Ballspline trans.

[Mod66x]

Are these worth spending the money on? Do they hold up better then non ball? Just heard some horror stories on ballsplines..

[Egoracing]

They give more travel but a carbon fiber driveshaft is a must with one. If you can not run a CF shaft, don't run a ballspline.

[mab475]

They give more travel but a carbon fiber driveshaft is a must with one. If you can not run a CF shaft, don't run a ballspline.

That has nothing to do with it. We've run a ball spline since they came out and used a coleman aluminum shaft with absolutely no problems

[scrub_fan]

That has nothing to do with it. We've run a ball spline since they came out and used a coleman aluminum shaft with absolutely no problems

he is not saying that there will be a problem with aluminum untill it breaks than you have 2 fan blades spinning around next to you with carbon fiber it will not go into the (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)pit we run the new falcon ballspline no maintaince it is awesome you dont have to take it apart every week and clean it

[hpmaster]

That has nothing to do with it. We've run a ball spline since they came out and used a coleman aluminum shaft with absolutely no problems

It will work great til it breaks, then you are in a meat grinder.

[zerolm]

That is EGO's point.. You will be in a meat grinder with any other driveshaft than carbon... A carbon driveshaft with basically turn to cloth when something goes wrong. Obviously a steel or aluminum shaft will not. A non ballspline will obviously drop a broken driveshaft upon failure so it is not nearly as important as when this happens because a ballspline will hold the shaft onto the transmission.
I have always been under the impression that a ballspline will allow the driveshaft to run in and out of the transmission much easier at extreme angles when compared to a standard spline (non ballspline) Therefore, the driveshaft is in no way hindering the suspension nearly as much when going up and down.. It's probably such a small difference that if you have found a really good deal on a non ballspline, go for it..
I was once driving a car with a non ballspline trans, and the yoke came out of the transmission at speed. It was still obviously hooked to the rear end and it ripped a hole in the interior about 20"x8", I could feel it hit my right foot until I moved both my feet to the left side of the footbox..
That's part of the reason I run a ballspline now.. No chance of the driveshaft coming out of the tranny, and with a carbon shaft if it breaks, it will basically turn to cloth.. This is a safety issue that can hurt you very badly or worse... Not to be taken lightly.... Good luck...

[sj valley dave]

Totally agree...Have ran both and MAB475 is playing with fire! Saw a ball spline/aluminum come apart and it tore the sh*t out of the drivers compartment and jacked the drivers right leg up pretty good..Could have been waaay worse...

[Egoracing]

That has nothing to do with it. We've run a ball spline since they came out and used a coleman aluminum shaft with absolutely no problems

Buzzie Reutimann (David's father) was running a ballspline with an aluminum shaft and the only thing that kept him from passing away was a medic stuck his finger in the vein in his leg to keep him from bleeding to death when the rear universal broke.

[Matt49]

I can't believe that there are even racetracks that allow a ball spline with anything other than a carbon fiber shaft. It should be a rule everywhere.
But back on the original topic about performance. There are many national touring drivers that use Brinn transmissions and they don't make a ball spline model. If these teams with endless resources aren't using ball splines then you can safely assume that there isn't a noticeable performance gain to be had or they would all have one. I'm not a "monkey see monkey do" kind of racer but it's food for thought nonetheless.
If you want to free up the action of your rear end, there are about two dozen other places to look before you get to the transmission yoke.

[grt74]

ive said it before on here and ill say it again,ive seen the results of a race car with a ballspine in it with a steel or aluminum drive shaft in it,plain and simple PLEASE USE A CARBON FIBER DRIVESHAFT WITH A BALLSPLINE TRANS,its a huge saftey hazard,8000 rpms with a steel or aluminum drive shaft failure,its not if you get hurt its how bad or death even,if your life is not worth 600 bucks to you and your family you have other problems,ITS A SAFTEY FACTOR AND A HUGE ONE AT THAT, RACING IS CRAZY ENOUGH WITH OUT ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE,PLEASE BE SAFE!!!!

[Egoracing]

I can't believe that there are even racetracks that allow a ball spline with anything other than a carbon fiber shaft. It should be a rule everywhere.
But back on the original topic about performance. There are many national touring drivers that use Brinn transmissions and they don't make a ball spline model. If these teams with endless resources aren't using ball splines then you can safely assume that there isn't a noticeable performance gain to be had or they would all have one. I'm not a "monkey see monkey do" kind of racer but it's food for thought nonetheless.
If you want to free up the action of your rear end, there are about two dozen other places to look before you get to the transmission yoke.

I agree to some extent, some of the guys that are running "X" brand product is because they get them for free and some of the people running them are not even running them. I have seen Hypercoils take out of the box and painted yellow on a car that had afco stickers all over it. Same with shocks and even chassis. When Jimmy Ownes was running Rayburns we were running the Ice Bowl and parked right next to him and he had 2 cars there, one was a Mastersbuilt and one was a Rocket but both were white #20 with Rayburn Racecars on the body.

[hpmaster]

Just remember Forest Gump loved his Flex-O-Lite paddle after they gave him $25,000.00. Back to drive shafts I saw one break in a friends drag car in the early 1970's. It beat that tin tunnel out about a foot bigger before it spit the yoke a split second later. After having had a few not too fun experiances in race cars I look at the worst ones as being in the middle of an explosion, happens real fast and not alot of fun.

[7uptruckracer]

I don't normally post much on here, I wish I could show you the picture of my leg after I had a driveshaft and yoke break. It almost took my life when it cut through my thigh at 8000 rpm this past april. It took about 3 month till I could walk again. It took an insane amount of sticthes. Plus it cut muscle and tissue out I will never get back I had driveshaft loops and everything. The only thing that kept me here was the battery cable wrapped around it so tight It actually grooved the shaft from squeezing it. It ripped every wire out of the car broke anything between the front and rear clip. Not to mention cost around 4600 in medical bills and still suffer from pain and problems with it. So for what an accident would cost its well worth the piece of mind and you won't have a 6 inch by 4 inch scar and a leg that looks like Dr. House.

[Matt49]

I don't normally post much on here, I wish I could show you the picture of my leg after I had a driveshaft and yoke break. It almost took my life when it cut through my thigh at 8000 rpm this past april. It took about 3 month till I could walk again. It took an insane amount of sticthes. Plus it cut muscle and tissue out I will never get back I had driveshaft loops and everything. The only thing that kept me here was the battery cable wrapped around it so tight It actually grooved the shaft from squeezing it. It ripped every wire out of the car broke anything between the front and rear clip. Not to mention cost around 4600 in medical bills and still suffer from pain and problems with it. So for what an accident would cost its well worth the piece of mind and you won't have a 6 inch by 4 inch scar and a leg that looks like Dr. House.

Very sorry to hear of your incident. Was this with a ballspline transmission?

[7uptruckracer]

No but it wasn't a carbon fiber driveshaft either. We had a yoke break or trans grenade. There were not enough parts left to tell. I do not a carbon shaft would have never pierced the drivers compartment.