New "Ultradrive" angle drive for sale

[? ? ? ?]

Just saw on DMCH's store page a new angle drive for sale, dubbed the "Ultradrive". Says that Martin Gutkowski helped develop it. Though I don't currently need an angle drive, I'm half tempted to pick this up just to have a spare, if this turns out to be a quality replacement for the original.


https://store.delorean.com/107130-ultradrivetm-speedometer-angle-drive.html



This new & improved UltraDrive?, a totally new part redesigned exclusively for Classic DMC by Martin Gutkowski in the United Kingdom, corrects the common failure points and shortcomings of both the original angle drive design - and any reproductions based on it. Assembled at Classic DMC (Texas) of high quality US-made and imported components including an all-new stainless steel housing, precision machined spiral bevel gears, European NBR oil seals and Oilite? bearings.

Designed with tight tolerances within the assembly and a factory-correct 1.125:1 ratio to ensure years of smooth and accurate speedometer operation, the UltraDrive? is maintenance-free, being fully lubricated and permanently sealed at time of assembly.

[r00b]

Sold by DMCH, that's a hard pass.

[JohnZ]

The only thing to do is to wait and hear the buyers' experience... only time will tell if the thing works!

[JBaker4981]

The only thing to do is to wait and hear the buyers' experience... only time will tell if the thing works!

Let's get our Resident Angle Drive Trial & Error guy to do it :driving1: .... Paging Shannon Yocum!

[Timeless]

To my knowledge, Shannon has a Martin Gutkowski unit that is reliable.

[ssdelorean]

Let's get our Resident Angle Drive Trial & Error guy to do it :driving1: .... Paging Shannon Yocum!


To my knowledge, Shannon has a Martin Gutkowski unit that is reliable.

Alexi is correct, I am currently running one of Martin's originals from 2009. My signature has been re-updated to show over 134,865 miles on it so far as of today.

I spoke with James Espey at the Woodward Dream Cruise last weekend. I have high hopes with this rendition of their angle drive as he was explaining how they worked with Martin, using his drawings/specs and the materials used. He showed me the bench test video where they have it running all day at about 80mph during business hours racking up the miles.

Looking forward to NOT hearing of owners having issues with this new 2025 unit.

I forgot to ask him why they do not offer a one piece cable with this part to eliminate the Lambda counter.


Also,
Why not "Hyper Drive" or "Warp Drive" for the product name?

[Timeless]

I forgot to ask him why they do not offer a one piece cable with this part to eliminate the Lambda counter.
+2. One piece cable is great.

[Patrick C]

I forgot to ask him why they do not offer a one piece cable with this part to eliminate the Lambda counter.




+2. One piece cable is great.

They sell one: https://store.delorean.com/one-piece-speedo-cable.html

[ssdelorean]

They sell one: https://store.delorean.com/one-piece-speedo-cable.html

... but would void the warranty?

"...we?re offering an industry-leading unlimited mileage and two-year warranty* against angle drive failure (when used with all supplied components including lower cable, dust shield, and angle drive nut)."

The 1 piece is not a part of the kit and you can't just buy the angle drive without the lower cable and cup.

[Bitsyncmaster]

... but would void the warranty?

"...we?re offering an industry-leading unlimited mileage and two-year warranty* against angle drive failure (when used with all supplied components including lower cable, dust shield, and angle drive nut)."

The 1 piece is not a part of the kit and you can't just buy the angle drive without the lower cable and cup.

They are running a second unit with the one piece cable. Has hit 10,000 miles.

[DCUK Martin]

Hi all, just to let you know the Ultradrive is a totally new design taking advantage of recent advancement in gear design and manufacturing.

The gearset is vastly more capable than the original system. It is no longer the weakest link in the Speedo drive.

Shannon's drive was made by Speedograph, a company spawned from the original factory supplier. The drive is still the same crossed-axis helical gear set of the original, and the seal is still only as good as its connection to the lower cable.

But it is at least the correct 1:1.125 ratio (8 turns of the wheel to 9 turns of the cable), which isn't true of any of the other angle drives available for the last several years, to my knowledge.

[Aaron Cake]

Installed one in #5637 this past Saturday.

The drive itself seems to be very high quality. No slop, smooth bearings. Dust cap fit tightly in the hub. The flexible shaft appeared to be the "aftermarket" type.

