Axle upgrades

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

So has anyone ever done any research into any upgraded/stronger axles? Or at least the bearings? I spoke to my mechanic when I was getting mine replaced and he tried asking around. Seems like a few places would take a look at the OEM one and design oneoffs but they all quoted a few thousand each side.

If its a somewhat known weak point, I’m surprised none of the companies that make lots of Audi aftermarket parts have looked at making some replacements. Or I just haven’t found any. Or they have and they concluded its not worth the risk/return.

#2

These cars arr getting older and racking up the miles…the stock ones weaken over time. My car saw countless launches on sticky compound tires and many burnouts. I never broke a single one. Before I sold my car to jhm, it had a total of 58k. I think just buying brand new oem and not cheaper aftermarket axles could get you plenty of worry free life out of them.

#3

I was actually going along the lines of stronger axle replacements (than OEM). I probably wouldn’t mind paying even double of what the OEM ones are, but 4 or 5 times the price just doesn’t seem worth it.

#4

seems like many of the failures occur in the joint

here’s something to base an upgrade off, may be worth pinging 034 to see what they think regarding 8E fitment
http://www.034motorsport.com/chassis-components-audi-a4s4a6s6-axle-pair-high-strength-b5-s4-front-p-21348.html

http://www.034motorsport.com/oscthumbwm/w/750/h/750/q/95/f/jpg/fltr/wmi|phpThumb/watermarks/034watermark|C|20|0/hash/bbbb2edef660739a6071ab5a4f8a869f/src/images/B5%20S4%20Axle%20CV%20.jpg

http://www.034motorsport.com/chassis-components-audi-a4s4a6s6-axle-pair-high-strength-b5-s4-rear-p-21349.html

its just better material for the most part, bad axle hop may still dam them

#5

I think the point 91 was making was that why reinvent the wheel when you oem ones are so good and last?

Mistro, your car has 60,000 miles on it. The first 60,000 the axles held up great. Then you broke one.

My b7 s4had 60,000 miles in 5 years and more launches than you times twenty. No problems.

My rs4 has 50,000 miles and probably 200 launches on it including nearly a hundred at the strip. No problems.

91’s b6 had 60,000 miles/7 years and probably had double the launches that I had. No problems.

Jhm broke an axle at 120,000 miles, you broke one at 60,000, and JBones at whatever he has. Not really an epidemic.

#6

110k on my car and many many many launches and one never broke.

#7

At first I thought failure might be more likely as the tq goes up, but 91’s beastly stripped out b6 as well as the JHM test cars are doing ok. With appropriate. Abuse.

My contribution is a B6 with 150,000 km and a few dozen launches.

#8

Saki, I broke the right side around 83.5K miles and the left side just over 85K miles.

The 034 Motorsports B5 axles are from The Driveshaft Shop. Here is a link to the page where the description is almost identical. When I called The Driveshaft Shop, they said that they just reuse the CV joints and put in a Chromalloy shaft. I know Chromalloy is expensive but damn that means they are charging $550 for each shaft plus a few minutes of greasy labor.

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/import-axles/audi/audi-s4-b5-chassis-1998-5-2002-1000hp-front-axle-bar-and-inner-c-v-upgrade

Earlier in the week I contacted Raxles to see if they could make a stronger axle for these cars. They got back to me yesterday and told me no. The guy blamed the tri-pod inner CV joint design as being weaker than the older Porsche style joints for the B5 S4s.

The axles that JHM sells look like the OP Parts axles that I have on my car now. They look the same, are around the right price range, and the description sounds about right.

http://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catalog/front-cv-shaft-complete-joints-new-for-b6-b7-s4-rs4-mt-p-315.html?cPath=21_56_61_105

#9

Yeah jhm put eighty billion launches on that in house b6 with 400+ wtq on the nitrous kit and of course supercharger stage 1 and 2 (stage 2 is wow). This is a typical night at the old Lathrop business Park lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N3ioZGzIao

The jhm rs4 makes about 200 whp more than you (no offence lol) and both of the extensively tested cars have been fine I believe. One was an apr supercharger test car too!

#10

Fair enough, I was just getting kinda paranoid after it was mentioned that it had happened to quite a few cars (yes I should probably know better lol)

I replaced with OEM so it should be good for a while. Still sitting tight for that extra 200whp.

#11

Don’t put anything made by Drive shaft Shop on your car. They have a horrible track record making Cobra halfshafts.

#12

Joe, a friend of mine with a Cobra mentioned that as well and a different friend with a modified GTR (gobs of tq) has had zero issues with his Drive Shaft Shop parts. I guess its platform dependent?

#13

Yeah maybe, Cobras break half shafts because of wheel hop, not weak driveshafts. The DSS ones were supposed to be an alternative to fixing the issue, but it turns out hard core drag guys cutting 1.5x 60’s were breaking the DSS ones more often that stock shafts.

#14

are the cobra axles failing in any one particular area?

#15

i broke my trans crossmember and my motor mount brackets…never an axle. when i see someone break an axle my eyes open up to it because my car saw tremendous abuse and they were in great condition thus my theory of age and time catching up to them. 550 for an axle with just an upgraded steel shaft is stupid. buy new OEM, not cheap aftermarket ones and enjoy 60k miles of problem free driving for much less money

#16

I just replaced my front axles with the Driveshaft shop units for my B5. Chris (USP Motorsports) uses these for his B5 as well, though it looks like the OEM units for the B7 are just fine.

#17

It’s 50/50. sometimes they fail where the solid shaft part is connected to the yoke, usually the outer one fails. It is a welded joint. The other times the shaft itself just twists and snaps. Which is impressive given the fact that its about 1.5" dia. Sid steel. The DSS ones fail in the exact same way as stockers do.

#18

the b5 axles are problematic. not as stout as the b6/b7. it seems like its every other day we are replacing b5/a6 2.7t axles here at the shop where i have never had to on a 4.2 car.

#19

Usually the CV boots rip and people don’t replace it before the joint goes. When I got my A6 2.7T the driver’s side outer boot was ripped and the passenger side outer boot was cracked really bad. They are starting to crack again after 53K miles.