I decided to pull out the Quaife reverse box as it has seemed a bit noisier of late and thought I would pull it down so I could check the bearings etc. Well the bearings look fine, quite new in fact and the internal gear sets seem to be in good condition so I started thinking that maybe the extra noise is just my imagination? But then I found this:



Notice the different heights in the black hex head screws? Well it turns out only one of them was actually tight and I imagine that this will be the case on the other side of the gear set but I'm having trouble getting the other flange nut off to check it. This isn't a major deal and hasn't caused any damage from what i can see but I dare say it may be contributing to the extra rattling coming from the box.





Well I'm not sure what I've done but after getting it back together and taking it for a spin there is definitely something wrong. It is fine under load but when you back off it makes all sorts of horrid sounds. Don't get me wrong, they are a bit chattery at light load but damn! Definitely not right. The only two things I have done are:
1) Tighten up the screws that were loose pictured above.
2) When I tightened up the input and output flange nuts they are slightly past where they were positioned before so they are slightly tighter.
I am wondering if the tighter nuts might be causing the issue? There really isn't anything else I can think of, unless I jumbled up the planetary gears and didn't put them back in their original spots and they have all worn drastically differently?

sounds like the diff backlash is out of kilter, try the radical owners they will know how the diff is setup

quote:Originally posted by T66
sounds like the diff backlash is out of kilter, try the radical owners they will know how the diff is setup



I haven't touched anything at the diff end, only the reverse box.

I pulled the reverse box back out again and loosened the rear flange nut off about a fifth of a turn to where it had been before I pulled it apart and restaked it, normally I wouldn't re-use a staked nut but there are spots for staking on both sides of the it and only one side had been staked before so all good. I pulled the front housing off to check if everything was still ok and all looks good:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/GURUDAN/null_zpsf368617b.jpg

The input shaft pulls up against the underside of the dog engagement plate (well that's what I call it) and the copper or brass or whatever the bush is slides through it:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/GURUDAN/null_zps21973293.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/GURUDAN/null_zpsf8cb6e53.jpg

Pulled up against the plate:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/GURUDAN/null_zps7d4a0ed5.jpg


So if I have done the flange nut up too tight it would pull the gear up harder against the dog plate......at least that's how it looks? I don't know if this is what is causing the sounds or not?


[Edited on 12/10/13 by DANMAN]

did you get to the bottom of this issue Danman?
I pulled mine apart last night, it's been making horrible noise in reverse. I only just got the car but the box was basically dry! Maybe 5-10ml of oil in it, it's an enclosed tunnel and there's no evidence of oil loss in the 10 yrs [since it was built] of dust and junk in there. So I suspect it never had oil in it.
One thing I noticed was that the front and rear bearing covers [gold coloured] and the in/output flanges are different in depth. To be honest when i found there was no oil in it, I suspected to find it mullered inside but the bearings were good, teeth good and only a small amount of pick up on the magnet.
I had a tiny amount of play in front and rear shafts and the nuts were really tight. I bent my flywheel holding tool I made years ago and then bent an angle iron I subsequently used. And yes i spotted before I started the nuts were LH thread!
what oil do you use in yours?
Phil

Hi Phil.

Mine sounds like a bunch of spanners in a blender in reverse, seriously horrible. It even takes more throttle to move the car in reverse than it does when in forward mode. These boxes are horrid in general but beggars can't be choosers so we deal with what we've got as best we can.
As far as the noise in forward mode is concerned, I ended up finding out that when I put one of the drive shafts back in I had one of the flanges slightly out of phase (it looked straight when I was upside down under the car!) which was causing all the horrid sounds. Unfortunately one of the marks I put on the prop shaft when I marked it with the uni before pulling it all out so I could put it back together lined off rubbed off. Next time I will use a bloody center punch.
So check your uni phasing if you are getting some weird and horrid sounds.

I just presumed mine was making so much noise in reverse due to the fact that there was no oil in it.
there doesn't seem any damage really or wear, can't really see why the thing makes so much noise
forwards it's a lot better though!
Once it's all back together will try it and if no better may look for an alternative, the MNR box sounds better!

it's the damn planetary gears flopping about in there making all the noise. The boxes also have a horrendous amount of backlash which doesn't help.
I hate my Quaife due to the ludicurous noise it makes and was also looking to replace it with an MNR one as they are apparently a pretty straight forward swap but I don't think they are making them anymore.

I've had a lot of trouble trying to get information on which reverse box is the quietest option. There seems to be a whole lot of tip toeing around the topic for whatever reason.
All I would like to know is:
Which are the quietest boxes to use?
What sort of difference is there between a Quaife and MNR noise wise?
Is it worth changing from the Quaife to an MNR assuming you can find one?
What are the Roadstercycle boxes like in comparison?
What about the Elite boxes?
What about the Nova boxes?

All I would like to know is how much difference is there in noise (clunkyness) between them all? I don't want to go and buy a Nova to find it's the same crappy clunky box as the Quaife.

P.S. I understand there will be some clunking from a BEC but the Quaife box is bloody well horrid!

[Edited on 8/7/14 by DANMAN]

[Edited on 8/7/14 by DANMAN]

The MNR should be super quiet in forward as it's a direct drive without any gear engagement taking place. That also means power loss is minimal. It will be a little noisier in reverse as there are 3 bevel gears that will be engaged but the noise should be minimal. It's a clever and simple design.