Angle Drive - Martin Gutkowski's unit

[ssdelorean]

Just thought I'd give an update and put it in this are so others can weigh in on their results.

It's been just over 2 years 1 month since installing Martin's (http://www.delorean.co.uk/index.html) angle drive. I currently have 23,205.2 miles logged onto the unit with no problems. It has beaten the last 2, and it's on pace to beat the best DMCH drive I have owned. And hopefully it will go on to out last the original 2 units I have used on my car too.

If you need an angle drive I recommend Martin's. It may be more expensive, but you won't be changing it as often. At least that is my experience so far.

[Chris 16409]

I'm not sure, but I don't think Martin sells his angle drive any more. At least it's not listed on his site anymore. Maybe Martin will chime in on this subject.

[Dracula]

I've got similar mileage on mine; a little over 20,000 since it was installed. I've never had a problem and have driven it on several long road trips as well as through heavy rain, rough roads, and more. It's a quality piece that I couldn't be happier with.

[Chris 16409]

I should have mentioned how many miles I've logged on mine, about 15000.

[DCUK Martin]

Hi Guys, and thanks for the plug!

I have stopped re-selling the unit which is/was made for me by Speedograph http://www.speedograph-richfield.com/ It's a great product but the same cannot be said of Speedograph's customer service. It got to a point where I was being made to look like an ass to my customers keeping them waiting for ages, so now I point anyone who asks to Speedograph directly. For a while the DOC UK were also re-selling them.

I still have several spare stub-axle cables for any failures of existing units "out there".

[Chris 16409]

I still have several spare stub-axle cables for any failures of existing units "out there".

I was just going to ask you about that. That's good to know you still have the stub axles in stock. How much are you selling those for? I don't need one now, but it wouldn't hurt to have one on hand.

[DCUK Martin]

For the price of a stamp pretty much - they'll always be available from Speedograph though.

[TTait]

Are the speedograph units the same ones Hervey is now selling? He is selling the shafts too... Perhaps those are compatible?

Martin, do you know which part # it is - they don't list it in their applications list?

[stevedmc]

Are the speedograph units the same ones Hervey is now selling? He is selling the shafts too... Perhaps those are compatible?

Martin, do you know which part # it is - they don't list it in their applications list?

I've been wondering the same thing. I installed Hervey's about 6 months ago and have logged several thousand miles since installing it. So far so good.

[Chris 16409]

I wonder if there is enough demand for these units to warrant an order from speedograph. They aren't cheap. I think I paid around $150 for mine. We'd have to order no less than 5 to probably make it worth while.

[ssdelorean]

I wonder if there is enough demand for these units to warrant an order from speedograph. They aren't cheap. I think I paid around $150 for mine. We'd have to order no less than 5 to probably make it worth while.

If it helps with the demand, I highly recommend this product. My signature may be just a hair off as I probably have 70,000 miles on this angle drive now with zero problems and using the original shaft. All going strong.

I don't mind paying a little extra for a product that is of high quality and will last. This is one of those products.

[Nuclearbacon]

As someone who literally is going to install an angle drive in the next week or two, Which model # would we use?
RGB2410?

These are pretty

[MikeWard]

The original Smiths Industries angle drive part number is BG2401/11

The Speedograph replacement would be a variant of the RGB2401: http://www.speedograph-richfield.com/html/rgb2401.html

However, Speedograph will no longer manufacture the DeLorean variant of this drive. I have tried and failed at getting them to produce a batch, they cited 'health and safety' as their reasons for being unable to manufacture it.

I was told that someone had complained that the supplied nut had cracked on their unit, so I believe Speedograph are now doing a CYA with the 'health and safety' claim so that they don't get a potential lawsuit come their way.

For clarity, the Speedograph unit was previously supplied complete with the nut already in place as per the example pictures shown below.

When I was speaking with them on this however, I specifically advised them the nut was NOT required for our application as we can simply swap the nut from our old angle drive.

53142 53141

As others have mentioned here they were built like a tank, I've had one on my car for 6 years and 20k+ miles and it's still going strong.

[Jonathan]

I have the UK club (what is now the DeLoreanGO parts webstore) angle drive and one piece speedo cable. It's been on there for almost two full seasons and close to 3,000 miles.

I have not had any problems with it, but do have a question to potentially limit future problems:

Is there any lubrication still needed on either the angle drive itself or the one piece speedo cable?

I don't think there is a grease nipple on the angle drive with the one I have. Wasn't sure about the speedo cable though and whether I should be taking it apart once per season to spray some lube down inside the length of it.

Any suggestions?

[MikeWard]

The DeLoreanGo angle drives are an Ed/DMC Europe part. The DeLoreanGo speedo cables, upper, lower, and one-piece are manufactured for the club in the UK.

Lubrication wise, probably overkill but once a year I remove the cable from the angle drive, and put a few drops of gear oil into the angle drive. I'm also running the one-piece speedo cable, but haven't seen the need to lubricate it yet.

[DMC-Ron]

The DeLoreanGo angle drives are an Ed/DMC Europe part. The DeLoreanGo speedo cables, upper, lower, and one-piece are manufactured for the club in the UK.