Installation was no different than an other angle drive. I appreciated that the supplied lower speedometer cable had the grommet already installed as my car was missing said grommet.

Only change I made was that I used zip ties to secure the speedometer cable out jacket to the fitting on the angle drive end as the jacket was free-floating on the cable.

Also I used blue Loctite on the angle drive nut.

Seems to work. My speedometer is smooth and just as inaccurate as it was before (5637 has an aftermarket 165MPH speedometer which doesn't seem to be accurate below 80MPH).

[mhanch]

Good to note. my original angle drive died today (43 years aint bad.) Just ordered one of these so hope it lasts just as long. LOL

[seventy4burban]

Okay so I just installed an ultra drive and torque it down but the assembly moves laterally in and out of the nut and it will spin up and down. I can't imagine that is normal seeing as the original angle drive did not move at all.

Everything seemed to go together without any issues so anyone got any ideas on this.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[BladeBronson]

The original has a retaining ring that holds it in the nut. From photos of the Ultradrive itself, it looks like there is a groove for a retaining ring. Did yours have one?

[seventy4burban]

I have no idea I'll have to check

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[BladeBronson]

I just received my UltraDrive. It moves in and out of the nut about 1/8? and spins freely. It?s hard to see inside the nut if there?s a retaining ring, but there must be because the drive is not coming any further out of the nut.

[Aaron Cake]

The angle drive is supposed to rotate in the nut as that allows it to follow the suspension movement instead of transferring that stress to the cable.

Off hand I don't know if mine moved in and out but 1/8" seems about normal.

Originals are probably seized to the nut at this point.

There is a little snap ring which retains the drive into the hut so there will be movement in the groove.

[DMCH James]

Both our UltraDrive? test units are over 30,000 bench test miles (each) as of this week with no issues (other than at the 5,000 mile mark we killed both Ryobi drills - but the Ridgid brand drills are still going strong).

We run them about 85-90mph (indicated) about 8-9 hours per day with a break in the middle which gives us between 600-800 miles per day (power fluctuations on that electrical circuit affects voltage which makes the drill speed fluctuate).

We've got three in our company cars, and another four in customer cars around the country for about 15,000 more.

We've upped the warranty to FIVE years now, and that's retroactive to ALL UltraDrive? units that we've sold. As we add more miles to the test units we're increase it further.

I've been meaning to add the 1-piece cable option to the store but haven't found the time - if I hadn't been alerted to this thread I would not have even known there was any interest. I'll get them up on the site soon and post again here.

James

[BLWNAWY]

I offered custom s/s one-piece cables as far back as the 1990's. I don't know if Toby's DeLorean Parts Northwest still has them but you could check.

[BladeBronson]

James, my Ultra Drive had a white paint dot on it. Is that indicating a second revision or something?

[DMCH James]

James, my Ultra Drive had a white paint dot on it. Is that indicating a second revision or something?

Rudimentary tamper evident indicator - warranty void if opened.

[DMCH James]

One-piece cable UltraDrive? kits - 107130L - are available now: https://store.classicdmc.com/107130l-ultradrivetm-speedometer-angle-drive-with-1-piece-cable.html

As of 2pm Central of November 18th, both test units are about to rollover 46,000 miles each, 92,000 cumulative. Another 17,000 or so in on-car testing.

[Bill6298]

One-piece cable UltraDrive? kits - 107130L - are available now: https://store.classicdmc.com/107130l-ultradrivetm-speedometer-angle-drive-with-1-piece-cable.html

As of 2pm Central of November 18th, both test units are about to rollover 46,000 miles each, 92,000 cumulative. Another 17,000 or so in on-car testing.

James, are you expecting to continue additional manufacturing runs of these?

[Bill6298]

Disregard. It was showing sold out yesterday but showing in stock now.

[Aaron Cake]

I posted this in its own thread but here's a video of my UltraDrive install:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYPbgqz2P4Q

[JohnZ]

Awesome Aaron! Did you have the chance to actually test the angle drive on the road?

:)

[Aaron Cake]

Awesome Aaron! Did you have the chance to actually test the angle drive on the road?
:)

I have about 1500 miles on mine now. The car is stored for the winter so I won't be putting real miles on it until next spring.

[mhanch]

Just got mine installed on Friday. worked great on the test drive - and a really easy install.