts are still holding up!
Click to expand...

Easiest way to shorten one, turn the shaft down to a press fit into the coupler and weld it , then you need just one pin for the pinion. Done a ton of them this way.

As for finding a good 6 spline, get an origjnal that isnt worn. I have had some worn out and the pin sheared on rears i have taken apart. Most 39 to 39 were 6 spline some 10 like the 35 36 and then all the 40.to 48 ford and merc cars so that shows there are plenty of them still out there
 
Yes I remember I finally was given a good shaft and it still had the coupler on it, I had bought one from..I don't know can't recall but it's made in Argentina. Didn't fit too well but that original Ford one was great and I had to even tap it on..
 
Thanks for all the replies, certainly some thing to look at.
Out of left field came the suggestion that agricultural machinery use spline couplers, so I searched and found a mob down in Griffith NSW that make (amongst others) ,a 6 spline 1 inch coupler. Now depending upon its horsepower rating, it may be better than the junk offered for our Fords. I'm going to get one and see.
Dave
 
Guys, we have to realize that for us (born in the last {and for some, the first half} half of the first century) once was common is no longer available. For the rest of you, ARGH.

We are playing with wonderful bygone things. No going back.

That stuff isn't made anymore. They attempt to duplicate it, but they are using metric tooling that is close but not quite. And they do not have, nor they investigate, the original standards. They are not held to a performance standard. And why should they be? They are dealing with tens, maybe hundreds of units. Not thousands, and millions, like FORD.

And although the current automotive manufacturers are probably 10 times better than Henrey's were, it is another world now.
 
The above is true..very true. However, if a supplier [Macs/Ecklers in this case], have identified that a certain part is sought after enough to consider replicating it, surely, rather than being driven by a desire to turn a massive profit, if they made a decent part, even if it cost 5 times as much as some chink made product, they'd be better off. And by a multitude of several hundred per cent.
Because...how many threads have I read on here about inferior/shonky parts? Enough so that I know not to deal with that supplier/manufacturer with a bargepole! Which must ultimately cost them a fortune in lost potential revenue because the word gets out, or actually, doesn't even have to, people will soon form their own opinion based on their personal experiences with said supplier/ manufacturer.
So much so that I will gladly pay whatever the seller is asking for quality, genuine Ford parts. And not just Ford parts...Because, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Thing is...everything these days is built with obsolescence built into it...people no longer fix the old [6 months] model; it's cheaper to buy the latest version.
 
In my experience spline wear is caused by misalignment between the axle and the torque tube. I've never used a repro coupler but did wear out a formerly good original when the alignment was out of whack. Once realigned the replacement original pare seems to be holding up well.

The misalignment normally comes about after shortening a shaft and tube for a non stock application. Stock setups ought to be ok.

Mart
 
Brian said:
The above is true..very true. However, if a supplier [Macs/Ecklers in this case], have identified that a certain part is sought after enough to consider replicating it, surely, rather than being driven by a desire to turn a massive profit, if they made a decent part, even if it cost 5 times as much as some chink made product, they'd be better off. And by a multitude of several hundred per cent.
Because...how many threads have I read on here about inferior/shonky parts? Enough so that I know not to deal with that supplier/manufacturer with a bargepole! Which must ultimately cost them a fortune in lost potential revenue because the word gets out, or actually, doesn't even have to, people will soon form their own opinion based on their personal experiences with said supplier/ manufacturer.
So much so that I will gladly pay whatever the seller is asking for quality, genuine Ford parts. And not just Ford parts...Because, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Thing is...everything these days is built with obsolescence built into it...people no longer fix the old [6 months] model; it's cheaper to buy the latest version.
Click to expand...

All true, but we tend to be cheapskates. These parts suppliers are not engineers or machinists. I suspect it takes a lot of effort and knowhow to get a part reproduced. What kind of QA can they perform and how much competition is there for the work? Not to be a pessimist, but I think that reproducing parts is a whole lot more work than we imagine. This is all just a hunch on my part
 
Dave, are you talking about OEM dynamics for the splined hub,
we used a lot of their stuff when in business,they do make good stuff,BUT I would check the hardness first.
Lawrie
 
Right on about Ford drive shafts. Those shafts are the nicest machining steel I have seen. Always by first go to steel for making parts. Henry was the best there is. If I recall his metallurgist was self taught, not a product of someone else's thinking.
 
Yes lawrie I will check the hardness, another concern that I have since thought about is the spline width. I will need to get one and measure these as im sure all 1 inch diam 6 spline couplers are NOT the same, as they are made for various applications.
I am also trying to locate a good used original Ford or replacement part.
I also pondered the possibility that the damage was caused by the hollow driveshaft having metal remains inside after the last coupler was welded in. I dont recall checking this before sliding it on.I do recall however, that it was a snug fit!
Again thanks for all your input
Dave
 
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