Lubrication wise, probably overkill but once a year I remove the cable from the angle drive, and put a few drops of gear oil into the angle drive. I'm also running the one-piece speedo cable, but haven't seen the need to lubricate it yet.

What about lubrication on an original drive? This thread got me thinking about my angle drive. Working fine right now but wondered if I should give it some attention.

Thanks, Ron

[MikeWard]

If it's original I would do the same, lubricate it with gear oil once a year.

[Lwanmtr]

Just to pipe in here, but.. angle drives are still available through the DMC vendors as well.

[Chris 16409]

Check with Rob Grady as he can beef up an original Smiths Angle drive with improved cogs.

[BABIS]

I was told that someone had complained that the supplied nut had cracked on their unit, so I believe Speedograph are now doing a CYA with the 'health and safety' claim so that they don't get a potential lawsuit come their way.

For clarity, the Speedograph unit was previously supplied complete with the nut already in place as per the example pictures shown below.

When I was speaking with them on this however, I specifically advised them the nut was NOT required for our application as we can simply swap the nut from our old angle drive.

Mike do you recommend to change the speedograph nut with the original one?

[MikeWard]

Just to pipe in here, but.. angle drives are still available through the DMC vendors as well.Yes, re-production angle drives are available from the vendors, however they have or at least had a questionable lifespan, with some only lasting a few thousand miles. While the Speedograph angle drives were around double/triple the cost, they last. It's a question of getting what you pay for.



Check with Rob Grady as he can beef up an original Smiths Angle drive with improved cogs.:thumbup:In lieu of no longer being able to buy the Speedograph unit, this would be the option I would take if I had an original Smiths angle drive.



Mike do you recommend to change the speedograph nut with the original one?On my car I'm still running it with the nut that it was supplied with and haven't had any issues (I've been running it since Oct 2011). They're easy enough to swap out if you feel it's an issue. I don't know who the owner was who had the issue with the cracked nut but I assume this was a one off incident - it's just a shame this one off incident has caused Speedograph to cease selling the angle drives.

[Jonathan]

The DeLoreanGo angle drives are an Ed/DMC Europe part. The DeLoreanGo speedo cables, upper, lower, and one-piece are manufactured for the club in the UK.

Lubrication wise, probably overkill but once a year I remove the cable from the angle drive, and put a few drops of gear oil into the angle drive. I'm also running the one-piece speedo cable, but haven't seen the need to lubricate it yet.

Thanks Mike. I'll keep that in mind on my ongoing maintenance to-do list.

[Josh]

Just to pipe in here, but.. angle drives are still available through the DMC vendors as well.

You must not drive your car very much. the DMC drives are junk.

[Nicholas R]

Do the current DMCH ones have the grease fitting?

I had my original angle drive fail in 2007 and the one I bought from DMCH then is still holding up ~35,000mi later. I'm not sure what stock it came from though and it seems pretty unlikely that its the same as the one they're currently selling.

I actually thought it failed 2 years ago but it turned out that it was the speedo cable that failed (unraveled), but miraculously the angle drive was fine.

The one I have has a grease fitting and I grease it maybe once every year or every other year.

[Lwanmtr]

The new ones from DMC dont have grease fittings, so you dont do any lubrication on them

[Nuclearbacon]

Question! I'm literally about to install the DMCH unit. Would it be worth it to order one of these devices? Or just install my DMCH one and wait for failure?

[dmcnc]

I highly recommend getting an original Smith's angle drive rebuilt with Robert Grady. It's the only available option that has lasted more than 10k on my daily driver.

[Grover]

The nut issue may have been caused by me, though I explained the situation very clearly to the company. The nut supplied on the angle drive snapped off on my unit. I had installed a set of Martin's lowering springs that for some reason did not fit well within my spring cup on the front LCA (apparently one other customer had this problem as well). The first bump I hit on a test drive around my block popped the spring out of the spring cup slightly and hit the speedometer (small clearance with those springs) and snapped it in half.

I spoke with the company (because they stopped making them) and had them do a repair which took a long time because I think there was only one guy who worked on these units and was out of the office due to health. Seems after reading this thread that after fixing my unit they no longer supply it with the nut required for the DeLorean. It is a shame because the unit works flawlessly and it didn't fail on its own. As mentioned later in this thread it is still possible to swap a DeLorean nut on it.

Good price too, I paid WAY more for it back when I originally got it.



The original Smiths Industries angle drive part number is BG2401/11

The Speedograph replacement would be a variant of the RGB2401: http://www.speedograph-richfield.com/html/rgb2401.html

However, Speedograph will no longer manufacture the DeLorean variant of this drive. I have tried and failed at getting them to produce a batch, they cited 'health and safety' as their reasons for being unable to manufacture it.

I was told that someone had complained that the supplied nut had cracked on their unit, so I believe Speedograph are now doing a CYA with the 'health and safety' claim so that they don't get a potential lawsuit come their way.

For clarity, the Speedograph unit was previously supplied complete with the nut already in place as per the example pictures shown below.

When I was speaking with them on this however, I specifically advised them the nut was NOT required for our application as we can simply swap the nut from our old angle drive.

53142 53141

As others have mentioned here they were built like a tank, I've had one on my car for 6 years and 20k+ miles and it's still going strong.